Sam held out his hand. The dark young man made no move to accept it.
Nancy said sharply, "Ned! Mr. Knox may have saved father's life. He
brought the penicillin X while you were chasing meteors."
Ned Hawkins said with surly ill grace, "Sorry. We're obliged to you,
Mr. Knox."
Sam turned to the old man on the bed. "You were about to tell me why
everyone is so suspicious."
Timas Rorke sat up in bed. His eyes blazed. "Thieves!" he said gustily.
"This season there have been thieves. Old Joe on the _Miner II_ lost an
asteroid jewel worth ten thousand credits. Somebody beat him, slipped
him chloroform, and made off with it. Been several cases like it."
Ned's dark suspicious eyes were on them. Sam crossed and picked up
Pell's picture. "Relative of yours?" he asked casually.
Hawkins slammed the flat of his hand against a bulkhead. "That does it!
What kind of miner are you that you don't know the Master Miners?" He
whirled to the old man and the girl. "Tell him nothing more."
Sam said simply, "This is my first season. How am I to know anything
with everyone so suspicious? If you need more medicine let me know." He
picked up his space-suit and went into the lock.
Nancy came quickly into the lock after him. She said in a low voice,
"Thanks for everything. You must forgive Ned. He is jealous."
Sam held the helmet to his space-suit in his hands. "If I had a claim
on you," he said swiftly, "I should be jealous, too. Not man nor devil
should take you from me." He put the helmet on and turned to the lock.
Once back in the _Wanderer_, he considered what he had learned. Pell
was here, so much had been established, and he had at last a foothold
of acquaintance among these people. That should help.
* * * * *
And indeed it did. It was through Timas Rorke, he suspected, that four
old men now stood on the floor of the _Wanderer_.
He hadn't, however, quite planned on falling in love. It was difficult
for him to believe that so strong a bond could be forged in the week he
had known the Rorkes. The increasing jealousy of Hawkins was testimony
to the growing tenderness between Sam and Nancy Rorke.
The elder of the four men stepped a little forward. "Mr. Knox, we are
here because a friend of yours has requested that you be admitted to
the Miners."
He was right then; the week's cultivation of Timas and his daughter was
bringing results. "Tell me about the Miners," he asked.
"We are far from Terra here. Years ago we found the necessity for
establishing some sort of society for our own pleasure and protection.
We have our own government, our own laws. Each year a number of the
older miners are chosen Master Miners. This year there are seven. We
formulate all laws, and sit in judgment on those who break them."
Master Miners! Pell was one of these. Sam kept the planes of his face
wooden. "What must I do to become one of this society of yours?"
"You must submit to questioning to prove you are worthy. You must swear
loyalty to all our other brother miners. You must agree to be guided by
our laws, as supreme here, as long as you are in the Asteroid Belt."
"Very well, I agree."
They took a small space-dory to the largest ship in the mining fleet,
the governing ship, _White Lark_. Sam wondered if he were being wise.
If they had the latest mind-probe, all the truth would come out in the
examination. His connection with Terran Justice would be discovered,
and perhaps all chance lost of taking Pell. It was unlikely that they
had the new probe, he decided, and if they had the old model he could
fool them.
They had no mind-probe at all. They simply asked him questions, the
seven of them, trained to evaluate character swiftly in their rough
life, they watched him as he answered their questions. They sat around
him in a semi-circle, and in the center, in charge, was the man he
hunted. He had found Pell!
The questioning began. When they touched the dangerous fringes of
knowledge with their probing questions he held his face even more
wooden than usual, careful too to let no emotion show in the timbre of
his voice.
And at last it was over. Pell rose and looked at the circle of Master
Miners. "I am satisfied," he announced. "Are there any objections to
the entrance of Mr. Knox as a Miner of our Order?"
There were none. Pell said, "You will take the oath of fealty tomorrow,
here. There will be many who want to meet you." He walked with Sam to
the lock, to the small space-dory in which they had come.
Sam thought, I can take him now. I can slip a dis-gun into his ribs,
and take him now. The reaction of the other miners was unpredictable,
but with speed and skill he could make it. And once aboard the
_Wanderer_ no mining ship could approach his super-drive.
His hand slid down his pocket to the cold plastic butt of his dis-gun.
There was a rattle as another dory struck the ship. A space-suited
form slid into the lock. He took his hand off the dis-gun. The figure
stripped off its helmet, and a mass of flame-colored hair cascaded down
around the shoulders. It was Nancy Rorke.
"Am I too late? I just heard you were up for membership in the Miners."
Pell put his hand on her shoulder. "He's passed the tests. We
administer the oath tomorrow."
Sam took his hand from his pocket. There would be danger. He would not
make his play with a woman here.
Nancy's brown eyes were on his, filled with warmth and gladness. "I'm
so happy. I just couldn't believe it when Ned told me he had put you
up for membership."
Ned Hawkins had proposed him for membership! Sam pondered that all the
way back to the _Wanderer_.
* * * * *
The ceremony that joined Sam Knox and the Order of Miners was a simple
one. There were many of the Miners in the _White Lark_, to witness
the oath of fealty, and many more watching on their visaphones. The
coldness was gone; he was one of them, and he felt the strong warmth of
their friendship. Nancy's eyes smiled at him all through the ceremony.
There was one curious thing. Ned Hawkins was not present at the
beginning of the ceremony.
The voice of Pell pronounced. "You are now one of us." Men gathered
around Sam, shaking his hand and clapping him on the back.
"_Stop the ceremony!_" It was a beautifully timed entrance, an actor's
entrance. Hawkins stood just inside the room, still in his space-suit,
holding the helmet in his hand. He came forward now, his magnetic boots
clanking on the steel floor of the _White Lark_.
Pell frowned at him. "If you have objections, you are too late. After
all, you were the one who proposed his membership. Miner Knox is one of
us now."
"Then he is subject to our law. He is no miner--he is a thief."