THE ALIEN SPACECRAFT was beautifully designed and well equipped. The
Starmen had spent more than two days exploring it fully and tracking its
electronics systems. It was planned for a crew of twenty. The galley was
not stocked, but Zip assigned some of St. George’s men to store their
food in it. The storage area inside the ship included spacesuits for the
entire crew. The suits were shaped slightly differently from what the
Earthmen were used to. They squeezed a little in the chest and were
somewhat baggy between abdomen and knee, especially for the shorter men,
but they could be used.
Joe and Mark were working to the point of exhaustion, trying to figure
out the controls in the cockpit. Mark had to trace innumerable leads
from the panel through the walls of the craft back to the wings, tail,
and especially the propulsion compartment. The Starmen found the work
exhilarating but time-consuming. Mark estimated at the end of the second
day that he had figured out about 80% of the control panel, including
all the major systems. Joe confirmed his reckoning and, without even
igniting the power, was learning to pilot the alien craft. Both Starmen
kept Zip informed of their progress.
It was still up to Zip to find a way to escape from the asteroid. Even
if they could pilot the ship, it was certain that the pirates would
locate them by radar within seconds of their departure and the chances
of their escape would be practically nil.
The atmosphere tanks supplied with the spacesuits were empty, so Zip had
to fill them from large storage tanks of pure gases he found to one side
of the hangar. Since Zip was unable to read any labels, he had to
analyze the gas in each supply tank to determine which gases the tanks
contained. Once he had succeeded in identifying nitrogen and oxygen, he
was able to fill the tanks for the spacesuits with a mixture similar to
that of air on Earth. This project was tedious and physically demanding,
but St. George’s men assisted him with the heavy work. Since the gravity
was so low, two men were easily able to move even the largest equipment
needed for the work. By the end of the second day, all the tanks had
been filled.
That evening, Zip put on one of the spacesuits and practiced operating
it and moving around inside the hangar. When he was satisfied that the
mixture of air was breathable and that he could maneuver in the suit, he
took off the helmet and walked over to where Joe and Mark were sprawled
under the spacecraft with a panel open over their heads. The deep green
of the highly reflective metal hull was marvelously soothing to the eye.
For a moment, Zip paused and wondered about the race that had built the
ships. Then he called out to the others.
“Joe, Mark--I’m going through the airlock to see what’s out there.”
Joe skidded out from under the hinged panel. “Are you sure that’s wise,
Zip? We don’t know where the pirates are.”
“That’s why I’m going out. I have a plan for our escape, but I have to
explore a little bit outside to see if it’ll work.”
“Want some company?”
“Thanks, I do, but I’ll take George. You and Mark keep up the work.” Zip
went over to where George St. George was sitting at a table with several
other miners.
“George, could you come with me? I’d like to see what’s outside.”
“Sure, Zip,” said the blond man, standing up. The asteroid miner suited
up and the two men walked to the far end of the hangar. Zip was carrying
a small iron plate. In front of them was a huge panel that could open to
permit spacecraft to pass through the airlock, and on either side of it
were sets of doors to allow men through. These doors entered a hallway
that proceeded to the outside of the asteroid and allowed passage
without the major airlock’s having to be emptied.
“Ready?” asked Zip through the suits’ intercom system.
“Sure. Let’s go.” Zip opened the door into the airlock and they passed
through and closed the door behind them. Zip operated the controls that
sucked the air out of the hallway. The two men walked about 50 yards to
the far end of the passage and opened the door to the outside. They
stepped out onto the surface of the asteroid.
They looked around, but could see no evidence that there was an airlock
adjacent to where they were standing!
“Camouflaged!” said Zip.
“Whoever made this wondrous thing,” commented George, “apparently had a
reason for wanting to be hidden. Let’s make sure we can still get back
in. Can you open the door we just came out of?”
“No need to worry. I’m not about to close a door behind me for good
until I know I can open it again.” He took the small iron plate and used
it to jam the door open. From the inside, the door was transparent; from
the outside, it looked like the surface of the iron asteroid. Its hinges
were completely hidden. “Now let’s see what’s out here.”
For the first time, the two men gazed outward. The Milky Way blazed
above and to the right, its countless stars bright enough to cast slight
shadows behind the two men.
“I never tire of seeing that view,” said George. “I’ve missed it, just
in the few days we’ve been inside.”
“Yes, it’s inspiring,” answered Zip, but he was already in motion,
walking and scanning the ground on both sides of him. George followed.
Their asteroid boots gripped the surface of the asteroid.
“What are you looking for, Zip?”
“Evidence of the pirates. I’ve got a plan for escaping them, but our
exit point here can’t be too close to their entrance.”
“We’ve walked a dozen miles through the asteroid from their
headquarters--they can’t be too close.”
“I’m sure you’re right, but there may be other entrances. _We found one,
didn’t we?_”
“Even if there were other entrances, they’re bound to be as invisible to
the eye as the one we just came out of.”
“Right again, I’m sure, George, but I don’t want to take any chances.
Our escape depends on our being unseen--at least for most of the time.
Then I _want_ to be seen.”
“What do you mean, Zip? I--” George suddenly stopped talking, almost as
if his communicator had been turned off. Zip looked over.
“What’s wrong, George?” Through his helmet, George’s eyes were opened
wide and his mouth was agape. “What is it?” Zip repeated.
“We, we, we’re not in the Asteroid Belt,” George stammered. “Look,
there’s the Belt over there.” He raised his hand and pointed. The slow
rotation of the asteroid that gave it its slight gravity had brought the
Belt into view over the horizon. Motionless on the asteroid’s surface,
Zip and George were slowly moving into the dawn. A pale sun far away was
coming into view, and a golden line of light began to grow over the
45-mile-long chunk of almost pure iron. The spacesuits’ faceplates
automatically darkened slightly. The sunlight came through a scattering
of asteroids orbiting at least a thousand miles away.
“He’s moved the asteroid. He knows more about it than I gave him credit
for,” Zip said grimly. “My plan will still work, but the situation has
changed. Now we have to hurry. Let’s go back.”
Back inside the hangar, Zip called a meeting of the fourteen men and
explained his plan for escape.
“Sounds good, Zip,” affirmed Mark, and Joe agreed.
“What about food and water?” asked one of the miners.
“What’s left?” responded Zip. “How many days can we go if we ration even
more strictly?”
“About five until the food runs out, and there’s about a gallon of water
for each man left.”
“We can do it. No choice anyway. Let’s get some sleep and start things
rolling first thing tomorrow.”
* * * * *
Immediately after they awoke, the Starmen put Zip’s plan into action.
Joe opened another of the alien spacecraft. The Starmen had taken a
quick look at the other ships in the hangar and found them to be
identical. Quickly they made the ship look as if it had been abandoned
in panic. When they were finished, two men carried a small tank of
oxygen into the storage area. Joe then piloted the ship through the
airlock to a point where it hovered just above the asteroid. Zip, Mark,
and two miners stood outside on the ground. An explosion rocked the
ship, and a panel was blown out from the wall of the storage area. Joe
had detonated the oxygen tank to make it look as if some cargo had
ignited and destroyed the ship.
Joe emerged from the main door and jumped to the ground. He had been
tethered and the others pulled him in. They went back through the
airlock and shut the door. They were still able to watch what happened
through the immense window, transparent on their side. The ship began to
drift away from the asteroid on a pre-arranged course Joe had set.
“The pirates should be seeing that on their radar in a few minutes,”
said Zip. “I figure the ship has to be at least a quarter mile from the
surface for it to register on their screens.”
But it was nearly ten minutes later that three pirate ships appeared.
The pirates could easily see the ripped panel on the ship and took only
a few precautions on approaching the derelict. Zip turned to a
“reception only” channel on the communicator his suit provided.
“It’s not an Earth ship, sir,” said a voice, “and it’s empty. Completely
derelict. Must have been clamped to the surface of the asteroid and got
shaken off when you moved it out of the Belt.”
“Go inside! Make sure there’s no one in it!” It was the commanding voice
of Lurton Zimbardo. “Look for any sign that the Starmen had something to
do with it!”
“Yes sir!” The orders were given and six men left one of the pirate
ships and went through the open door of the alien craft. It took less
than a minute to get a report.
“Nothing here, sir,” said one of the spacesuited men to his officer.
“The cargo area has been completely destroyed in an explosion, and the
wall has been blown open into empty space. There are no suits, no signs
of any habitation.”
“It’s an old wreck, sir, and so damaged that it can’t be used,” reported
the pirate officer to headquarters.
“Probably left by the beings who built the asteroid,” said Zimbardo.
“Come on back to work. I’d like to take a look at it, but we don’t have
the men or time right now. Other matters are pressing.”
“Yes sir.” The communication terminated. The pirate ship took back its
six crew members and the three ships cruised over the horizon.
“Part one, the least risky part, successful,” said Zip. “Let’s get going
on part two, right now. Joe?”
“Ready Zip,” the lanky Starman responded. He stepped through the airlock
and leaped off the iron surface of the asteroid toward the derelict.
Powered by small jets of oxygen he sped to the ship and disappeared
through the open door.
“Everyone else get busy,” called Zip. They ran back through the airlock
to the hangar. The others were already aboard their escape craft. Zip
piloted it through the airlock and kept the ship close to the surface of
the asteroid. The airlock closed behind them. In the meantime Joe had
caused the damaged ship to drift back down toward the asteroid out of
radar range. He and Zip brought the two ships together and made a link.
Joe left the broken ship and joined the others.
“Ready, Zip” he announced, once he was aboard. Zip put the slightest
possible power into the escape ship, then turned the power off. Both
ships began to drift away from the asteroid, so slowly as to be almost
unnoticeable. Zip was hoping that when the pirates saw the blip on their
radar, they would conclude it was the derelict and pay no attention. He
was ready to drift for as long as it took to escape the notice of the
pirates before turning on the power and setting a course for freedom.
But now that the asteroid was not in the Belt any longer, he knew that
they would have to drift for much longer than he had anticipated.
They were free. But the tension was thick. It would not dissipate for a
long time.
* * * * *
Forty-two hours later, Marshal and Averette North witnessed the impact
of an asteroid that turned their atmosphere plant into rubble. Within an
hour of the impact, Lurton Zimbardo opened a channel that allowed him to
speak through nearly every communication system on Mars. Gene had
previously discovered a method for entering and using all communication
bands on Mars except those that were most closely guarded. He had
surreptitiously placed automatic signal points into the Martian system
without activating them until this moment. Now that the moment had
arrived, the voice of the pirate leader was heard throughout Mars.
“This is Lurton Zimbardo. The atmosphere plant at New Emmaus has just
been destroyed by an asteroid impact. You were not able to detect the
asteroid by radar. It struck without warning. This is to prove that I am
able to render asteroids invisible and send them wherever I wish. You
cannot see them and you cannot stop them. Within a day the four
remaining atmosphere plants on Mars will be similarly destroyed. This
will convince you that I have more power than you can imagine, and that
you are helpless to oppose me. After the last asteroid has struck your
planet, I will announce my demands.”
Lurton Zimbardo shut off the microphone in the control center of the
asteroid. A crowd of at least forty men jammed the center where Zimbardo
sat at the console. The rest of the pirates were standing in the factory
or at their assigned work places in the facility. All had heard the
broadcast. A feeling of immense power and invulnerability surged through
them. A few men began to cheer, and within seconds the enthusiasm had
infected the rest of the pirates and the cheer became a roar. It rang
throughout the control center and along the corridors, and filled the
factory. Zimbardo’s smile was wide. He looked down almost modestly, as
if he were reluctant to accept the men’s accolades.
When the cheers had died down at last, Zimbardo said simply but so that
all could hear, “And now for the last step in the plan.” The room was
quiet. He took out a set of notes from his pocket. The paper was marked
with scrawls, lines, and columns of figures. His eyes flicked rapidly
from the notes to the controls. His fingers began to fly over the
keyboard. He punched in coordinates and set the power grid. He marked
the timing of various operations.
Gene, Zimbardo’s closest associate, was watching. Gradually his smile
narrowed. His eyebrows creased. Then his eyes widened and his face
drained.
“Sir!” he exclaimed in a quiet voice. “Those are the coordinates of
Earth! If you use those, you’ll take this whole asteroid directly to
Earth!”
“Exactly,” nodded Zimbardo. “In about 32 days, as I figure it.” He was
smiling widely again as he pressed “Enter” and activated the asteroid’s
propulsion system.