She struggled mightily within herself against the pain waves attacking
her. She gasped, "Chart C-R-46. Luline."
Nathan raced to the chart room. There it was. On Chart C-R-46, circled
in red, was the word "Luline" beside a tiny asteroid.
This was more incomprehensible than ever. Or was the asteroid a burial
place for her mysterious clan?
He debated heading for Earth. And then another question arose as he
thought of her burned and tortured body. Even if she could live would
she want to? On Earth her existence would be in the double prison of
iron bars and her own damaged body.
He set the course for the asteroid, Luline.
V
Slowly, in the depths of black space there swelled the blob of rock
that was the half mile diameter of Luline.
As the ship approached, Nathan examined the surface through the screens
for a clue to Firebird's reason for wanting to go there. But it looked
the same as any other of the thousands of rocks floating through the
spacelanes. The only unusual feature was a small bright spot that
appeared to be about ten feet in diameter. It was centered in the
bottom of a large depression on one side of the rock.
Firebird seemed to sense the presence of the asteroid as they neared.
Her body twitched nervously. Or perhaps it was only her increasing
battle with the powers of death.
When Nathan told her they had arrived she struggled to rise. She fell
back helplessly. "The pool," she mumbled through lips that barely
moved. "Bury me in the pool of Luline."
Though he had guessed it, Nathan was moved to pity because Firebird had
known for so many hours that she was going to her own grave.
But he wondered what she meant by the pool of Luline. Was it that
bright spot he had noticed? There could be no liquid out here in the
depths of space.
It was difficult to land a familiar ship on an asteroid, and since
Nathan had never landed the _Corsair_ anywhere it was next to
impossible to make an accurate landing. But the urgency of Firebird's
desire told him it was worth the risk of taking the ship down upon the
jagged surface of the strange little rock.
He swept around it in an ever narrowing spiral until he finally came
low over the wide depression that held the shining "pool". He dropped
the ship rapidly, braking the _Corsair_ and letting it arc upwards to a
stall.
Swiftly, Nathan cut the propulsion tubes. The forward brakes dropped
the ship to the surface. The _Corsair_ settled with a hard jolt. A poor
landing but good under the circumstances.
Nathan hurried back to the stateroom of the Firebird. There he halted
in the doorway at the sight that met his eyes. The Firebird had risen
from the bunk and was standing in the middle of the room swaying like
some disjointed robot, gibbering wildly through her nerveless lips. She
was facing the port and shaking the stump of her hand at the shining
pool visible outside.