diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 4 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/63855-h.zip | bin | 406655 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/63855-h/63855-h.htm | 1492 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/63855-h/images/cover.jpg | bin | 233932 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/63855-h/images/illus.jpg | bin | 147469 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/63855.txt | 1383 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/63855.zip | bin | 25328 -> 0 bytes |
9 files changed, 17 insertions, 2875 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..db715b2 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #63855 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63855) diff --git a/old/63855-h.zip b/old/63855-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 938efb6..0000000 --- a/old/63855-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/63855-h/63855-h.htm b/old/63855-h/63855-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 5923ee8..0000000 --- a/old/63855-h/63855-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1492 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=us-ascii" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Starbusters, by Alfred Coppel, Jr. - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -/* Images */ -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -div.titlepage { - text-align: center; - page-break-before: always; - page-break-after: always; -} - -div.titlepage p { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0em; - font-weight: bold; - line-height: 1.5; - margin-top: 3em; -} - -.blockquot { - margin-left: 5%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Starbusters, by Alfred Coppel - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Starbusters - -Author: Alfred Coppel - -Release Date: November 22, 2020 [EBook #63855] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STARBUSTERS *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>THE STARBUSTERS</h1> - -<h2>By ALFRED COPPEL, JR.</h2> - -<p>A bunch of kids in bright new uniforms,<br /> -transiting the constellations in a disreputable<br /> -old bucket of a space-ship—why should the<br /> -leathery-tentacled, chlorine-breathing<br /> -Eridans take them seriously?</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Planet Stories Summer 1949.<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>HQ TELWING CSN 30 JAN 27 TO CMDR DAVID FARRAGUT STRYKALSKI VII CO -TRS CLEOPATRA FLEET BASE CANALOPOLIS MARS STOP SUBJECT ORDERS STOP -ROUTE LUNA PHOBOS SYRTIS MAJOR TRANSSENDERS PRIORITY AAA STOP MESSAGE -FOLLOWS STOP TRS CLEOPATRA AND ALL ATTACHED AND OR ASSIGNED PERSONNEL -HEREBY RELIEVED ASSIGNMENT AND DUTY INNER PLANET PATROL GROUP STOP -ASSIGNED TEMP DUTY BUREAU RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT STOP SUBJECT VESSEL -WILL PROCEED WITHOUT DELAY FLEET EXPERIMENTAL SUBSTATION PROVING -GROUNDS TETHYS SATURNIAN GROUP STOP CO WILL REPORT UPON ARRIVAL TO -CAPT IVY HENDRICKS ENGINEERING OFFICER PROJECT WARP STOP SIGNED H. -GORMAN SPACE ADMIRAL COMMANDING STOP END MESSAGE END MESSAGE END -MESSAGE.</p></div> - -<p>"Amen! Amen! Amen! Stop." Commander Strykalski smoothed out the -wrinkled flimsy by spreading it carefully on the wet bar.</p> - -<p>Coburn Whitley, the T.R.S. <i>Cleopatra's</i> Executive, set down his Martini -and leaned over very slowly to give the paper a microscopic examination -in the mellow light.</p> - -<p>"Maybe," he began hopefully, "It could be a forgery?"</p> - -<p>Strike shook his head.</p> - -<p>Lieutenant Whitley looked crestfallen. "Then perhaps old Brass-bottom -Gorman means some other guy named Strykalski?" To Cob, eight Martinis -made anything possible.</p> - -<p>"Could there be two Strykalskis?" demanded the owner of the name under -discussion.</p> - -<p>"No." Whitley sighed unhappily. "And there's only one Tellurian Rocket -Ship <i>Cleopatra</i> in the Combined Solarian Navies, bless her little iron -rump! Gorman means us. And I think we've been had, that's what I think!"</p> - -<p>"Tethys isn't so bad," protested Strike.</p> - -<p>Cob raised a hand to his eyes as though to blot out the sight of that -distant moonlet. "Not so bad, he says! All you care about is seeing Ivy -Hendricks again, I know you! Tethys!"</p> - -<p>Strike made a passing effort to look stern and failed. "You mean -<i>Captain</i> Hendricks, don't you, Mister Whitley? Captain Hendricks of -Project Warp?"</p> - -<p>Cob made a sour face. "Project Warp, yet! Sounds like a dog barking!" -He growled deep in his throat and barked once or twice experimentally. -The officer's club was silent, and a silver-braided Commodore sitting -nearby scowled at Whitley. The Lieutenant subsided with a final small, -"Warp!"</p> - -<p>An imported Venusian quartet began to play softly. Strike ordered -another round of drinks from the red-skinned Martian tending bar and -turned on his stool to survey the small dance floor. The music and the -subdued lights made him think of Ivy Hendricks. He really wanted to see -her again. It had been a long time since that memorable flight when -they had worked together to pull Admiral Gorman's flagship <i>Atropos</i> -out of a tight spot on a perihelion run. Ivy was good to work with ... -good to be around.</p> - -<p>But there was apparently more to this transfer than just Ivy pulling -wires to see him again. Things were tense in the System since Probe -Fleet skeeterboats had discovered a race of group-minded, non-human -intelligences on the planets of 40 Eridani C. They lived in frozen -worlds that were untenable for humans. And they were apparently all -parts of a single entity that never left the home globe ... a thing no -human had seen. The group-mind. They were rabidly isolationist and they -had refused any commerce with the Solar Combine.</p> - -<p>Only CSN Intelligence knew that the Eridans were warlike ... and that -they were strongly suspected of having interstellar flight....</p> - -<p>So, reflected Strike, the transfer of the <i>Cleopatra</i> to Tethys for -work under the Bureau of Research and Development meant innovations -and tests. And Commander Strykalski was concerned. The beloved Old -Aphrodisiac didn't take kindly to innovations. At least she never had -before, and Strike could see no reason to suppose the cantankerous -monitor would have changed her disposition.</p> - -<p>"There's Celia!" Cob Whitley was waving toward the dance floor.</p> - -<p>Celia Graham, trim in her Ensign's greys, was making her way through -the crowd of dancers. Celia was the <i>Cleopatra's</i> Radar Officer, and -like all the rest, bound with chains of affection to the cranky old -warship. The <i>Cleopatra's</i> crew was a unit ... a team in the true sense -of the word. They served in her because they wanted to ... would serve -in no other. That's the way Strike ran his crew, and that's the way the -crew ran Lover-Girl. Old Aphrodisiac's family was a select community.</p> - -<p>There was a handsome Martian Naval Lieutenant with Celia, but when she -saw the thoughtful expression on her Captain's face, she dismissed him -peremptorily. Here was something, apparently, of a family matter.</p> - -<p>"Well, I can't see anything to worry about, Skipper," she said when he -had explained. "I should think you'd be glad of a chance to see Ivy -again."</p> - -<p>Cob Whitley leaned precariously forward on his bar-stool to wag a -finger under Celia's pretty nose. "But he doesn't know what Captain -Hendricks has cooked up for Lover-Girl, and you know the old carp likes -to be treated with respect." He affected a very knowing expression. -"Besides, we shouldn't be gallivanting around testing Ivy's electronic -eyelash-curlers when the Eridans are likely to be swooshing around old -Sol any day!"</p> - -<p>"Cob, you're drunk!" snapped Celia.</p> - -<p>"I am at that," mused Whitley with a foolish grin. "And I'd better -enjoy it. There'll be no Martinis on Tethys, that's for sure! This -cruise is going to interfere with my research on ancient twentieth -century potables..."</p> - -<p>Strike heaved his lanky frame upright. "Well, I suppose we'd better -call the crew in." He turned to Cob. "Who is Officer of the Deck -tonight?"</p> - -<p>"Bayne."</p> - -<p>"Celia, you'd better go relieve him. He'll have to work all night to -get us an orbit plotted."</p> - -<p>"Will do, Skipper," Celia Graham left.</p> - -<p>"Cob, you'd better turn in. Get some sleep. But have the NPs round up -the crew. If any of them are in the brig, let me know. I'll be on the -bridge."</p> - -<p>"What time do you want to lift ship?"</p> - -<p>"0900 hours."</p> - -<p>"Right." Cob took a last loving look around the comfortable officer's -club and heaved a heavy sigh. "Tethys, here comes Lover-Girl. It's -going to be a long, long cruise, Captain."</p> - -<p>How long, he couldn't have known ... then.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The flight out was uneventful. Uneventful, that is for the T.R.S. -<i>Cleopatra</i>. Only one tube-liner burned through, and only six hours -wasted in nauseous free-fall.</p> - -<p>Lover-Girl wormed her way through the asteroid belt, passed within a -million miles of Jupiter and settled comfortably down on the airless -field next to the glass-steel dome of the Experimental Substation on -Tethys. But her satisfied repose was interrupted almost before it was -begun. Swarms of techmen seemed to burst from the dome and take her -over. Welders and physicists, naval architects and shipfitters, all -armed with voluminous blueprints and atomic torches set to work on -her even before her tubes had cooled. Power lines were crossed and -re-crossed, shunted and spliced. Weird screen-like appendages were -welded to her bow and stern. Workmen and engineers stomped through her -companionways, bawling incomprehensible orders. And her crew watched in -mute dismay. They had nothing to say about it...</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Ivy Hendricks rose from her desk as Strike came into her Engineering -Office. There was a smile on her face as she extended her hand.</p> - -<p>"It's good to see you again, Strike."</p> - -<p>Strykalski studied her. Yes, she hadn't changed. She was still the Ivy -Hendricks he remembered. She was still calm, still lovely, and still -very, very competent.</p> - -<p>"I've missed you, Ivy." Strike wasn't just being polite, either. Then -he grinned. "Lover-Girl's missed you, too. There never has been an -Engineering Officer that could get the performance out of her cranky -hulk the way you used to!"</p> - -<p>"It's a good thing," returned Ivy, still smiling, "that I'll be back at -my old job for a while, then."</p> - -<p>Strykalski raised his eyebrows inquisitively. Before Ivy could explain, -Cob and Celia Graham burst noisily into the room and the greetings -began again. Ivy, as a former member of the <i>Cleopatra's</i> crew, was one -of the family.</p> - -<p>"Now, what I would like to know," Cob demanded when the small talk had -been disposed of, "is what's with this 'Project Warp'? What are you -planning for Lover-Girl? Your techmen are tearing into her like she was -a twenty-day leave!"</p> - -<p>"And why was the <i>Cleopatra</i> chosen?" added Celia curiously.</p> - -<p>"Well, I'll make it short," Ivy said. "We're going to make a hyper-ship -out of her."</p> - -<p>"Hyper-ship?" Cob was perplexed.</p> - -<p>Ivy Hendricks nodded. "We've stumbled on a laboratory effect that -warps space. We plan to reproduce it in portable form on the -<i>Cleopatra</i> ... king size. She'll be able to take us through the -hyper-spatial barrier."</p> - -<p>"Golly!" Celia Graham was wide-eyed. "I always thought of hyperspace as -a ... well, sort of an abstraction."</p> - -<p>"That's been the view up to now. We all shared it here, too, until -we set up this screen system and things began to disappear when they -got into the warped field. Then we rigged a remote control and set up -telecameras in the warp...." Ivy's face sobered. "We got plates of -star-fields ... star-fields that were utterly different and ... and -<i>alien</i>. It seems that there's at least one other space interlocked and -co-existent with ours. When we realized that we decided to send a ship -through. I sent a UV teletype to Admiral Gorman at Luna Base ... and -here you are."</p> - -<p>"Why us?" Cob asked thoughtfully.</p> - -<p>"I'll answer that," offered Strike, "Lover-Girl's a surge circuit -monitor, and it's a safe bet this operation takes plenty of power." He -looked over to Ivy. "Am I right?"</p> - -<p>"Right on the nose, Strike," she returned. Then she broke into a wide -smile. "Besides, I wouldn't want to enter an alien cosmos with anyone -but Lover-Girl's family. It wouldn't be right."</p> - -<p>"Golly!" said Celia Graham again. "Alien cosmos ... it sounds so creepy -when you say it that way."</p> - -<p>"You could call it other things, if you should happen to prefer them," -Ivy Hendricks said, "Subspace ... another plane of existence. I...."</p> - -<p>She never finished her sentence. The door burst open and a -Communications yeoman came breathlessly into the office. From the -ante-room came the sound of an Ultra Wave teletype clattering -imperiously ... almost frantically.</p> - -<p>"Captain Hendricks!" cried the man excitedly, "A message is coming -through from the Proxima transsender ... they're under attack!"</p> - -<p>Strykalski was on his feet. "Attack!"</p> - -<p>"The nonhumans from Eridanus have launched a major invasion of the -solar Combine! All the colonies in Centaurus are being invaded!"</p> - -<p>Strike felt the bottom dropping out of his stomach, and he knew that -all the others felt the same. If this was a war, they were the ones -who would have to fight it. And the Eridans! Awful leathery creatures -with tentacles ... chlorine breathers! They would make a formidable -enemy, welded as they were into one fighting unit by the functioning of -the group-mind....</p> - -<p>He heard himself saying sharply into Ivy's communicator: "See to it -that my ship is fueled and armed for space within three hours!"</p> - -<p>"Hold on, Strike!" Ivy Hendricks intervened, "What about the tests?"</p> - -<p>"I'm temporarily under Research and Development command, Ivy, but -Regulations say that fighting ships cannot be held inactive during -wartime! The <i>Cleopatra's</i> a warship and there's a war on now. If you -can have your gear jerry-rigged in three hours, you can come along -and test it when we have the chance. Otherwise the hell with it!" -Strykalski's face was dead set. "I mean it, Ivy."</p> - -<p>"All right, Strike. I'll be ready," Ivy Hendricks said coolly.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Exactly three hours and five minutes later, the newly created -hyper-ship that was still Old Aphrodisiac lifted from the ramp outside -the Substation dome. She rose slowly at first, the radioactive flame -from her tubes splashing with sun-bright coruscations over the loading -pits and revetments. For a fleeting instant she was outlined against -the swollen orb of Saturn that filled a quarter of Tethys' sky, and -then she was gone into the galactic night.</p> - -<p>Aboard, all hands stood at GQ. On the flying bridge Strykalski and -Coburn Whitley worked steadily to set the ship into the proper position -in response to the steady flood of equations that streamed into their -station from Bayne in the dorsal astrogation blister.</p> - -<p>An hour after blasting free of Tethys was pointed at the snaking river -of stars below Orion that formed the constellation of Eridanus.</p> - -<p>When Cob asked why, Strike replied that knowing Gorman, they could -expect orders from Luna Base ordering them either to attack or -reconnoiter the 40 Eridani C system of five planets. Strykalski added -rather dryly that it was likely to be the former, since Space Admiral -Gorman had no great affection for either the <i>Cleopatra</i> or her crew.</p> - -<p>Ivy Hendricks joined them after stowing her gear, and when Whitley -asked her opinion, she agreed with Strike. Her experiences with Gorman -had been as unfortunate as any of the others.</p> - -<p>"I was afraid you'd say that," grumbled Cob, "I was just hoping you -wouldn't."</p> - -<p>The interphone flashed. Strike flipped the switch.</p> - -<p>"Bridge."</p> - -<p>"Communications here. Message from Luna Base, Captain."</p> - -<p>"Here it is," Strykalski told Cob. "Right on time."</p> - -<p>"Speak of the devil," muttered the Executive.</p> - -<p>"From the Admiral, sir," the voice in the interphone said, "Shall I -read it?"</p> - -<p>"Just give me the dope," ordered Strike.</p> - -<p>"The Admiral orders us to quote make a diversionary attack on the -planet of 40 Eridani C II unquote," said the squawk-box flatly.</p> - -<p>"Acknowledge," ordered Strykalski.</p> - -<p>"Wilco. Communications out."</p> - -<p>Strike made an I-told-you-so gesture to his Executive. Then he turned -toward the enlisted man at the helm. "Quarter-master?"</p> - -<p>The man looked up from his auto-pilot check. "Sir."</p> - -<p>"Steady as she goes."</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir."</p> - -<p>"And that," shrugged Ivy Hendricks, "Is that."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Three weeks passed in the timeless limbo of second-order flight. Blast -tubes silent, the <i>Cleopatra</i> rode the curvature of space toward -Eridanus. At eight and a half light years from Sol, the second-order -was cut so that Bayne could get a star sight. As the lights of the -celestial globe slowly retreated from their unnatural grouping ahead -and astern, brilliant Sirius and its dwarf companion showed definite -disks in the starboard ports. At a distance of 90,000,000 miles from -the Dog Star, its fourteen heavy-gravity planets were plainly visible -through the electron telescope.</p> - -<p>Strykalski and Ivy Hendricks stood beside Bayne in the dorsal blister -while the astrogator sighted Altair through his polytant. His long, -horse face bore a look of complete self-approbation when he had -completed his last shot.</p> - -<p>"A perfect check with the plotted course! How's that for fancy dead -reckoning?" he exclaimed.</p> - -<p>He was destined never to know the accolade, for at that moment the -communicator began to flash angrily over the chart table. Bayne cut it -in with an expression of disgust.</p> - -<p>"Is the Captain there?" demanded Celia Graham's voice excitedly.</p> - -<p>Strike took over the squawk-box. "Right here, Celia. What is it?"</p> - -<p>"Radar contact, sir! The screen is crazy with blips!"</p> - -<p>"Could it be window?"</p> - -<p>"No, sir. The density index indicates spacecraft. High value in the -chlorine lines...."</p> - -<p>"Eridans!" cried Ivy.</p> - -<p>"What's the range, Celia?" demanded Strike. "And how many of them are -there?"</p> - -<p>The sound of the calculator came through the grill. Then Celia replied: -"Range 170,000 miles, and there are more than fifty and less than two -hundred. That's the best I can do from this far away. They seem to -have some sort of radiation net out and they are moving into spread -formation."</p> - -<p>Strike cursed. "They've spotted us and they want to scoop us in with -that force net! Damn that group-mind of theirs ... it makes for uncanny -co-ordination!" He turned back to the communicator. "Cob! Are you on?"</p> - -<p>"Right here, Captain," came Cob Whitley's voice from the bridge.</p> - -<p>"Shift into second-order! We'll have to try and run their net!"</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir," Whitley snapped.</p> - -<p>"Communications!" called Strike.</p> - -<p>"Communications here."</p> - -<p>"Notify Luna Base we have made contact. Give their numbers, course, and -speed!"</p> - -<p>Ivy could feel her heart pounding under her blouse. Her face was -deadly pale, mouth pinched and drawn. This was the first time in battle -for any of them ... and she dug her fingernails into her palms trying -not to be afraid.</p> - -<p>Strykalski was rapping out his orders with machine-gun rapidity, making -ready to fight his ship if need be ... and against lop-sided odds. But -years of training were guiding him now.</p> - -<p>"Gun deck!"</p> - -<p>A feminine voice replied.</p> - -<p>"Check your accumulators. We may have to fight. Have the gun-pointers -get the plots from Radar. And load fish into all tubes."</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir!" the woman rapped out.</p> - -<p>"Radar!"</p> - -<p>"Right here, Skipper!"</p> - -<p>"We're going into second-order, Celia. Use UV Radar and keep tabs on -them."</p> - -<p>"Yes, Captain."</p> - -<p>Strike turned to Ivy Hendricks. "Let's get back to the bridge, Ivy. -It's going to be a hell of a rough half hour!"</p> - -<p>As they turned to go, all the pin-points of light that were the stars -vanished, only to reappear in distorted groups ahead and behind the -ship. They were in second-order flight again, and traveling above light -speed. Within seconds, contact would be made with the advance units of -the alien fleet.</p> - -<p>Old Aphrodisiac readied herself for war.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Like a maddened bull terrier, the old monitor charged at the Eridan -horde. Within the black hulls strange, tentacled creatures watched -her in scanners that were activated by infrared light. The chlorine -atmosphere grew tense as the Tellurian warship drove full at the -pulsating net of interlocked force lines. Parsecs away, on a frozen -world were a dull red shrunken sun shone dimly through fetid air, -the thing that was the group-mind of the Eridans guided the thousand -leathery tentacles that controlled the hundred and fifty black -spaceships. The soft quivering bulk of it throbbed with excitement as -it prepared to kill the tiny Tellurian thing that dared to threaten its -right to conquest.</p> - -<p>Old Lover-Girl tried gallantly to pierce the strange trap. She failed. -The alien weapons were too strange, too different from anything her -builders could have imagined or prepared her to face. The net sucked -the life from her second-order generators, and she slowed, like the -victim of a nightmare. Now rays of heat reached out for her, grazing -her flanks as she turned and twisted. One touched her atmospheric fins -and melted them into slowly congealing globes of steel glowing with a -white heat. She fought back with whorls of atomic fire that sped from -her rifles to wreak havoc among her attackers.</p> - -<p>Being non-entities in themselves, and only limbs of the single -mentality that rested secure on its home world, the Eridans lacked the -vicious will to live that drove the Tellurian warship and her crew. But -their numbers wore her down, cutting her strength with each blow that -chanced to connect.</p> - -<p>Torpedoes from the tubes that circled her beam found marks out in -space and leathery aliens died, their black ships burst asunder by the -violence of new atoms being created from old.</p> - -<p>But there were too many. They hemmed her in, heat rays ever slashing, -wounding her. Strykalski fought her controls, cursing her, coaxing -her. Damage reports were flowing into the flying bridge from every -point in the monitor's body. Lover-Girl was being hurt ... hurt badly. -The second-order drive was damaged, not beyond repair, but out of -commission for at least six hours. And they couldn't last six hours. -They couldn't last another ten minutes. It was only the practiced hands -of her Captain and crew that kept the <i>Cleopatra</i> alive....</p> - -<p>"We're caught, Ivy!" Strike shouted to the girl over the noises of -battle. "She can't stand much more of this!"</p> - -<p>Cob was screaming at the gun-pointers through the open communicator -circuit, his blood heated by the turbulent cacophony of crackling rays -and exploding torpedoes. "Hit 'em! Damn it! Damn it, hit 'em now! Dead -ahead! Hit 'em again!..."</p> - -<p>Ivy stumbled across the throbbing deck to stand at Strykalski's side. -"The hyper drive!" she yelled, "The hyper drive!"</p> - -<p>It was a chance. It was the <i>only</i> chance ... for Lover-Girl and Ivy -and Cob and Celia ... for all of them. He had to chance it. "Ivy!" he -called over his shoulder, "Check with Engineering! See if the thing's -hooked into the surge circuit!"</p> - -<p>She struggled out of the flying bridge and down the ramp toward the -engine deck. Strike and Cob stayed and sweated and cursed and fought. -It seemed that she would never report.</p> - -<p>At last the communicator began to flash red. Strike opened the circuit -with his free hand. "All right?" he demanded with his heart in his -throat.</p> - -<p>"<i>Try it!</i>" Ivy shouted back.</p> - -<p>Strykalski lurched from his chair as another ray caught the ship for an -instant and heated a spot on the wall to a cherry red. Gods! he prayed -fervently. Let it work!</p> - -<p>A movement of the ship threw him to the deck. He struggled to his -feet and across to the jerry-rigged switchboard that controlled the -hyper drive's warp field. With a prayer on his lips, he slapped at the -switches with wild abandon....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The sudden silence was like a physical blow. Strike staggered to the -port and looked out. No alien ships filled the void with crisscrossing -rays. No torpedoes flashed. The <i>Cleopatra</i> was alone, floating in -star-flecked emptiness.</p> - -<p>There were no familiar constellations. The stars were spread evenly -across the ebony bowl of the sky, and they looked back at him with an -alien, icy disdain.</p> - -<p>The realization that he stood with a tiny shell, an infinitesimal human -island lost in the vastness of a completely foreign cosmos broke with -an almost mind-shattering intensity over his brain!</p> - -<p>He was conscious of Cob standing beside him, looking out into this -unknown universe and whispering in awe: "<i>We're</i> the aliens here...."</p> - -<p>Ivy Hendricks came into the bridge then, a haggard look around her -eyes. "I came up through the ventral blister," she said, "Bayne is down -there and he's having fits. There isn't a star in sight he recognizes -and the whole hull of the ship is <i>glowing</i>!"</p> - -<p>Cob and Strykalski rushed back to the port, straining to see the -back-curving plates of the hull. Ivy was right. The metal, and to a -lesser extent, even the leaded glassteel of the port was covered with a -dim, dancing witchfire. It was as though the ship were being bombarded -by a continuous shower of microscopic fire bombs.</p> - -<p>Whitley found refuge in his favorite expression. "Ye gods and little -catfish!"</p> - -<p>Strike turned to Ivy. "What do you think it is?"</p> - -<p>"I ... I don't know. Matter itself might be different ... here."</p> - -<p>Strykalski found himself at the port again, looking out into the vast -stretch of alien void. Terror was seeping like dampness through him, -stretching cold fingers into his heart and mind. He realized that -everyone on board must feel the same way. It was the old human devil -rising from the pit of the primeval past. Fear of the unknown, of the -strange. And there was loneliness. From the dark corners of his mind, -the terrible loneliness came stealing forth. Never had a group of human -beings been so frighteningly <i>apart</i> from their kind. He felt rejected, -scorned and lost.</p> - -<p>The others felt it, too. Ivy and Cob drew closer, until all three stood -touching each other; as though they could dispel the loneliness of the -unnatural environment by the warmth of human, animal contact. Celia -came into the bridge softly ... just to be near her friends.</p> - -<p>It was only the fact that they could return at will to their own -space ... and the danger of the questing Eridans ... that kept one or -all from crying out in utter childish fear. Celia Graham whimpered -softly and slipped her hand into Cob's. He squeezed it to give her a -reassurance he did not feel.</p> - -<p>Then Strike broke the spell. The effort was great, but it brushed away -the shadows that had risen to plague them from the tortured abyss of -racial memory. It brought them back to what they were: highly civilized -people, parts of an intricately technological culture. Their ship -was a part of that culture. The only part they could cling to. The -<i>Cleopatra</i> demanded attention and service, and her demanding saved -them.</p> - -<p>"Cob," Strike directed with forced briskness, "Take over Damage -Control. See what can be done about the second-order drive."</p> - -<p>Cob pulled himself together, smiling as all the accustomed pieces -of his life began to fit together again. It didn't matter that they -were in an unknown cosmos. Damage Control was something he knew and -understood. He smiled thankfully and left the bridge.</p> - -<p>"Maintain a continuous radar-watch, Celia. We can't tell what we may -encounter here."</p> - -<p>"Yes, Captain," replied Celia gratefully.</p> - -<p>Strykalski reached for the squawk-box and called Bayne.</p> - -<p>"Astrogation here," came the shaky reply. In the exposed blisters the -agoraphobia must be more acute, reasoned Strike, and Bayne must have -been subconsciously stirred up by the disappearance of the familiar -stars that were his stock-in-trade.</p> - -<p>"Plot us a course to 40 Eridani C, Bayne," Strykalski directed. "On -gyro-headings."</p> - -<p>"What?" The astrogator sounded as though he thought Strike had lost his -mind. "Through <i>this</i> space?"</p> - -<p>"Certainly," Strykalski insisted quietly. "You're so proud of your -dead-reckoning. Here's a chance for you to do a real job. Get me an -orbit."</p> - -<p>"I ... all right, Captain," grumbled Bayne.</p> - -<p>Strike turned to Ivy Hendricks. "Well, Captain Hendricks, this is some -gadget you have dreamed up out of your Project Warp," he breathed -shakily. "At least the fat's out of the fire for the time being...."</p> - -<p>Ivy looked out of the port and back with a shudder. "I hope so, Strike. -I hope so."</p> - -<p>They fell silent, seeking comfort in each other's presence.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The second-order drive repaired, Old Aphrodisiac moved out through the -alien space toward the spot where 40 Eridani C existed on the other -side of the barrier.</p> - -<p>The ship's tactical astrophysicist brought in some disturbing reports -on the stars that shone brightly all around her. They fitted the -accepted classifications in all particulars ... except one. And that -one had the scientist tearing his hair. The mass of every observable -body except the ship herself was practically non-existent. Even the two -planetary systems discovered by the electron telescope flouted their -impossible lack of mass.</p> - -<p>Ivy suggested that since the <i>Cleopatra</i> and her crew were no part of -this alien cosmos, no prime-space instruments could detect the errant -mass. Like a microscopic bull in a gargantuan china shop, the Tellurian -warship existed under a completely different set of physical laws than -did the heavenly bodies of this strange space.</p> - -<p>It was pure conjecture, but it seemed well supported by the observable -facts. The hull continued to glow with its unnatural witchfire, and -soon disturbing reports were coming in from the Damage Control section -that the thickness of the outer hull was actually being reduced. -The rate was slow, and there was no immediate danger, but it was -nevertheless unnerving to realize that Lover-Girl was being dissolved -by <i>something</i>. Also, the outside Geigs recorded a phenomenal amount -of short radiation emanating <i>from the ship herself</i>. The insulation -kept most of it from penetrating, but tests showed that the strange -radiation's source was the glow that clung stubbornly to the spacer's -skin.</p> - -<p>A tense week passed and then the ship neared the spot where a -change over to prime-space could be effected. According to Bayne's -calculations, 40 Eridani C would be within 40,000,000 miles of them -when the ship emerged from hyper space.</p> - -<p>And then the Radar section picked up the planetoids. Millions of them, -large and small, lay in a globular cluster dead ahead. They spread out -in all directions for more than half a parsec ... dull, rocky little -worlds without a gram of detectable mass.</p> - -<p>All that waited for the <i>Cleopatra</i> in her own cosmos was a hot -reception at the hands of the defenders of 40 Eridani C II, while here -was mystery at close range. Mystery that was not cosmic in scope ... -just a swarm of innocuous seeming planetoids ... the first explorable -worlds that they had neared in this universe. Strike decided to heave -to and examine their find. Ivy wanted samples and though no one said -it in so many words ... no one was anxious for another encounter -with the rapacious Eridans. With typically human adaptiveness they -had sublimated their fear of the unknown space in which they found -themselves. Curiosity took the place of fear and here was something -close at hand to probe. Anthropoid inquisitiveness prevailed.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The <i>Cleopatra</i> slowed, stopped. Strike and Cob Whitley suited up and -armed themselves with spring-guns. In their clumsy space armor they -dropped through Lover-Girl's ventral valve into the void. The monitor's -glowing bulk retreated as they jetted toward the swarm of tiny worlds. -Their space suits, too, glowed with the witchfire, outlining them -against the eternal night.</p> - -<p>Back in the monitor's Communications shack, Ivy Hendricks and Celia -Graham stood with Bayne and the other officers around the two way -communicator that linked the two explorers with the ship.</p> - -<p>Out in space, Strike and Cob bound themselves together with a length of -thin cable. They dropped down under power toward the planetoid they had -selected to explore.</p> - -<p>"What's it like?" Ivy's voice crackled in their headsets.</p> - -<p>"Can't tell from this distance. We're still a good five miles away," -replied Strykalski.</p> - -<p>"Looks like any other planetoid to me," averred Whitley.</p> - -<p>"Maybe you'd better fire a shot into the surface before you try -landing, Strike," Ivy suggested.</p> - -<p>"Why?"</p> - -<p>"Just a hunch." Her voice sounded worried.</p> - -<p>"Okay, Ivy," Strike replied. "Cob, take a pot shot at it will you. You -should be able to hit it from here ... it's twenty miles wide."</p> - -<p>Cob was disgusted. "And me the best shot in my class back at the -Academy!" He drew his spring-gun and snapped a solid steel slug at the -looming worldlet....</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>What happened next, they never knew exactly. On the dark surface of the -planetoid a blazing bubble of white incandescence appeared, expanding -within split seconds to all but obscure the whole bulk of the disk. -It churned and whirled and flashed, mushrooming out in a hellish -coruscation of destruction. The blaze of light outlined the two men -and the ship and the planetoids within a fifty mile circle and the -expanding shock wave fanned out. It struck the two space armored men -to send them spinning wildly. The glowing bulk of the monitor reeled -and bucked. Strike felt himself whipping up and down at the end of the -cable that bound him to Cob Whitley. He felt himself being buffeted and -burned by the dazzling flare of atomic fire. The merciful blackness -spread itself like a curtain over his tortured eyes....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Strykalski opened his eyes and stretched his battered body. His head -was bandaged, and he could feel the familiar tingle of paratannic -salve on his burns. Pain still throbbed in little red needles behind -his dazzled eyes. He drew a long rasping breath and looked around him. -He was in the <i>Cleopatra's</i> infirmary. A Medic was standing near the -bulkhead. Cob lay on a bunk nearby. Ivy and Celia Graham were leaning -over him.</p> - -<p>"Great Space!" he muttered, "What happened?"</p> - -<p>"The shot Cob fired ... it ... it blew up," Celia said.</p> - -<p>"That's putting it rather mildly. But why? And how did we get back -here?"</p> - -<p>"Celia found you on the Radar," said Ivy, "And Bayne took a skeeterboat -out and picked you up after we got Lover-Girl back right side up."</p> - -<p>"Cob?"</p> - -<p>As though in answer to Strykalski's question, a low moan came from -the bandaged form of the Executive. "Ohhh.... Ye gods and ... little -catfish! I wish I ... had a Martini...."</p> - -<p>Strike smiled through cut lips. Cob was all right. He looked up at Ivy -again. "But what happened?"</p> - -<p>"Listen!" Ivy was saying excitedly, "I've got it! The answer! All the -answers, I think! The glowing of the ship ... the lack of mass for -everything native to this space ... the solid shot exploding!"</p> - -<p>Things were becoming clear to Strykalski now. Of course! He sat up -painfully. It was really simple enough when one thought it through. In -negative space....</p> - -<p>Ivy went on. "Strike, the ship glows because there is matter -everywhere ... even in interstellar space. Not much, but enough to -bombard the hull with tiny particles. The radiation the Geigs picked -up is caused by atomic <i>disintegration</i>! We've had fission and fusion -for two hundred years now ... but this is the complete transmutation of -matter to energy! The complete utilization of atomic energy! And the -thing that causes it is the reaction between our kind of matter and...."</p> - -<p>"<i>Contraterrene matter!</i>" he exclaimed. "That's it, isn't it Ivy?"</p> - -<p>The girl nodded. "The charges of the atomic components are reversed in -this space! You would have made yourself into a ... a <i>bomb</i> if you had -touched that planetoid out there!" Her face paled. "Oh, Strike! You -almost killed yourself!"</p> - -<p>Thoughts were boiling around in Strykalski's head now. An idea ... a -crazy, audacious idea was taking shape.</p> - -<p>He swung his legs over the side of the bunk. "Listen, Ivy ... in this -space, <i>we</i> are the unnatural form of matter, and here we are sort of -walking bombs. Right?"</p> - -<p>She nodded, puzzled.</p> - -<p>"Well, what if we should transport some contraterrene matter back into -prime-space ... a planetoid for example ... what then?"</p> - -<p>The girl's face showed comprehension. "It would be the most devastating -bomb ever dreamed of. It would release every erg in its component atoms -the minute it came into contact with anything terrene!" She stopped -short, her eyes wide. "Strike!"</p> - -<p>"Would it work, Ivy?" he pursued.</p> - -<p>"Yes!" she gasped, "Yes, I think it would!"</p> - -<p>"Can we do it?"</p> - -<p>"I ... I think so. Lover-Girl has power to burn. And we could set up -the screens on two skeeterboats so that ... yes! By heaven, it will -work! All we have to do is make and set up the equipment!"</p> - -<p>Cob sat up on his bunk and gave a low whistle. "Ye gods! No one can -ever accuse you two of having small ideas, that's for sure!"</p> - -<p>"It will work!" Ivy insisted. Her eyes narrowed. She was all the -engineer now, working out a problem. "The explosion that almost killed -you and set Lover-Girl on her beam ends came from the annihilation of -one tiny slug of steel at a distance of five miles. Just think what the -destruction of a twenty mile planetoid will do when we...."</p> - -<p>"How long will it take?" Strike interrupted.</p> - -<p>"Give me six hours."</p> - -<p>"Start now," he ordered, "And somebody hand Cob and me our pants. We've -got work to do!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The next hours were a nightmare of feverish activity aboard the T.R.S. -<i>Cleopatra</i>. Two of her six skeeterboats were fitted with hyper -screens that were made in the machine shop under Ivy Hendricks' close -supervision. Power was shunted from the surge circuit generators and -run out through automatic spools to the screen bearing skeeterboats -to form the two poles of the hyper warp. Ivy was everywhere at once, -giving orders, overseeing construction. Strike and Cob co-ordinated the -efforts of the crew and workmen.</p> - -<p>"We'll pick out our planetoid," Strike explained to them, "And line up -our skeeters on an arbitrary north-south axis. The spools will pay out -the power lines as the boats travel. When everything is aligned, we -turn on the juice and hope for the best."</p> - -<p>"Then," interjected Bayne, "as the planetoid takes its place in prime -space without orbital velocity ... and only some 4,000,000 miles -from 40 Eridani C ... we clear out. Fast. 40 Eridani C is an M6 -star ... surface temperature only about 3,000 Centigrade. It's -small ... smaller than Sol, because it has shrunk. But under its -semi-solid crust there are trillions of tons of matter that will burst -free as soon as anything cracks the surface tension. Our bomb should -act as a fuse to light one of the biggest fire-crackers ever imagined."</p> - -<p>"One thing," said Ivy to Strike, "whoever pilots the skeeters ... and I -presume you intend to handle one yourself ... will have to be extremely -careful. As soon as our planetoid exists in prime-space it will have a -planetoid's mass and gravity. Don't be caught with your jets cold. I'd -miss you, Strike."</p> - -<p>Celia Graham interrupted the conference to tell them that the equipment -was ready, and the ship in position. Strike looked around at the -suddenly tense faces of his companions. He didn't like to think what -failure might mean to them ... to Terra and the whole Solar Combine. He -rose to his feet purposefully.</p> - -<p>"Let's go," he said.</p> - -<p>The skeeterboat dove out of the valve trailing its cable. Strike -glanced back through the rear port to see the second shark-like shape -close behind. Even banged up as he was, Cob would let no one take the -second boat but himself. Strike's smile was broad. Good man to have -around, that Coburn Whitley.</p> - -<p>Ahead lay the tiny world that had been selected for annihilation. It -was a black blot on the star-spangled darkness of space. A thirty mile -sphere, it floated serenely along its orbit ... an innocuous chunk of -matter that <i>here</i> was just that ... and elsewhere would be the most -fearful bomb ever guided by the hand of man.</p> - -<p>Strike looked back at the glowing shape of Old Aphrodisiac. She -lured him like a familiar scene, a friendly voice. In all this alien -vastness, only his beloved ship was safety.</p> - -<p>He looked around for Cob's skeeter. It was barely visible now, some -twenty miles away as it fanned out to take up its position at the south -pole of the planetoid.</p> - -<p>The tiny world drew near, and Strike veered to find his own station. -Jockeying the skeeterboat carefully, he found the proper spot marked by -the beacons that fanned out from the <i>Cleopatra's</i> prow and stern.</p> - -<p>Cob signalled from the opposite pole that he, too, was ready. This, as -they said in the flicks, was <i>it</i>.</p> - -<p>He called Ivy on the radiophone.</p> - -<p>"All right, Strike," her voice came back, "We'll all go through -together. Ten seconds."</p> - -<p>"Check."</p> - -<p>"Remember to be ready to blast away from that chunk of rock, you two. -As soon as it hits prime-space it will have plenty of gravity."</p> - -<p>"Right, Ivy," Cob's voice came metallically.</p> - -<p>"Six seconds....</p> - -<p>"Five seconds....</p> - -<p>"Four seconds ... three ... two ... NOW!"</p> - -<p>Strike was dazzled by the sudden shift of lighting. The planetoid was -aglow with the dancing, swirling witchfire! The skeeterboat sank toward -the bright surface with a sickening lurch. Strike shoved the throttle -forward and looked fearfully for a flare of fire at the south pole. -There was none. Cob had gotten clear, too. The power cable snapped, but -it didn't matter now. Its work was done.</p> - -<p>The <i>Cleopatra</i> lay ahead now, the fire gone from her hull. Behind her -blazed the familiar beacon of Achernar. Off to the right Sirius A and -B dominated the sky. And near at hand below, the turbulent, smoky red -surface of 40 Eridani C smouldered against the familiar backdrop of the -Milky Way. Already the contraterrene planetoid was plunging toward that -sullen sphere. There wasn't much time to get clear.</p> - -<p>Strike flung his skeeter through the open hatch close on the exhaust of -Cob's boat. Valves hissed shut and Lover-Girl flashed away—homeward.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>One week later, and just off Sirius B, Old Aphrodisiac met the Eridan -fleet again, but with a difference....</p> - -<p>This time the black ships made no move to stop her. Their actions were -incoherent, insane. They milled about in a swirling cluster, colliding -with their fellows or careening off into the void.</p> - -<p>They floundered erratically, their co-ordination shattered. Even any -evidence of intelligent guidance was missing.</p> - -<p>The <i>Cleopatra</i> flashed by, not even deigning to fire a shot at them.</p> - -<p>Strike shuddered as he watched them in the scanners. In his mind he -could see the senseless, churning masses of flesh that lived mindlessly -within the black hulls. His thoughts flew far afield to an icy world -that had turned suddenly into an uninhabitable desert with temperatures -soaring past the melting point of lead. He saw a dull red sun pulsating -in cosmic agony, blossoming out into a menacing ball of white flame -as its internal fires leaped to freedom through its shattered crust. -He saw a star spending its failing substance prodigally in one bright -carnival of destruction. And he saw its planets writhing as the sudden -blast of heat speeded molecular velocities to the speed of escape and -sent great clouds of superheated chlorine hissing into the void.</p> - -<p>But best of all, he imagined the horrible death of a <i>thing</i> that was -the sole co-ordinator and reasoning agent for a race of ugly tentacled -creatures. Strykalski saw the death of the Eridan group-mind....</p> - -<p>Old Aphrodisiac settled herself wearily onto the ramp of the Hamilton -Field Spaceport. Her valves opened with a sighing sound. It was as -though the ship herself had given voice to her contentment. She was -home.</p> - -<p>The lights of the Administration building glittered against the dark -backdrop of the California hills, and the field lights flamed against -the stillness of the night.</p> - -<p>Strike and Ivy stood near the open port. "It's all over, Ivy," he said, -"We're safe now."</p> - -<p>Ivy raised her eyes to the sky where the stars flecked the night. Below -Orion hung the jewelled thread of Eridanus.</p> - -<p>The girl drew a shuddering breath. "It's a terrible thing to ... to -murder a star."</p> - -<p>Strike remained silent. There was nothing to say.</p> - -<p>It would take tardy light more than fifteen years to bring news of the -sudden flare of reckless life in that small star ... an orgy that would -sap its last reserves of strength and leave it a dark and frigid ember -in the lonely void.</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Starbusters, by Alfred Coppel - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STARBUSTERS *** - -***** This file should be named 63855-h.htm or 63855-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/8/5/63855/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you - are located before using this ebook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - - - -</pre> - -</body> -</html> diff --git a/old/63855-h/images/cover.jpg b/old/63855-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 24baae4..0000000 --- a/old/63855-h/images/cover.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/63855-h/images/illus.jpg b/old/63855-h/images/illus.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 4c42b4b..0000000 --- a/old/63855-h/images/illus.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/63855.txt b/old/63855.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 39fb530..0000000 --- a/old/63855.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1383 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Starbusters, by Alfred Coppel - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Starbusters - -Author: Alfred Coppel - -Release Date: November 22, 2020 [EBook #63855] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STARBUSTERS *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - THE STARBUSTERS - - By ALFRED COPPEL, JR. - - A bunch of kids in bright new uniforms, - transiting the constellations in a disreputable - old bucket of a space-ship--why should the - leathery-tentacled, chlorine-breathing - Eridans take them seriously? - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Planet Stories Summer 1949. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - - HQ TELWING CSN 30 JAN 27 TO CMDR DAVID FARRAGUT STRYKALSKI VII CO - TRS CLEOPATRA FLEET BASE CANALOPOLIS MARS STOP SUBJECT ORDERS STOP - ROUTE LUNA PHOBOS SYRTIS MAJOR TRANSSENDERS PRIORITY AAA STOP - MESSAGE FOLLOWS STOP TRS CLEOPATRA AND ALL ATTACHED AND OR ASSIGNED - PERSONNEL HEREBY RELIEVED ASSIGNMENT AND DUTY INNER PLANET PATROL - GROUP STOP ASSIGNED TEMP DUTY BUREAU RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT STOP - SUBJECT VESSEL WILL PROCEED WITHOUT DELAY FLEET EXPERIMENTAL - SUBSTATION PROVING GROUNDS TETHYS SATURNIAN GROUP STOP CO WILL - REPORT UPON ARRIVAL TO CAPT IVY HENDRICKS ENGINEERING OFFICER - PROJECT WARP STOP SIGNED H. GORMAN SPACE ADMIRAL COMMANDING STOP - END MESSAGE END MESSAGE END MESSAGE. - -"Amen! Amen! Amen! Stop." Commander Strykalski smoothed out the -wrinkled flimsy by spreading it carefully on the wet bar. - -Coburn Whitley, the T.R.S. _Cleopatra's_ Executive, set down his -Martini and leaned over very slowly to give the paper a microscopic -examination in the mellow light. - -"Maybe," he began hopefully, "It could be a forgery?" - -Strike shook his head. - -Lieutenant Whitley looked crestfallen. "Then perhaps old Brass-bottom -Gorman means some other guy named Strykalski?" To Cob, eight Martinis -made anything possible. - -"Could there be two Strykalskis?" demanded the owner of the name under -discussion. - -"No." Whitley sighed unhappily. "And there's only one Tellurian Rocket -Ship _Cleopatra_ in the Combined Solarian Navies, bless her little iron -rump! Gorman means us. And I think we've been had, that's what I think!" - -"Tethys isn't so bad," protested Strike. - -Cob raised a hand to his eyes as though to blot out the sight of that -distant moonlet. "Not so bad, he says! All you care about is seeing Ivy -Hendricks again, I know you! Tethys!" - -Strike made a passing effort to look stern and failed. "You mean -_Captain_ Hendricks, don't you, Mister Whitley? Captain Hendricks of -Project Warp?" - -Cob made a sour face. "Project Warp, yet! Sounds like a dog barking!" -He growled deep in his throat and barked once or twice experimentally. -The officer's club was silent, and a silver-braided Commodore sitting -nearby scowled at Whitley. The Lieutenant subsided with a final small, -"Warp!" - -An imported Venusian quartet began to play softly. Strike ordered -another round of drinks from the red-skinned Martian tending bar and -turned on his stool to survey the small dance floor. The music and the -subdued lights made him think of Ivy Hendricks. He really wanted to see -her again. It had been a long time since that memorable flight when -they had worked together to pull Admiral Gorman's flagship _Atropos_ -out of a tight spot on a perihelion run. Ivy was good to work with ... -good to be around. - -But there was apparently more to this transfer than just Ivy pulling -wires to see him again. Things were tense in the System since Probe -Fleet skeeterboats had discovered a race of group-minded, non-human -intelligences on the planets of 40 Eridani C. They lived in frozen -worlds that were untenable for humans. And they were apparently all -parts of a single entity that never left the home globe ... a thing no -human had seen. The group-mind. They were rabidly isolationist and they -had refused any commerce with the Solar Combine. - -Only CSN Intelligence knew that the Eridans were warlike ... and that -they were strongly suspected of having interstellar flight.... - -So, reflected Strike, the transfer of the _Cleopatra_ to Tethys for -work under the Bureau of Research and Development meant innovations -and tests. And Commander Strykalski was concerned. The beloved Old -Aphrodisiac didn't take kindly to innovations. At least she never had -before, and Strike could see no reason to suppose the cantankerous -monitor would have changed her disposition. - -"There's Celia!" Cob Whitley was waving toward the dance floor. - -Celia Graham, trim in her Ensign's greys, was making her way through -the crowd of dancers. Celia was the _Cleopatra's_ Radar Officer, and -like all the rest, bound with chains of affection to the cranky old -warship. The _Cleopatra's_ crew was a unit ... a team in the true sense -of the word. They served in her because they wanted to ... would serve -in no other. That's the way Strike ran his crew, and that's the way the -crew ran Lover-Girl. Old Aphrodisiac's family was a select community. - -There was a handsome Martian Naval Lieutenant with Celia, but when she -saw the thoughtful expression on her Captain's face, she dismissed him -peremptorily. Here was something, apparently, of a family matter. - -"Well, I can't see anything to worry about, Skipper," she said when he -had explained. "I should think you'd be glad of a chance to see Ivy -again." - -Cob Whitley leaned precariously forward on his bar-stool to wag a -finger under Celia's pretty nose. "But he doesn't know what Captain -Hendricks has cooked up for Lover-Girl, and you know the old carp likes -to be treated with respect." He affected a very knowing expression. -"Besides, we shouldn't be gallivanting around testing Ivy's electronic -eyelash-curlers when the Eridans are likely to be swooshing around old -Sol any day!" - -"Cob, you're drunk!" snapped Celia. - -"I am at that," mused Whitley with a foolish grin. "And I'd better -enjoy it. There'll be no Martinis on Tethys, that's for sure! This -cruise is going to interfere with my research on ancient twentieth -century potables..." - -Strike heaved his lanky frame upright. "Well, I suppose we'd better -call the crew in." He turned to Cob. "Who is Officer of the Deck -tonight?" - -"Bayne." - -"Celia, you'd better go relieve him. He'll have to work all night to -get us an orbit plotted." - -"Will do, Skipper," Celia Graham left. - -"Cob, you'd better turn in. Get some sleep. But have the NPs round up -the crew. If any of them are in the brig, let me know. I'll be on the -bridge." - -"What time do you want to lift ship?" - -"0900 hours." - -"Right." Cob took a last loving look around the comfortable officer's -club and heaved a heavy sigh. "Tethys, here comes Lover-Girl. It's -going to be a long, long cruise, Captain." - -How long, he couldn't have known ... then. - - * * * * * - -The flight out was uneventful. Uneventful, that is for the T.R.S. -_Cleopatra_. Only one tube-liner burned through, and only six hours -wasted in nauseous free-fall. - -Lover-Girl wormed her way through the asteroid belt, passed within a -million miles of Jupiter and settled comfortably down on the airless -field next to the glass-steel dome of the Experimental Substation on -Tethys. But her satisfied repose was interrupted almost before it was -begun. Swarms of techmen seemed to burst from the dome and take her -over. Welders and physicists, naval architects and shipfitters, all -armed with voluminous blueprints and atomic torches set to work on -her even before her tubes had cooled. Power lines were crossed and -re-crossed, shunted and spliced. Weird screen-like appendages were -welded to her bow and stern. Workmen and engineers stomped through her -companionways, bawling incomprehensible orders. And her crew watched in -mute dismay. They had nothing to say about it... - - * * * * * - -Ivy Hendricks rose from her desk as Strike came into her Engineering -Office. There was a smile on her face as she extended her hand. - -"It's good to see you again, Strike." - -Strykalski studied her. Yes, she hadn't changed. She was still the Ivy -Hendricks he remembered. She was still calm, still lovely, and still -very, very competent. - -"I've missed you, Ivy." Strike wasn't just being polite, either. Then -he grinned. "Lover-Girl's missed you, too. There never has been an -Engineering Officer that could get the performance out of her cranky -hulk the way you used to!" - -"It's a good thing," returned Ivy, still smiling, "that I'll be back at -my old job for a while, then." - -Strykalski raised his eyebrows inquisitively. Before Ivy could explain, -Cob and Celia Graham burst noisily into the room and the greetings -began again. Ivy, as a former member of the _Cleopatra's_ crew, was one -of the family. - -"Now, what I would like to know," Cob demanded when the small talk had -been disposed of, "is what's with this 'Project Warp'? What are you -planning for Lover-Girl? Your techmen are tearing into her like she was -a twenty-day leave!" - -"And why was the _Cleopatra_ chosen?" added Celia curiously. - -"Well, I'll make it short," Ivy said. "We're going to make a hyper-ship -out of her." - -"Hyper-ship?" Cob was perplexed. - -Ivy Hendricks nodded. "We've stumbled on a laboratory effect that -warps space. We plan to reproduce it in portable form on the -_Cleopatra_ ... king size. She'll be able to take us through the -hyper-spatial barrier." - -"Golly!" Celia Graham was wide-eyed. "I always thought of hyperspace as -a ... well, sort of an abstraction." - -"That's been the view up to now. We all shared it here, too, until -we set up this screen system and things began to disappear when they -got into the warped field. Then we rigged a remote control and set up -telecameras in the warp...." Ivy's face sobered. "We got plates of -star-fields ... star-fields that were utterly different and ... and -_alien_. It seems that there's at least one other space interlocked and -co-existent with ours. When we realized that we decided to send a ship -through. I sent a UV teletype to Admiral Gorman at Luna Base ... and -here you are." - -"Why us?" Cob asked thoughtfully. - -"I'll answer that," offered Strike, "Lover-Girl's a surge circuit -monitor, and it's a safe bet this operation takes plenty of power." He -looked over to Ivy. "Am I right?" - -"Right on the nose, Strike," she returned. Then she broke into a wide -smile. "Besides, I wouldn't want to enter an alien cosmos with anyone -but Lover-Girl's family. It wouldn't be right." - -"Golly!" said Celia Graham again. "Alien cosmos ... it sounds so creepy -when you say it that way." - -"You could call it other things, if you should happen to prefer them," -Ivy Hendricks said, "Subspace ... another plane of existence. I...." - -She never finished her sentence. The door burst open and a -Communications yeoman came breathlessly into the office. From the -ante-room came the sound of an Ultra Wave teletype clattering -imperiously ... almost frantically. - -"Captain Hendricks!" cried the man excitedly, "A message is coming -through from the Proxima transsender ... they're under attack!" - -Strykalski was on his feet. "Attack!" - -"The nonhumans from Eridanus have launched a major invasion of the -solar Combine! All the colonies in Centaurus are being invaded!" - -Strike felt the bottom dropping out of his stomach, and he knew that -all the others felt the same. If this was a war, they were the ones -who would have to fight it. And the Eridans! Awful leathery creatures -with tentacles ... chlorine breathers! They would make a formidable -enemy, welded as they were into one fighting unit by the functioning of -the group-mind.... - -He heard himself saying sharply into Ivy's communicator: "See to it -that my ship is fueled and armed for space within three hours!" - -"Hold on, Strike!" Ivy Hendricks intervened, "What about the tests?" - -"I'm temporarily under Research and Development command, Ivy, but -Regulations say that fighting ships cannot be held inactive during -wartime! The _Cleopatra's_ a warship and there's a war on now. If you -can have your gear jerry-rigged in three hours, you can come along -and test it when we have the chance. Otherwise the hell with it!" -Strykalski's face was dead set. "I mean it, Ivy." - -"All right, Strike. I'll be ready," Ivy Hendricks said coolly. - - * * * * * - -Exactly three hours and five minutes later, the newly created -hyper-ship that was still Old Aphrodisiac lifted from the ramp outside -the Substation dome. She rose slowly at first, the radioactive flame -from her tubes splashing with sun-bright coruscations over the loading -pits and revetments. For a fleeting instant she was outlined against -the swollen orb of Saturn that filled a quarter of Tethys' sky, and -then she was gone into the galactic night. - -Aboard, all hands stood at GQ. On the flying bridge Strykalski and -Coburn Whitley worked steadily to set the ship into the proper position -in response to the steady flood of equations that streamed into their -station from Bayne in the dorsal astrogation blister. - -An hour after blasting free of Tethys was pointed at the snaking river -of stars below Orion that formed the constellation of Eridanus. - -When Cob asked why, Strike replied that knowing Gorman, they could -expect orders from Luna Base ordering them either to attack or -reconnoiter the 40 Eridani C system of five planets. Strykalski added -rather dryly that it was likely to be the former, since Space Admiral -Gorman had no great affection for either the _Cleopatra_ or her crew. - -Ivy Hendricks joined them after stowing her gear, and when Whitley -asked her opinion, she agreed with Strike. Her experiences with Gorman -had been as unfortunate as any of the others. - -"I was afraid you'd say that," grumbled Cob, "I was just hoping you -wouldn't." - -The interphone flashed. Strike flipped the switch. - -"Bridge." - -"Communications here. Message from Luna Base, Captain." - -"Here it is," Strykalski told Cob. "Right on time." - -"Speak of the devil," muttered the Executive. - -"From the Admiral, sir," the voice in the interphone said, "Shall I -read it?" - -"Just give me the dope," ordered Strike. - -"The Admiral orders us to quote make a diversionary attack on the -planet of 40 Eridani C II unquote," said the squawk-box flatly. - -"Acknowledge," ordered Strykalski. - -"Wilco. Communications out." - -Strike made an I-told-you-so gesture to his Executive. Then he turned -toward the enlisted man at the helm. "Quarter-master?" - -The man looked up from his auto-pilot check. "Sir." - -"Steady as she goes." - -"Yes, sir." - -"And that," shrugged Ivy Hendricks, "Is that." - - * * * * * - -Three weeks passed in the timeless limbo of second-order flight. Blast -tubes silent, the _Cleopatra_ rode the curvature of space toward -Eridanus. At eight and a half light years from Sol, the second-order -was cut so that Bayne could get a star sight. As the lights of the -celestial globe slowly retreated from their unnatural grouping ahead -and astern, brilliant Sirius and its dwarf companion showed definite -disks in the starboard ports. At a distance of 90,000,000 miles from -the Dog Star, its fourteen heavy-gravity planets were plainly visible -through the electron telescope. - -Strykalski and Ivy Hendricks stood beside Bayne in the dorsal blister -while the astrogator sighted Altair through his polytant. His long, -horse face bore a look of complete self-approbation when he had -completed his last shot. - -"A perfect check with the plotted course! How's that for fancy dead -reckoning?" he exclaimed. - -He was destined never to know the accolade, for at that moment the -communicator began to flash angrily over the chart table. Bayne cut it -in with an expression of disgust. - -"Is the Captain there?" demanded Celia Graham's voice excitedly. - -Strike took over the squawk-box. "Right here, Celia. What is it?" - -"Radar contact, sir! The screen is crazy with blips!" - -"Could it be window?" - -"No, sir. The density index indicates spacecraft. High value in the -chlorine lines...." - -"Eridans!" cried Ivy. - -"What's the range, Celia?" demanded Strike. "And how many of them are -there?" - -The sound of the calculator came through the grill. Then Celia replied: -"Range 170,000 miles, and there are more than fifty and less than two -hundred. That's the best I can do from this far away. They seem to -have some sort of radiation net out and they are moving into spread -formation." - -Strike cursed. "They've spotted us and they want to scoop us in with -that force net! Damn that group-mind of theirs ... it makes for uncanny -co-ordination!" He turned back to the communicator. "Cob! Are you on?" - -"Right here, Captain," came Cob Whitley's voice from the bridge. - -"Shift into second-order! We'll have to try and run their net!" - -"Yes, sir," Whitley snapped. - -"Communications!" called Strike. - -"Communications here." - -"Notify Luna Base we have made contact. Give their numbers, course, and -speed!" - -Ivy could feel her heart pounding under her blouse. Her face was -deadly pale, mouth pinched and drawn. This was the first time in battle -for any of them ... and she dug her fingernails into her palms trying -not to be afraid. - -Strykalski was rapping out his orders with machine-gun rapidity, making -ready to fight his ship if need be ... and against lop-sided odds. But -years of training were guiding him now. - -"Gun deck!" - -A feminine voice replied. - -"Check your accumulators. We may have to fight. Have the gun-pointers -get the plots from Radar. And load fish into all tubes." - -"Yes, sir!" the woman rapped out. - -"Radar!" - -"Right here, Skipper!" - -"We're going into second-order, Celia. Use UV Radar and keep tabs on -them." - -"Yes, Captain." - -Strike turned to Ivy Hendricks. "Let's get back to the bridge, Ivy. -It's going to be a hell of a rough half hour!" - -As they turned to go, all the pin-points of light that were the stars -vanished, only to reappear in distorted groups ahead and behind the -ship. They were in second-order flight again, and traveling above light -speed. Within seconds, contact would be made with the advance units of -the alien fleet. - -Old Aphrodisiac readied herself for war. - - * * * * * - -Like a maddened bull terrier, the old monitor charged at the Eridan -horde. Within the black hulls strange, tentacled creatures watched -her in scanners that were activated by infrared light. The chlorine -atmosphere grew tense as the Tellurian warship drove full at the -pulsating net of interlocked force lines. Parsecs away, on a frozen -world were a dull red shrunken sun shone dimly through fetid air, -the thing that was the group-mind of the Eridans guided the thousand -leathery tentacles that controlled the hundred and fifty black -spaceships. The soft quivering bulk of it throbbed with excitement as -it prepared to kill the tiny Tellurian thing that dared to threaten its -right to conquest. - -Old Lover-Girl tried gallantly to pierce the strange trap. She failed. -The alien weapons were too strange, too different from anything her -builders could have imagined or prepared her to face. The net sucked -the life from her second-order generators, and she slowed, like the -victim of a nightmare. Now rays of heat reached out for her, grazing -her flanks as she turned and twisted. One touched her atmospheric fins -and melted them into slowly congealing globes of steel glowing with a -white heat. She fought back with whorls of atomic fire that sped from -her rifles to wreak havoc among her attackers. - -Being non-entities in themselves, and only limbs of the single -mentality that rested secure on its home world, the Eridans lacked the -vicious will to live that drove the Tellurian warship and her crew. But -their numbers wore her down, cutting her strength with each blow that -chanced to connect. - -Torpedoes from the tubes that circled her beam found marks out in -space and leathery aliens died, their black ships burst asunder by the -violence of new atoms being created from old. - -But there were too many. They hemmed her in, heat rays ever slashing, -wounding her. Strykalski fought her controls, cursing her, coaxing -her. Damage reports were flowing into the flying bridge from every -point in the monitor's body. Lover-Girl was being hurt ... hurt badly. -The second-order drive was damaged, not beyond repair, but out of -commission for at least six hours. And they couldn't last six hours. -They couldn't last another ten minutes. It was only the practiced hands -of her Captain and crew that kept the _Cleopatra_ alive.... - -"We're caught, Ivy!" Strike shouted to the girl over the noises of -battle. "She can't stand much more of this!" - -Cob was screaming at the gun-pointers through the open communicator -circuit, his blood heated by the turbulent cacophony of crackling rays -and exploding torpedoes. "Hit 'em! Damn it! Damn it, hit 'em now! Dead -ahead! Hit 'em again!..." - -Ivy stumbled across the throbbing deck to stand at Strykalski's side. -"The hyper drive!" she yelled, "The hyper drive!" - -It was a chance. It was the _only_ chance ... for Lover-Girl and Ivy -and Cob and Celia ... for all of them. He had to chance it. "Ivy!" he -called over his shoulder, "Check with Engineering! See if the thing's -hooked into the surge circuit!" - -She struggled out of the flying bridge and down the ramp toward the -engine deck. Strike and Cob stayed and sweated and cursed and fought. -It seemed that she would never report. - -At last the communicator began to flash red. Strike opened the circuit -with his free hand. "All right?" he demanded with his heart in his -throat. - -"_Try it!_" Ivy shouted back. - -Strykalski lurched from his chair as another ray caught the ship for an -instant and heated a spot on the wall to a cherry red. Gods! he prayed -fervently. Let it work! - -A movement of the ship threw him to the deck. He struggled to his -feet and across to the jerry-rigged switchboard that controlled the -hyper drive's warp field. With a prayer on his lips, he slapped at the -switches with wild abandon.... - - * * * * * - -The sudden silence was like a physical blow. Strike staggered to the -port and looked out. No alien ships filled the void with crisscrossing -rays. No torpedoes flashed. The _Cleopatra_ was alone, floating in -star-flecked emptiness. - -There were no familiar constellations. The stars were spread evenly -across the ebony bowl of the sky, and they looked back at him with an -alien, icy disdain. - -The realization that he stood with a tiny shell, an infinitesimal human -island lost in the vastness of a completely foreign cosmos broke with -an almost mind-shattering intensity over his brain! - -He was conscious of Cob standing beside him, looking out into this -unknown universe and whispering in awe: "_We're_ the aliens here...." - -Ivy Hendricks came into the bridge then, a haggard look around her -eyes. "I came up through the ventral blister," she said, "Bayne is down -there and he's having fits. There isn't a star in sight he recognizes -and the whole hull of the ship is _glowing_!" - -Cob and Strykalski rushed back to the port, straining to see the -back-curving plates of the hull. Ivy was right. The metal, and to a -lesser extent, even the leaded glassteel of the port was covered with a -dim, dancing witchfire. It was as though the ship were being bombarded -by a continuous shower of microscopic fire bombs. - -Whitley found refuge in his favorite expression. "Ye gods and little -catfish!" - -Strike turned to Ivy. "What do you think it is?" - -"I ... I don't know. Matter itself might be different ... here." - -Strykalski found himself at the port again, looking out into the vast -stretch of alien void. Terror was seeping like dampness through him, -stretching cold fingers into his heart and mind. He realized that -everyone on board must feel the same way. It was the old human devil -rising from the pit of the primeval past. Fear of the unknown, of the -strange. And there was loneliness. From the dark corners of his mind, -the terrible loneliness came stealing forth. Never had a group of human -beings been so frighteningly _apart_ from their kind. He felt rejected, -scorned and lost. - -The others felt it, too. Ivy and Cob drew closer, until all three stood -touching each other; as though they could dispel the loneliness of the -unnatural environment by the warmth of human, animal contact. Celia -came into the bridge softly ... just to be near her friends. - -It was only the fact that they could return at will to their own -space ... and the danger of the questing Eridans ... that kept one or -all from crying out in utter childish fear. Celia Graham whimpered -softly and slipped her hand into Cob's. He squeezed it to give her a -reassurance he did not feel. - -Then Strike broke the spell. The effort was great, but it brushed away -the shadows that had risen to plague them from the tortured abyss of -racial memory. It brought them back to what they were: highly civilized -people, parts of an intricately technological culture. Their ship -was a part of that culture. The only part they could cling to. The -_Cleopatra_ demanded attention and service, and her demanding saved -them. - -"Cob," Strike directed with forced briskness, "Take over Damage -Control. See what can be done about the second-order drive." - -Cob pulled himself together, smiling as all the accustomed pieces -of his life began to fit together again. It didn't matter that they -were in an unknown cosmos. Damage Control was something he knew and -understood. He smiled thankfully and left the bridge. - -"Maintain a continuous radar-watch, Celia. We can't tell what we may -encounter here." - -"Yes, Captain," replied Celia gratefully. - -Strykalski reached for the squawk-box and called Bayne. - -"Astrogation here," came the shaky reply. In the exposed blisters the -agoraphobia must be more acute, reasoned Strike, and Bayne must have -been subconsciously stirred up by the disappearance of the familiar -stars that were his stock-in-trade. - -"Plot us a course to 40 Eridani C, Bayne," Strykalski directed. "On -gyro-headings." - -"What?" The astrogator sounded as though he thought Strike had lost his -mind. "Through _this_ space?" - -"Certainly," Strykalski insisted quietly. "You're so proud of your -dead-reckoning. Here's a chance for you to do a real job. Get me an -orbit." - -"I ... all right, Captain," grumbled Bayne. - -Strike turned to Ivy Hendricks. "Well, Captain Hendricks, this is some -gadget you have dreamed up out of your Project Warp," he breathed -shakily. "At least the fat's out of the fire for the time being...." - -Ivy looked out of the port and back with a shudder. "I hope so, Strike. -I hope so." - -They fell silent, seeking comfort in each other's presence. - - * * * * * - -The second-order drive repaired, Old Aphrodisiac moved out through the -alien space toward the spot where 40 Eridani C existed on the other -side of the barrier. - -The ship's tactical astrophysicist brought in some disturbing reports -on the stars that shone brightly all around her. They fitted the -accepted classifications in all particulars ... except one. And that -one had the scientist tearing his hair. The mass of every observable -body except the ship herself was practically non-existent. Even the two -planetary systems discovered by the electron telescope flouted their -impossible lack of mass. - -Ivy suggested that since the _Cleopatra_ and her crew were no part of -this alien cosmos, no prime-space instruments could detect the errant -mass. Like a microscopic bull in a gargantuan china shop, the Tellurian -warship existed under a completely different set of physical laws than -did the heavenly bodies of this strange space. - -It was pure conjecture, but it seemed well supported by the observable -facts. The hull continued to glow with its unnatural witchfire, and -soon disturbing reports were coming in from the Damage Control section -that the thickness of the outer hull was actually being reduced. -The rate was slow, and there was no immediate danger, but it was -nevertheless unnerving to realize that Lover-Girl was being dissolved -by _something_. Also, the outside Geigs recorded a phenomenal amount -of short radiation emanating _from the ship herself_. The insulation -kept most of it from penetrating, but tests showed that the strange -radiation's source was the glow that clung stubbornly to the spacer's -skin. - -A tense week passed and then the ship neared the spot where a -change over to prime-space could be effected. According to Bayne's -calculations, 40 Eridani C would be within 40,000,000 miles of them -when the ship emerged from hyper space. - -And then the Radar section picked up the planetoids. Millions of them, -large and small, lay in a globular cluster dead ahead. They spread out -in all directions for more than half a parsec ... dull, rocky little -worlds without a gram of detectable mass. - -All that waited for the _Cleopatra_ in her own cosmos was a hot -reception at the hands of the defenders of 40 Eridani C II, while here -was mystery at close range. Mystery that was not cosmic in scope ... -just a swarm of innocuous seeming planetoids ... the first explorable -worlds that they had neared in this universe. Strike decided to heave -to and examine their find. Ivy wanted samples and though no one said -it in so many words ... no one was anxious for another encounter -with the rapacious Eridans. With typically human adaptiveness they -had sublimated their fear of the unknown space in which they found -themselves. Curiosity took the place of fear and here was something -close at hand to probe. Anthropoid inquisitiveness prevailed. - - * * * * * - -The _Cleopatra_ slowed, stopped. Strike and Cob Whitley suited up and -armed themselves with spring-guns. In their clumsy space armor they -dropped through Lover-Girl's ventral valve into the void. The monitor's -glowing bulk retreated as they jetted toward the swarm of tiny worlds. -Their space suits, too, glowed with the witchfire, outlining them -against the eternal night. - -Back in the monitor's Communications shack, Ivy Hendricks and Celia -Graham stood with Bayne and the other officers around the two way -communicator that linked the two explorers with the ship. - -Out in space, Strike and Cob bound themselves together with a length of -thin cable. They dropped down under power toward the planetoid they had -selected to explore. - -"What's it like?" Ivy's voice crackled in their headsets. - -"Can't tell from this distance. We're still a good five miles away," -replied Strykalski. - -"Looks like any other planetoid to me," averred Whitley. - -"Maybe you'd better fire a shot into the surface before you try -landing, Strike," Ivy suggested. - -"Why?" - -"Just a hunch." Her voice sounded worried. - -"Okay, Ivy," Strike replied. "Cob, take a pot shot at it will you. You -should be able to hit it from here ... it's twenty miles wide." - -Cob was disgusted. "And me the best shot in my class back at the -Academy!" He drew his spring-gun and snapped a solid steel slug at the -looming worldlet.... - -What happened next, they never knew exactly. On the dark surface of the -planetoid a blazing bubble of white incandescence appeared, expanding -within split seconds to all but obscure the whole bulk of the disk. -It churned and whirled and flashed, mushrooming out in a hellish -coruscation of destruction. The blaze of light outlined the two men -and the ship and the planetoids within a fifty mile circle and the -expanding shock wave fanned out. It struck the two space armored men -to send them spinning wildly. The glowing bulk of the monitor reeled -and bucked. Strike felt himself whipping up and down at the end of the -cable that bound him to Cob Whitley. He felt himself being buffeted and -burned by the dazzling flare of atomic fire. The merciful blackness -spread itself like a curtain over his tortured eyes.... - - * * * * * - -Strykalski opened his eyes and stretched his battered body. His head -was bandaged, and he could feel the familiar tingle of paratannic -salve on his burns. Pain still throbbed in little red needles behind -his dazzled eyes. He drew a long rasping breath and looked around him. -He was in the _Cleopatra's_ infirmary. A Medic was standing near the -bulkhead. Cob lay on a bunk nearby. Ivy and Celia Graham were leaning -over him. - -"Great Space!" he muttered, "What happened?" - -"The shot Cob fired ... it ... it blew up," Celia said. - -"That's putting it rather mildly. But why? And how did we get back -here?" - -"Celia found you on the Radar," said Ivy, "And Bayne took a skeeterboat -out and picked you up after we got Lover-Girl back right side up." - -"Cob?" - -As though in answer to Strykalski's question, a low moan came from -the bandaged form of the Executive. "Ohhh.... Ye gods and ... little -catfish! I wish I ... had a Martini...." - -Strike smiled through cut lips. Cob was all right. He looked up at Ivy -again. "But what happened?" - -"Listen!" Ivy was saying excitedly, "I've got it! The answer! All the -answers, I think! The glowing of the ship ... the lack of mass for -everything native to this space ... the solid shot exploding!" - -Things were becoming clear to Strykalski now. Of course! He sat up -painfully. It was really simple enough when one thought it through. In -negative space.... - -Ivy went on. "Strike, the ship glows because there is matter -everywhere ... even in interstellar space. Not much, but enough to -bombard the hull with tiny particles. The radiation the Geigs picked -up is caused by atomic _disintegration_! We've had fission and fusion -for two hundred years now ... but this is the complete transmutation of -matter to energy! The complete utilization of atomic energy! And the -thing that causes it is the reaction between our kind of matter and...." - -"_Contraterrene matter!_" he exclaimed. "That's it, isn't it Ivy?" - -The girl nodded. "The charges of the atomic components are reversed in -this space! You would have made yourself into a ... a _bomb_ if you had -touched that planetoid out there!" Her face paled. "Oh, Strike! You -almost killed yourself!" - -Thoughts were boiling around in Strykalski's head now. An idea ... a -crazy, audacious idea was taking shape. - -He swung his legs over the side of the bunk. "Listen, Ivy ... in this -space, _we_ are the unnatural form of matter, and here we are sort of -walking bombs. Right?" - -She nodded, puzzled. - -"Well, what if we should transport some contraterrene matter back into -prime-space ... a planetoid for example ... what then?" - -The girl's face showed comprehension. "It would be the most devastating -bomb ever dreamed of. It would release every erg in its component atoms -the minute it came into contact with anything terrene!" She stopped -short, her eyes wide. "Strike!" - -"Would it work, Ivy?" he pursued. - -"Yes!" she gasped, "Yes, I think it would!" - -"Can we do it?" - -"I ... I think so. Lover-Girl has power to burn. And we could set up -the screens on two skeeterboats so that ... yes! By heaven, it will -work! All we have to do is make and set up the equipment!" - -Cob sat up on his bunk and gave a low whistle. "Ye gods! No one can -ever accuse you two of having small ideas, that's for sure!" - -"It will work!" Ivy insisted. Her eyes narrowed. She was all the -engineer now, working out a problem. "The explosion that almost killed -you and set Lover-Girl on her beam ends came from the annihilation of -one tiny slug of steel at a distance of five miles. Just think what the -destruction of a twenty mile planetoid will do when we...." - -"How long will it take?" Strike interrupted. - -"Give me six hours." - -"Start now," he ordered, "And somebody hand Cob and me our pants. We've -got work to do!" - - * * * * * - -The next hours were a nightmare of feverish activity aboard the T.R.S. -_Cleopatra_. Two of her six skeeterboats were fitted with hyper -screens that were made in the machine shop under Ivy Hendricks' close -supervision. Power was shunted from the surge circuit generators and -run out through automatic spools to the screen bearing skeeterboats -to form the two poles of the hyper warp. Ivy was everywhere at once, -giving orders, overseeing construction. Strike and Cob co-ordinated the -efforts of the crew and workmen. - -"We'll pick out our planetoid," Strike explained to them, "And line up -our skeeters on an arbitrary north-south axis. The spools will pay out -the power lines as the boats travel. When everything is aligned, we -turn on the juice and hope for the best." - -"Then," interjected Bayne, "as the planetoid takes its place in prime -space without orbital velocity ... and only some 4,000,000 miles -from 40 Eridani C ... we clear out. Fast. 40 Eridani C is an M6 -star ... surface temperature only about 3,000 Centigrade. It's -small ... smaller than Sol, because it has shrunk. But under its -semi-solid crust there are trillions of tons of matter that will burst -free as soon as anything cracks the surface tension. Our bomb should -act as a fuse to light one of the biggest fire-crackers ever imagined." - -"One thing," said Ivy to Strike, "whoever pilots the skeeters ... and I -presume you intend to handle one yourself ... will have to be extremely -careful. As soon as our planetoid exists in prime-space it will have a -planetoid's mass and gravity. Don't be caught with your jets cold. I'd -miss you, Strike." - -Celia Graham interrupted the conference to tell them that the equipment -was ready, and the ship in position. Strike looked around at the -suddenly tense faces of his companions. He didn't like to think what -failure might mean to them ... to Terra and the whole Solar Combine. He -rose to his feet purposefully. - -"Let's go," he said. - -The skeeterboat dove out of the valve trailing its cable. Strike -glanced back through the rear port to see the second shark-like shape -close behind. Even banged up as he was, Cob would let no one take the -second boat but himself. Strike's smile was broad. Good man to have -around, that Coburn Whitley. - -Ahead lay the tiny world that had been selected for annihilation. It -was a black blot on the star-spangled darkness of space. A thirty mile -sphere, it floated serenely along its orbit ... an innocuous chunk of -matter that _here_ was just that ... and elsewhere would be the most -fearful bomb ever guided by the hand of man. - -Strike looked back at the glowing shape of Old Aphrodisiac. She -lured him like a familiar scene, a friendly voice. In all this alien -vastness, only his beloved ship was safety. - -He looked around for Cob's skeeter. It was barely visible now, some -twenty miles away as it fanned out to take up its position at the south -pole of the planetoid. - -The tiny world drew near, and Strike veered to find his own station. -Jockeying the skeeterboat carefully, he found the proper spot marked by -the beacons that fanned out from the _Cleopatra's_ prow and stern. - -Cob signalled from the opposite pole that he, too, was ready. This, as -they said in the flicks, was _it_. - -He called Ivy on the radiophone. - -"All right, Strike," her voice came back, "We'll all go through -together. Ten seconds." - -"Check." - -"Remember to be ready to blast away from that chunk of rock, you two. -As soon as it hits prime-space it will have plenty of gravity." - -"Right, Ivy," Cob's voice came metallically. - -"Six seconds.... - -"Five seconds.... - -"Four seconds ... three ... two ... NOW!" - -Strike was dazzled by the sudden shift of lighting. The planetoid was -aglow with the dancing, swirling witchfire! The skeeterboat sank toward -the bright surface with a sickening lurch. Strike shoved the throttle -forward and looked fearfully for a flare of fire at the south pole. -There was none. Cob had gotten clear, too. The power cable snapped, but -it didn't matter now. Its work was done. - -The _Cleopatra_ lay ahead now, the fire gone from her hull. Behind her -blazed the familiar beacon of Achernar. Off to the right Sirius A and -B dominated the sky. And near at hand below, the turbulent, smoky red -surface of 40 Eridani C smouldered against the familiar backdrop of the -Milky Way. Already the contraterrene planetoid was plunging toward that -sullen sphere. There wasn't much time to get clear. - -Strike flung his skeeter through the open hatch close on the exhaust of -Cob's boat. Valves hissed shut and Lover-Girl flashed away--homeward. - - * * * * * - -One week later, and just off Sirius B, Old Aphrodisiac met the Eridan -fleet again, but with a difference.... - -This time the black ships made no move to stop her. Their actions were -incoherent, insane. They milled about in a swirling cluster, colliding -with their fellows or careening off into the void. - -They floundered erratically, their co-ordination shattered. Even any -evidence of intelligent guidance was missing. - -The _Cleopatra_ flashed by, not even deigning to fire a shot at them. - -Strike shuddered as he watched them in the scanners. In his mind he -could see the senseless, churning masses of flesh that lived mindlessly -within the black hulls. His thoughts flew far afield to an icy world -that had turned suddenly into an uninhabitable desert with temperatures -soaring past the melting point of lead. He saw a dull red sun pulsating -in cosmic agony, blossoming out into a menacing ball of white flame -as its internal fires leaped to freedom through its shattered crust. -He saw a star spending its failing substance prodigally in one bright -carnival of destruction. And he saw its planets writhing as the sudden -blast of heat speeded molecular velocities to the speed of escape and -sent great clouds of superheated chlorine hissing into the void. - -But best of all, he imagined the horrible death of a _thing_ that was -the sole co-ordinator and reasoning agent for a race of ugly tentacled -creatures. Strykalski saw the death of the Eridan group-mind.... - -Old Aphrodisiac settled herself wearily onto the ramp of the Hamilton -Field Spaceport. Her valves opened with a sighing sound. It was as -though the ship herself had given voice to her contentment. She was -home. - -The lights of the Administration building glittered against the dark -backdrop of the California hills, and the field lights flamed against -the stillness of the night. - -Strike and Ivy stood near the open port. "It's all over, Ivy," he said, -"We're safe now." - -Ivy raised her eyes to the sky where the stars flecked the night. Below -Orion hung the jewelled thread of Eridanus. - -The girl drew a shuddering breath. "It's a terrible thing to ... to -murder a star." - -Strike remained silent. There was nothing to say. - -It would take tardy light more than fifteen years to bring news of the -sudden flare of reckless life in that small star ... an orgy that would -sap its last reserves of strength and leave it a dark and frigid ember -in the lonely void. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Starbusters, by Alfred Coppel - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STARBUSTERS *** - -***** This file should be named 63855.txt or 63855.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/8/5/63855/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you - are located before using this ebook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - diff --git a/old/63855.zip b/old/63855.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 348a7b3..0000000 --- a/old/63855.zip +++ /dev/null |
