Rocket to Limbo

Lars grinned suddenly. “Tell you what, you flit around with your star maps, and I’ll plod, okay? But when we get to Vega III, I’ll know everything there is to know about the place. I’ll know what lands of bacteria and viruses can wipe out this ship, and what ones we can use for defense. I’ll know what we can use for food, and what we’d better keep away from. And I’ll know whether there’ll ever be a healthy colony of Earthmen on Vega III or not.”

Peter looked up at him. “Is that what all those reader-tapes are about?”

“That’s right.”

“Well, I like to see you keeping busy,” said Peter, “but it seems a little silly to me, considering that the Ganymede isn’t going to Vega III.”

For a moment Lars thought he had heard wrong. “What did you say?”

“You heard me. We’re not going to Vega III. We’re not going anywhere remotely near it.”

“But the dispatch bulletin—”

Peter snorted. “I know what the bulletin said. Routine run to Vega III for a final check on the new colony site. That’s what’s going out on all the news tapes, too, but it doesn’t happen to be true. I’ve been keeping my eyes open, and if this ship goes to Vega III I’ll eat those reader-tapes right off the spool.”

“Where do you think we’re going, then?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think anyone else on board does, either, except the skipper and the navigator, and they’re not telling. The navigator gave me a three-hour lecture on Koenig drive navigation this afternoon while he was setting up the coordinates, but he didn’t set them up for Vega or any place near Vega. He must have thought I didn’t know anything about interstellar navigation.”

“Maybe you don’t,” Lars said bluntly.

This hit a raw spot. “Look, he didn’t even put the ship in the right Sector! I could assemble and disassemble this ship’s navigation controls in my sleep, and I know those coordinates are fishy. But that’s not all, by a long way. Why all the secrecy? Colonial Security has had this ship under constant surveillance for a week. They’ve got agents all over the place. Special ID checks on all the crewmen. They’ve practically locked us in here since we came aboard. Why all the precautions if this is just a routine run to Vega III?”

Lars shook his head. “Maybe they’ve uncovered a sabotage attempt or something.”

“I doubt it. Nobody sabotages Colonial Service ships any more. And that wouldn’t explain the other things. Like all those questions Commander Fox was asking.”

“Questions?”

“About how we feel about the possibility of meeting up with intelligent aliens on some star system somewhere.”

Lars felt a chill go through him. He had heard that this was Walter Fox’s pet theme, that somewhere in the Universe intelligent aliens must exist, and that sometime, somewhere, men would encounter them. It was not a pleasant thought. There was enough danger and death to face in exploring unknown star systems without meeting hostile members of an alien race. It had taken the Colonial Service many years to quiet such fears, to convince colonists from Earth that there were no such aliens. And yet—

Peter grinned at him. “Shake you up. a little?” “It’s nonsense,” Lars snapped. “You’re making a big case out of nothing at all.”

“Oh, there’s nothing glaring about it, just little things. And one thing I forgot to mention that isn’t so little. The cargo we have aboard. It seems to be something very special, triple Security guard all the time it was being loaded. Some of the crates were very small and very heavy—weighed tons. And one of them broke open on the gantry coming up. The Security boys covered it in a hurry, but I happened to get a quick look.” The half smile formed on Peter’s lips. “Whatever was inside was wrapped in a lead blanket six inches thick. Now, what do you suppose a Star Ship could be carrying that would require shielding like that?”

The wall-speaker interrupted them with a series of squawks and squeals. Then Mr. Lorry’s voice flooded the compartment:

“All hands listen with care. The SS Ganymede will blast off in fifteen minutes. All hands strap down and wait for the broken signal. That will indicate the one-minute count-down. We will accelerate for one hundred and ten seconds on chemical thrust, then for seven minutes and twenty seconds on atomic thrust before the Koenig drive is activated. You will be uncomfortable, but this discomfort will pass. In each locker is a supply of amphetamine alkaloid to reduce the sensations of discomfort. You are advised to take two capsules now and a final capsule when the signal begins.” ,

The speaker went dead with a click. Lars and Peter stared at each other for a moment. They knew what to do. Throughout Academy there had been blastoff drills, landing drills, and drills to cover almost any kind of in-space emergency. But now for an instant they stood rooted to the floor.