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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..d3d67e6 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #66843 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66843) diff --git a/old/66843-0.txt b/old/66843-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 3394ef3..0000000 --- a/old/66843-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3123 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Battle for the Stars, by Alexander Blade - -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 -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Battle for the Stars - -Author: Alexander Blade - -Release Date: November 29, 2021 [eBook #66843] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BATTLE FOR THE STARS *** - - - - - BATTLE for the STARS - - By ALEXANDER BLADE - - Kirk had never seen the distant planet - called Earth, yet his squadron was now ordered - there--to stem the outbreak of a galactic war! - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy - June 1956 - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -It was well called the Dragon's Throat, thought Kirk. Throat of fire, -of burning suns, a cosmic blind-alley into danger! - -You made your decision. You threw a ship, a hundred men, your officers, -your friends, your own Commander's badge you threw them all down on the -gamble. But when the stakes were stars.... - -He said to himself, "The hell with it, we're committed." - -He said aloud, "Radar?" - -Joe Garstang, standing on the bridge beside him, answered without -turning. "Nothing has been monitored yet. Not _yet_." - -Kirk's palms itched. If they were running into an ambush, if Orion -heavy cruisers were waiting for them, they'd soon know it. There could -be ships all around them. Radar wasn't too dependable, in the howling -vortices of force-field energy flung out around this jungle of stars. - -Through the broad bridge-windows--the "windows" that were really -scanners cunningly translating faster-than-light probe rays into visual -images--there beat upon his face the light of a thousand suns. - -It was Cluster N-356-44, in the Standard Atlas. It was also hellfire -made manifest, to starmen. It was a hive of swarming suns, pale green -and violet, white and yellow-gold and smoky red, blazing so fiercely -that the eye was robbed of perspective and these stars seemed to crowd -and jostle and rub each other. Up against the black backdrop of the -firmament they burned, pouring forth the torrents of their life-energy -to whirl in terrific cosmic maelstroms. The merchant ships that boldly -drove the great darks between ordinary star-worlds would recoil aghast -from the navigational perils here. Only a fool--or a cruiser--would go -in here. - -There was a narrow cleft between cliffs of stars, with the flame-shot -glow of an immense nebula roofing it. The only possible way into the -heart of the cluster, this Dragon's Throat of starman legend. But -others had gone in this way. At least, so said the rumors, rumors -that had reached the squadron as far away as the Pleiades. Rumors too -factual, too alarming, to be ignored. - -Rumors of cruisers from the squadrons of Orion Sector, that had gone -into this cluster. Rumors of a secret base, on a hidden world. The -ships of Orion Sector had no business here. Neither, for that matter, -did the ships of Kirk's own Lyra Sector. This cluster was no-man's -land, part of the buffer zones that were supposed to reduce friction -between the five great Sectors of the galaxy. Actually, these stellar -wildernesses were the scenes of constant, nameless little wars. - -The five governors of the five great Sectors were, all of them, -ambitious men. Solleremos of Orion, Vorn of Cepheus, Gianea of Leo, -Strowe of Perseus, Ferdias of Lyra--they watched each other jealously. -Five great barons of the galaxy, paying only a lip-service allegiance -to the shadowy Central Council far away on a half-forgotten world -called Earth, in reality independent satraps of the stars, hungry for -space, hungry for power. Yes, even Ferdias, thought Kirk. Ferdias was -the man he served, respected, and even loved in a craggy sort of way. -But Ferdias, like the others, played a massive game of chess with -men and suns, moving his squadrons here and his undercover operatives -there, laboring ceaselessly to hold on to what he had and perhaps -enlarge his domain, just a little, a solar system here and a minor -cluster there.... - -And the game went on. Right now, Kirk thought he was probably heading -into a trap. But if Orion cruisers _were_ in here, he had to know it. A -hostile base here, if left to grow, could dominate all the star-lanes -from Capella to Arcturus. It was up to him as a squadron-commander, to -go in and find out. - -Kirk looked at the looming, overtopping cliffs of stars that went up -to the glowing nebula above and down to the black pit of absolutely -nothing below. - -He thought of Lyllin, waiting for him back at Vega. A starman had no -business with a wife. - -He said again, "Radar?" - -"Still nothing," said Garstang. His square face was no less grim than -Kirk's. He was captain of this flagship _Starsong_, and what happened -to her was important to him. "If there is a base here," he said, "we -should have come in with the whole squadron." - - * * * * * - -Kirk shook his head. He had made his decision and he was not going to -start doubting it now, no matter how lonely and exposed he felt. - -"That could be exactly what Solleremos wants. With the right kind of -ambush, a whole squadron could be clobbered in this mess. Then Lyra -would be wide open. No. One ship is enough to risk." - -"Yes, sir," said Garstang. - -"The hell with you, Joe," said Kirk. "Say what you're thinking." - -"I am thinking that the rumor mentioned cruisers, plural, indefinite. -We'd better catch them while they're all asleep." - -The _Starsong_ forged her way onward toward the two red suns at the end -of the Dragon's Throat. And Kirk thought that if he had made the wrong -decision, if the _Starsong_ never came back again, Ferdias would be -very angry. But that would not then make any difference to him. - -Looking up at the flaring, tumbling waves of the nebula, like the -underside of a burning ocean, Kirk said to Garstang: - -"Does it seem to you the pace is speeding up? I mean, this jockeying -for power between the Sectors has gone on a long time, ever since Earth -lost real authority. But it seems different lately, somehow. More -incidents, more feeling of something driving ahead toward a definite -goal, a plan and a pattern you can't quite see. You know what I mean?" - -Garstang nodded "I know." - -The computer banks clicked and chattered. Relays kicked, compensating -power, compensating course, compensating tides of gravitic force quite -capable of breaking a ship apart like a piece of flawed glass. The two -red binaries gave them a final glare of malice and were gone. They were -clear of the Throat. - -A star the color of a peacock's breast lay dead ahead. - -"Ready for approach," said Garstang. - -"Stand by," said Kirk. "We'll wait until the last possible minute to -shift. If they haven't picked us up already, maybe they won't." - -Garstang gave his orders. Kirk watched the blaze of peacock-blue grow -swiftly. No ambush in the Throat, so now what? Ambush on the world of -the blue star? Or nothing? A wild-goose chase, time and money wasted? -Or maybe Solleremos had planted those rumors to draw Kirk's attention -while a strike was made somewhere else. - -Suddenly Kirk felt very old and very tired. He had been in the squadron -for twenty years, ever since he was sixteen, and in all these twenty -years the great game of stars, the strain, the worry, had never let up. - -It must have been nice in a way, Kirk thought, in the old days a -couple of centuries ago when Earth still governed in fact, and all the -star-squadrons were part of the Galactic Navy, and the great battle was -with the galaxy itself and not with one another. - -"We're getting close," said Garstang. - -Kirk shook himself and got down to business. There followed a few -minutes of split-second activity, and then the _Starsong_ had shuddered -out of overdrive and was plunging toward a bright world almost -dangerously close to her. There was still no sign of any enemy, and the -communicators remained silent. - - * * * * * - -An hour later by ship's chrono they had located the one port of entry -listed for the planet and they had set the _Starsong_ down in the -middle of a large piece of natural desert that served well enough for -what space traffic ever came here. - -It was night on this side of the planet. There was no moon, but on a -cluster world a moon is a useless luxury. The sky blazes with a million -stars, so that day is replaced not by darkness but by the light of -another sort, soft and many-colored, full of strange glimmers and -flitting shadows. In this eery star-glow a town was visible about a -mile away. Otherwise there was nothing. No ships.... No legions of -Orion Sector. - -"The ships could be hidden somewhere," Garstang said. "Maybe halfway -around the planet, but waiting to jump us as soon as they get word." - -Kirk admitted that was possible. He put on his best dress uniform of -blue-and-silver, and strapped a portable communicator between his -shoulders. It rather spoiled the effect, but there was no help for -that. Garstang watched him. - -"How many men will you want?" he asked. - -"None. I'm going in alone." - -Garstang's eyes widened. "I won't come right out and say you're crazy." - -"I was here once before," said Kirk. "When old Volland was commander -and I was an ensign. These people are poor but proud. They have -traditions of long-ago splendor, claim their kings ruled the whole -cluster and so on. They dislike strangers, and won't let many in." - -"But if Solleremos' men are already here--" - -"That's the reason for the porto." Kirk frowned, trying to plan ahead. -"Exactly twenty minutes after I enter the town I'll contact you, and -I'll continue to do so at twenty-minute intervals. If I'm so much as a -minute late, take off and buzz hell out of the place. It'll give me a -bargaining point, anyway." - -Garstang said dourly, "A lot can happen in twenty minutes. Suppose -you're not able to bargain?" - -"Then you're on your own." - -In the airlock, open now and filled with a dry, stinging wind, Kirk -paused, looking toward the distant town, a lonely blot of darkness -between the star-blazing sky and the gleaming sand. Here and there in -it lights burned, but they were few and somehow not welcoming. - -"She's all yours," he said to Garstang. "If anything looks wrong to -you, don't wait for me. Take her away." - -"Yes, sir," said Garstang. - -Kirk smiled. He climbed down into the sand and began to walk. - -The town took shape as he approached it. The stone-built houses, mostly -round or octagonal, were scattered out with no particular plan. Under -the red and gold and diamond-colored stars that burned above them as -bright as moons, they looked curiously remote and evil, like old -wizards in peaked hats, peering with little winking eyes. The dry wind -blew, laden with alien scents. Apart from the wind there was no sound. - - * * * * * - -Three men met him at the edge of the town. They wore pale cloaks and -carried long staffs tipped with horn. They were all of seven feet tall. -They wore their hair high on their heads to accentuate this height, and -they were slender and graceful as reeds, walking along with a light -dancing step as though the wind blew them. But their faces in the -star-glow were smooth and secret, their eyes as expressionless as bits -of shiny glass. - -"What does the man from outside desire?" asked one of them, in the -universal speech. - -Kirk said, "He desires to speak with those others from outside who -enjoy your hospitality." - -But they were not going to make it that easy for him. Their faces -remained impassive, and the one who had just spoken said coolly, "Our -lord has wisdom in all matters. Perhaps he will understand your words. -I do not." - -They fell in around Kirk and moved with him into the wide sandy space -that went between the wandering houses. The nerves tightened up in -Kirk's belly, and his back felt cold. He looked at his wrist chrono, -carefully. There was no sound but the whispering of sand under their -feet. Garstang would be watching with the 'scope, but once he was in -among the houses he could no longer be seen. - -That was almost at once. The tall men walked on with their light -swaying stride, so that he had to move at an undignified trot to keep -up. The stone houses with their high roofs closed in behind him. This -dark and brooding town ill accorded with old tales of cluster-kings, he -thought. Yet the past held many things. - -When they were close to the center of the town, the leader stopped -beside a round structure from whose open door came light. - -"Will the man from outside enter the dwelling of our lord?" - -Kirk breathed a little easier as he went through the door. Apparently -there was no truth to the rumors that.... - -A chopping blow took him on the back of the head. He fell forward. He -was stunned but not unconscious, and he tried to roll over, thrashing -out blindly with his fists and feet. But at once there were men on top -of him, heavy solid men grinding his face into the gritty carpet, -pounding the wind out of him, holding him down. - -In a minute his hands were tied tight behind him and his ankles lashed -together. They cut the straps of the porto and pulled it off him. Then, -like a sack of meal, he was dragged to the wall and propped upright. - -In an absolute fury of rage, he spat blood out of his mouth and looked -up dizzily into the light. - -There were three or four men here, obviously not natives of this -planet, but he did not pay much attention to them. The one he looked -at stood apart, directly in front of Kirk, a lean dark iron-faced man -with very alert eyes, and the easy, dangerous manner of one who enjoys -his work because he is so admirably well fitted for it, as a cat enjoys -hunting. - -He said to Kirk, "My name is Tauncer." - -Kirk nodded. He looked with feral interest at this most famous of -Solleremos' agents. "I should be flattered, shouldn't I?" - -Tauncer shrugged. "We all do what we can, Commander. Each in his own -way." - -"Well," said Kirk. "What do you want?" - -"The answer to one simple question." - -His face came closer to Kirk's, very tense, very keen, searching for -any sign of evasion. - -He asked his question. - -"What is Ferdias planning to do about Earth?" - - - - - CHAPTER II - - -There was a long moment of complete silence, during which Kirk stared -wide-eyed at Tauncer, and Tauncer probed him with a gaze like a scalpel. - -On Kirk's part, it was a silence of sheer astonishment. No question -could have taken him so unexpectedly. He'd been prepared to be grilled -on squadron dispositions, forces in being, bases, all the things that -the men of Orion Sector would like to know about Lyra. But this-- - -It didn't make sense. Earth was not part of the present-day star -struggle. That old planet, so far back in the galaxy that Kirk had -never been within parsecs of it--it was history, nothing more. It had -had its day, its sons long ago had spread out to the stars and their -blood ran in the veins of men on many worlds, in Kirk himself. But its -great day had long been done, and the Sector governors who played the -cosmic chess-game for suns paid it no heed at all. - -"I'll repeat," said Tauncer softly. "What's Ferdias planning to do -about Earth?" - -"I haven't," said Kirk, "the faintest idea what you're talking about." - -Tauncer sighed. "Possibly." He straightened up. "Even probably. But -I've been sent here to make the inquiry, and I'll need more than your -word and an expression of innocence. Brix!" - -One of the other men came forward. Tauncer spoke to him in a low voice, -and he nodded, and went into the shadows across the room. Kirk's heart -pounded in alarm. He tried to get up, but he had been too well bound. -He could not see his chrono, but he did not think that more than seven -or eight minutes had elapsed since he had entered the town. Plenty of -time for mischief. He said to Tauncer, - -"I didn't walk into this with my eyes completely shut. My men have -instructions." - -"I'm sure they have. And don't feel too badly about this, Commander. -The details of the trap were based on a minute study of your psychology -and past record. It would have been almost impossible for you to avoid -falling into it. Can't you hurry that up Brix?" - -"All ready." Brix came back carrying a light tripod with a projector -mounted on it. And now Kirk's heart sank coldly into the pit of -his stomach. He had seen that particular type of projector before. -It was called a vera-ray, and it beamed electric impulses in a -carefully-controlled range that absolutely stunned and demoralized a -man's brain, making him temporarily incapable of lying or resisting -questioning. - -Kirk had no information about Earth to give away. But there were plenty -of other things in his mind, things of military importance to Lyra -Sector that Solleremos would be only too glad to get hold of. - -How long now? Ten minutes more? Too long. Even five minutes would be -too long, with that projector pounding his skull. - -He couldn't get up, but he could roll. He rolled, acting on a -split-second reflex that caught even Tauncer by surprise. The projector -was only four or five feet away. Brix and the other men were on top of -him again almost at once but not quite in time. He fetched the tripod -a thrashing kick, with both his feet bound together. It fell over. He -could not hope that it was broken, not on this soft carpeted floor, but -it would take them time to set it up again. - -He tried to keep them busy as long as he could, but Tauncer understood -perfectly well what he was up to. He pulled his men off and set Brix to -adjusting the projector again, and turned to Kirk. - -"You may as well spare yourself, Commander. I have my mission, and -the military have theirs. There are three cruisers standing off and -on, just out of radar range--they got word the moment you landed, and -they're already on their way." - -He smiled briefly. "The price you pay for fame, Commander. The Fifth is -Ferdias' elite squadron, and nobody gets command of it unless he's in -Ferdias' special favor." - -"Friendship is one thing," said Kirk hotly, "and favor is another. I -don't like your choice of words." - - * * * * * - -He was just talking, words, sounds with no meaning. Inside he was -thinking of Garstang and the _Starsong_, and all the lives of all the -men in her. He had led them here. - -He looked at Tauncer, and he began now to hate him, with a hate as deep -and cold as space. - -"Ferdias will tear your heart out," he said. - -"Perhaps," said Tauncer. "But he may have other things to occupy his -mind." - -"Earth? He's never been there. None of us have. It's only a name, and -a half-forgotten one at that. Why should Earth occupy his mind? Why, -Tauncer?" - -How long is twenty minutes? How long does it take three cruisers to -come from Point X beyond radar range to Target Zero? How long does it -take a man to realize he's through at last? - -Brix said again, "All ready." - -Tauncer nodded. - -Brix touched a stud on the projector. - -As though that touch had done it, a dull and mighty roaring echoed from -the desert--the full-throated cry of a heavy cruiser taking off. - -The men looked, startled, toward the door. Desperately, Kirk rolled -sideways, out of the force that was already battering at the edges of -his mind. - -"You out there!" he shouted at the doorway. "The men from outside -avenge treachery! Call your lord--" - -One of Tauncer's men kicked him alongside the jaw. Kirk shut up, -hanging with blind determination to his consciousness. Fore-thought had -provided this one chance. He would not get another. He did not dare to -miss it. - -The cruiser came low over the town. Dust sifted out of the cracks of -the stone walls. The men fell to their knees, covering their heads -with their arms. The floor rocked under them, beaten by the rolling -hammers of concussion. - -The ripped sky closed upon itself with a stunning, thundering crash. -After a minute or two the noise and the shock wave ebbed away. - -Silence. - -The men began to get up again. But Kirk did not move. - -The cruiser came back. This time it was even lower. Garstang must have -tickled her belly on the peaked roofs. Christ, thought Kirk, he's -overdoing it. This time the stones were shaking loose. When it was -over, a long thin shape came in through the doorway. It was the leader -of the tall men who had brought Kirk here. - -His face was a mask of fear and rage as he spoke to Tauncer. "You said -that if we helped you, you would keep all other outsiders away!" - -"We will," said Tauncer. "Listen--" - -"Yes, listen," mocked Kirk. "Listen to it coming back. It'll keep -coming back, unless I walk out of here--until your town is flattened." - -The tall man stood hesitating. Then the _Starsong_ roared back over. -When it was gone, he picked himself up and with a knife cut the cords -around Kirk's wrists and ankles. - -"Oh, no," said Tauncer, starting forward. "You can't--" - -The tall man turned on him a face livid with frustrated anger. "Shall -the children of cluster-kings be destroyed to serve _you_? Shall I call -my people in?" - -Kirk, scrambling to his feet, saw outside the door the crowd of tall, -pale-cloaked men who had gathered. Tauncer saw them too, and stopped. - -As Kirk picked up the porto and started for the door, the man Brix -cried violently, "Are we just going to stand here?" - -Tauncer said levelly, "Why, yes, there are times when you do just that. -But I think we'll see the Commander again." - - * * * * * - -Kirk went out through the door and through the crowd outside it. No one -followed him. He got the porto working and talked fast to Garstang, -then dropped the porto and sprinted out of the town toward the desert. - -The cruiser dropped down ahead of him, as black and big against the -stars as a falling world. The lock yawned open, and Garstang was inside -it to meet him. He started to ask what had happened, but Kirk pushed -him bodily away down the corridor, heading for the bridge. - -"Get in there and do your stuff, Joe. We've got three Orion cruisers on -our tail, as of the time we landed." - -At that moment they heard the voice of the radarman crying out in -sudden anguish, "Sir!" - -Garstang said in mild reproval, "You ought to give a man more time, -Commander. Radar, what's the bearing? All right, stand by--" - -Orders crackled over the intercoms. Men moved swiftly at the -control-banks. The last thing Kirk heard before the howling roar of -take-off drowned everything was Garstang complaining that this sort of -thing was hard on a ship. Then there was a dull crash from somewhere -outside. The _Starsong_ was shaken as though by a great wind. Both Kirk -and Garstang had weathered enough fire to know that she had taken no -hurt. But the Orion cruisers were in range now, bearing down on them in -normal space at planetary speeds. The next shell would likely be a good -deal closer. They dared not wait for star-room to go into overdrive. - -"Hit it!" yelled Kirk. Garstang threw the relays open. Sirens shrilled -and the lights went dim. The _Starsong_ shuddered vertiginously. - -And then they were in overdrive and racing out toward the twin red suns -that guarded the entrance to the Dragon's Throat. - -The scanners and ultra-speed radar came into play, replacing normal -instruments, making an illusion of sight. And the voice of the radarman -said dismally, - -"They're still with us, sir. F-Type cruisers, heavy-armed and plenty -fast." - -For the next quarter of an hour the _Starsong_ gained velocity at a -suicidal rate, but the Orion cruisers would not be left behind. The -radarman called their coordinates in a steady sing-song and Garstang -ordered more power and more power, keeping one eye on the stress -indicators and the other on the overhanging star-cliffs of the Throat -that seemed to be leaping toward the ship. - -There was a limit. You could not take the Throat too fast. In that -swarm of suns a ship's fabric could be torn apart in some swift tide -of gravity, or vaporized in collision. Garstang had already passed the -limit. But the Orionids were refusing to be bluffed. - -Kirk said nothing. This was Garstang's job, and he let him do it. -But he watched the indicators as closely as the captain. Under his -feet and all around him he could feel the _Starsong_ quiver, wincing -and flinching like a live thing now and again as some wild current -wrenched at her. His gaze flicked upward to the nebula, like a fiery -thundercloud above the Dragon's Throat, and then to the shoaling suns -below, with the narrow pass between them. The twin red stars of the -binary flashed by and were gone. - -Suddenly, in the screen that mirrored space astern, a tiny nova flared -and winked away. The _Starsong_ trembled, like a running deer that -hears the hunter's gun. - -"Wide astern," said Garstang. He looked at the cleft of the Throat and -shook his head. "But we'll have to slow down for that, and they know -it. They'll have time to range us before they come in themselves. They -won't," he added grimly, "have to come in." - -Kirk nodded. "So we'll fool them. We won't go into the Throat either." - -Garstang stood silent for a moment. Then he said, "I was hoping you -wouldn't think of that." - -"Have you a better idea? Or even a worse one?" - -"No." Garstang took a deep breath and spoke into the communicator. "New -course, north and zenith, forty degrees. We're running the nebula. On -full autopilot. If anyone wants to pray, go ahead." - - * * * * * - -The _Starsong_ shot upward, plunging high into an area so choked with -stellar radiance that it made the Dragon's Throat seem like empty -space. The manual control-banks were dark and dead. From the calc-room -back of the bridge a new sound came, different from the normal -occasional outbursts of chattering. This was a steady sound, a sound of -authority, the voice of the _Starsong_ speaking. She was flying herself -now. The men aboard, Captain and Commander, able spaceman and ensign, -were her charges, dependent on her wisdom and her radar vision and her -strength. There was nothing they could do but wait. - -The _Starsong_ spiralled higher, her radar system guiding her on a -twisting path between the clotted stars. Then Kirk saw a great glowing -edge slide onto the screen and grow into a vastness of dust and cosmic -drift illumined by the half-smothered stars it webbed. - -The Orionid cruisers had altered course and were coming after them. But -the _Starsong_ was already skimming through glowing arms that reached -like misty tentacles searching for other stars to trap and feed upon. -Once in the cloud, she would be screened from the cruiser's radar beams -by the most effective scrambling device in space, the nebula itself. - -Effective. Yes. But potentially as deadly as Orionid warheads. The only -difference was that with the nebula you had a chance. Against three -cruisers you had none. - -Kirk strapped himself into the recoil chair beside Garstang. Nothing -moved now within the ship. The frail, breakable organism of breath and -heart and bone were encased in protective webs. This was the hour of -the ship, the hour of steel and flame and the racing electron, faster -than thought. - -The _Starsong_ spoke to herself in the calc-room, and plunged headlong -into the cloud. - - - - - CHAPTER III - - -The universe was swallowed up in golden light, in racing, streaming -tides of luminous dust. Like an undersea ship of old the _Starsong_ -raced with the gleaming currents and burst through denser, darker deeps -where the stars were faint and far away, to leap once more into a glory -of wild light where the drowned suns burned like torches in a mist. And -the voice in the calc-room rose to an unhuman crying as the computers -strained to take in the overwhelming surge of data from defensive -radar, analyze it, and send imperative commands to the control-relays. - -It had almost a sound of insane music in it, that voice, and the -_Starsong_ danced to it, whirling and swaying between the fragments of -the drift that threatened her with instant destruction if she faltered -for a fraction of a second. Kirk, half-dazed, clung to his padded chair -and gasped for breath, and felt, and listened. - -The same illusion gripped him now that had mastered him before when -forced to run a cloud--the feeling that the suns and star-worlds were -all gone, that he was enwrapped in the primal fire-mists of creation. -Mighty tides seemed to bear the ship forward, everything was a boil and -whirl of light, millrace currents seemed to rush them endlessly through -infinity, with all space and time cancelled out. He wondered briefly, -once, how the Orionids were doing, and then forgot them. The agony, -the intoxication, the godlike joy and the terror were far too great to -admit any petty worries about anything human. - -Then, with almost shocking abruptness, they broke into clear space, and -the cloud was behind them. Like men enchanted waking from a dream, Kirk -and Garstang shook themselves and stood erect again, and the voice of -the _Starsong_ was stilled, and human voices spoke once more. - -And human problems were still with them. Somewhat farther astern now, -but still doggedly following, three tiny flecks of darkness came after -them out of the cloud. - -Kirk went into the com-room and made contact with his squadron far -ahead. He gave crisp orders, and then rejoined Garstang on the bridge. - -"Larned's on his way," he said. "Can you keep clear?" - -"I can," said Garstang, and ordered full power. He had nothing between -him and the Pleiades now but light-years of elbow room, and he took -full advantage of it. The Orion cruisers apparently had intercepted -Kirk's message, and made a frantic last attempt to overhaul him. - -When that proved impossible, and their trial shots fell so far short -that it was obvious the range could not be made before the _Starsong_ -reached the point of convergence with the squadron, they turned tail -and ran back for the cluster. When the squadron did arrive, space was -empty of everything but themselves and the distant stars. - -The hard, excited voice of Larned, Kirk's Vice-Commander, came rapidly -as they joined the squadron. - -"So there _is_ an Orionid base in there! By God, we'll soon--" - -"No," Kirk cut in. "There was no base in there. There was a trap, for -me--only I still don't know just why they set it." - -He went to the com-room and set up a message on the coding machine. -Top secret, to Ferdias at Vega, briefly detailing his encounter with -Tauncer. - -_"--am unable to explain interest in Earth, and your plans concerning. -Suggest attempt to distract from some other objective? Await -instructions. Kirk."_ - -In a remarkably short time the answer came back. - -_"Report Vega at once with full squadron." And it added, -"Unfortunately, no distraction. Ferdias."_ - -Looking at the cryptic tape, Kirk had an uneasy feeling that he had all -unknowingly stepped over one of those thresholds into a new phase of -existence, where nothing was going to be quite the same as it had been -ever again. He had once more that premonition that the pace, the tempo -of the great game for suns, was about to step up still faster. - -He said nothing of that to Garstang or the others. To them, the -unexpected recall to home base meant an unlooked-for leave. And to him, -it would mean returning to Lyllin sooner than he had hoped. But even -that could not quite banish his uneasiness. - -The squadron wheeled in tight formation and set its course toward the -great blue-white sun that burned in Lyra, capital of a mighty Sector -that was in everything but name an empire of stars. - -When they made their world-fall, when the squadron swept down through -the bluish glare over Vega Town and landed on the spaceport, Larned -came at once from his own ship. The Vice-Commander, a blocky, brusque -and competent young man, bristled with questions. - -"What the devil is all this about, Kirk? Pulling us in like this--" - -"I haven't an idea," Kirk said. "But I'm about to find out. Call Lyllin -for me and tell her I'll be along soon." - - * * * * * - -An air-car with a uniformed driver took him across the great city. It -was really two cities. The older city of graceful white towers had been -built long ago by the native Vegans, Lyllin's people. But then, more -than a century ago, the starships had come to Vega, the first wave of -explorers and colonizers from the inner galaxy. They had not been all -Earthmen, even though that wave had first started from Earth. By the -time they reached here, Earthmen had already mixed and mated with many -other human star-folk. It was these newcomers who had built the new -part of Vega Town. - -It was to the newer city that the air-car took him, to the looming, -dominating mass of Government house. A lift took him down from the -roof, and he went through the corridors, a tall man with a faintly -worried look on his copper-bronzed face. Efficient secretaries shunted -him smoothly and quickly into a room few people ever entered. - -It seemed a small room, to be the center of government of so many -stars. For this was the center--the Sectors each had their elected -legislatures but it was the Governors who wielded the power. - -"Stop saluting, Kirk," said Ferdias. "You know you're at ease when you -step in here." - -Ferdias came around the desk. He limped, from the crash of a Class -Twenty long ago. But you never remembered his limp, or how small a man -he was. You saw only his face, and when you saw it you knew why, at the -age of forty, he was one of the five great Governors. - -"Now let's have it," he said. - -Kirk let him have it, the full story of the trap in the cluster. And -Ferdias' face got just a trifle longer. - -He said, finally, "You had no business going in alone. But since you -got out, I'm glad you did it. For I'm sure now of what I only suspected -before. In his eagerness to find out how much I know, Solleremos has -told me what I _wanted_ to know." - -Kirk, frankly puzzled, said, "I just don't get it. What is Ferdias -planning to do about Earth? What plans _would_ you have about it?" - -Ferdias limped back to his chair, and sat down, and then looked up -keenly. "Kirk, you're at least half Earth blood. Tell me, how do you -feel about Earth?" - -Kirk said, "But I've never been there. You know that--I was born in -a transport off Arcturus, and have never been farther back in than -Procyon." - -"I know. But what do you think about Earth?" - -Kirk made a gesture. "What's there to think about? It's a third-rate -planet, from what I hear, important only because star-flight began -there. Its Galactic Council tried to hold all the galaxy together in -one government, but of course that proved impossible. Hell, it's hard -enough to hold a Sector together, let alone the whole galaxy." - -"But Earth isn't any of the Sectors, of course," said Ferdias. - -Kirk looked at him keenly. "Of course not. Sector Governors don't -touch Earth's small federal district...." He stopped. He said, after a -moment, "Or do they? Do they, Ferdias?" - -"Solleremos would like to," said Ferdias. - -Kirk was astonished. "You mean, he wants to take _Earth_ into Orion -Sector?" - -"He wants to very much indeed," said the other. "Listen, Kirk. -Solleremos' pressure on our borders lately has been only cover-up. It's -Earth he's after." - -"But _why_? That unimportant little star system--" - -"Is it so unimportant?" Ferdias' blue eyes, hot and flaring now, -fascinated Kirk. "Materially, maybe it is--a worn-out, third-rate -world. But psychologically, it's a very important world indeed. Think -of the Earth blood mingled in all the galaxy races now--in you and in -me, in half the civilized peoples! Think of the feelings they have, -perhaps without altogether realizing it, toward that old planet they've -never seen! They know it no longer directs things, they know its -Council and Navy are a shadowy sham--but still it's Earth, it's the -old center of things, the old heart-world. Suppose one of the other -Governors gets Earth into his Sector, and speaks from it thereafter?" - - * * * * * - -Kirk saw it now. He realized, not for the first time, that when it came -to galactic intrigue he was a babe in arms. - -It _would_ give any of the rival Governors a colossal psychological -advantage, to make the old center of the galaxy his seat of government. -Commands that came from Earth would have a psychological potency hard -to withstand. - -"But you're not going to let Solleremos get away with it?" he exclaimed. - -"No Kirk. _I_ don't want Earth. But I'm not going to let Orion Sector -grab it, either!" - -He went on. "Solleremos knows I'll try to stop him. That's why he had -Tauncer, his right-hand man, set that little trap for you. They know I -trust you. They hoped I'd have told you how I plan to block them." - -Kirk looked at him, and then said, "How _are_ you going to stop them?" - -Ferdias said, "There's a big celebration coming up on Earth soon. -The two-hundredth anniversary of the first space-flight from Earth. -It means a lot to them. Their Council invited me to send an official -delegation to represent Lyra Sector. So I'm sending you." - -Kirk stared. "Me--to Earth? But what can _I_ do if--" - -Ferdias interrupted. "The Fifth Squadron will go with you. To take part -in the commemoration pageant, the fly-over." - -Now Kirk began to understand. "Then if Solleremos tries anything, the -Fifth will be there waiting for him?" - -"Exactly." Ferdias spoke the word like a wolf-snap. "I know Solleremos' -intentions. I know about when he plans his grab for Earth. Earth can't -stop him, not with their small forces. But the Fifth can!" - -Kirk felt a bit stunned. Fighting the hidden border wars of the rival -Governors was one thing. But a full-fledged struggle between Sectors, -back there at old Earth, was quite another. It could rock the galaxy.... - -Ferdias went on matter-of-factly, "You'll take off five days from now. -You may be there a while, so you'll take full supply auxiliaries and -transports." - -Kirk looked up. Transports meant the families of all personnel would -accompany the squadron--and that meant Lyllin would go with him. He was -glad of that. - -"But when we get there," he said. "Besides taking part in that -celebration, what do we _do_?" - -Ferdias said, "Go and look up your ancestral home." - -"My--what?" - -"Ancestral home. Place where the Kirks came from, on Earth. I had it -hunted out, and it's still standing. It's in Orville, a place near the -city New York. You go and look it up first thing." - -Kirk began to get it. "You'll send me orders there?" - -"You'll hear from me. And you'll get warning if Solleremos moves on -Earth. But Kirk--one more thing." - -"Yes?" - -"You're not to talk of this to anyone. _Anyone._" - - * * * * * - -Kirk, as the air-car took him homeward across the city, hardly saw the -brilliant Vegan capital flashing by beneath. He was badly worried. A -deadly, secret galactic struggle was moving toward crisis, and he was -not the man to combat conspiracies, he was no good at plots and plans. -But--and his jaw set hard--if Solleremos _did_ try to grab Earth by -force, there was one thing the Fifth was very good at, and that was -fighting. - -He couldn't tell Lyllin about any of this, not against Ferdias' strict -injunction. But at least she would be going with him this time, and -that would be good news to her. He strode eagerly into the metalloy -cottage that was home to him. Its familiar rooms were cool and silent. -He found Lyllin waiting for him on the terrace. - -The blue sun was touching the hills, and the sky was flooded with a -purple dusk. Lyllin came toward him. She was all Vegan and looked it, -her flesh showed pale as new gold, with the darker masses of her hair -picking up the same tint and turning it to copper. She was dressed in -the fashion of her own people, in a chiton so mistily transparent that -her fine slender body seemed to be draped in a bit of the oncoming dusk -itself. - -He held her, and then told her his news, and was surprised that it did -not seem to make her happy. "To Earth?" she murmured. "Just for the -space-flight anniversary? It's strange--" - -"But this time you'll be with me," he said. "Not on the voyage--you'll -ride transport, of course--but on Earth, all the time I'm there." - -"How long will that be, Kirk?" - -He didn't know, and said so. Lyllin's face shadowed subtly. But she had -a way of silence, and it was not until later that night that she spoke -of it. - -She said, suddenly, "I shall hate it at Earth." - -Kirk was shocked. "But why in the world? That's ridiculous. A place -you've never seen, and hardly know about--" - -"It's your place, your people. Not mine." She was not looking at him. -"You'll be going home. But what will they think of me there? What will -_you_ think of me there, among your own people?" - -Kirk turned her around with rough and angry hands. "I'm ashamed of you. -If you could even think a thing like that--" He shook her. "Listen to -me. Earth is no more to me than it is to you. It's a name, a place -where my grandfather five times removed happened to be born. I've as -much blood of other worlds in me as Earth blood. And as for you--" - -Her eyes had tears in the corners of them, now. Her mouth was soft and -uncertain, like a child's. He said, in a different tone, "No matter -where we go, you'll be Lyllin. And I'll love you." - -She came close in the circle of his arms, and she kissed him with a -wild possessiveness. And her lips were bitter with those sudden tears. - -But Kirk felt that she was not convinced. She had the Vegan pride, and -if they treated her at Earth like a freak, an alien.... - -In the depth of his soul, he cursed Solleremos and his ambitious -schemes. For the worry that was in him had deepened. The danger that -the Fifth was going into, the danger that would explode if that -unscrupulous grab for the old planet was attempted, was not the only -one. He felt now that beside that there was another, subtler danger -waiting for Lyllin and himself at Earth. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - - -The squadron was out of overdrive, cruising at normal approach -velocity. There was a sun ahead in space. Compared to the blazing -giants of deep space, it was not much, merely a small yellow star -looking rather lonely in the midst of a great emptiness. Kirk studied -it. The Sun. Not just any sun, _the_ Sun. How should he feel about -it? Like a child seeing its father for the first time, or like a man -returning to an ancient hearth that has long ago lost any meaning for -him? Kirk searched his heart, and nothing came. It was only another -star. - -Garstang touched his arm and pointed, to where far off a little green -planet swung to meet them. - -"Earth." - -The squadron rushed toward it, the cruisers and supply-ships and -transports, the men and women and children, strangers from the far -reaches of the galaxy. And yet not quite strangers either, for the -names that had come from this world were still among them, and the -traditions, and even some of the blood. Two hundred years ago, their -forefathers had left it. And now they were coming back. - -A quiet had settled on the bridge. Kirk supposed it was the same with -the whole squadron, everybody staring and thinking his or her own -thoughts. He wondered what Lyllin was thinking, and wished she were -with him instead of back there in one of the transports. - -Earth came closer. He could see clouds, and the white splash of a polar -cap. Closer still, and there were seas, and the outlines of continents. -Colors began to show more clearly, and the land became ridged with -mountain chains. Great lakes took form, and dark-green areas of forest, -and winding rivers. A nice world. A pretty world. Kirk hated it. Its -other name was Trouble. - -"Why did Ferdias have to pick _us_ for this job?" - -Unconsciously he had spoken aloud, or loud enough for Garstang to hear. -"It's only for a visit," said Garstang. "Just a celebration. What's -wrong with that?" His tone was mild, without mockery. - -But Kirk looked at him sharply. He knew that Garstang and Larned and -all his other officers and men must have been talking and wondering. -Wondering why they'd been pulled out of their needful place for this -rather meaningless celebration. - -They came down past the shoreline of a blue-green ocean, past a city -that sprawled over islands and peninsulas and up inland river valleys, -and then beneath them was a big spaceport. The squadron roared in to -its appointed landing, bristling on its best behavior, every ship set -down with masterly precision, and there was a crowd assembled there to -meet it. Flags whipped in the wind. The brassy music of a band blared -out, immensely stirring with a solemn throb of drums beneath it. - -The men of the Fifth debarked and formed in marching order, every boot -polished and every uniform immaculate, a solid line of blue and silver -glittering in the soft blaze of this golden sun. Kirk felt the heat of -it in his face. His heels struck solidly on the ground, and the wind -touched him, balmily, laden with fragrances strange to him. And he -thought, "This is Earth." He looked around at it. - -He could see only the spaceport, and that was old and worn and poor. -The tarmac was cracked and blackened, the ancient buildings weathered. -Opposite the squadron were drawn up twelve cruisers with the old -insigne of the Galactic Navy on their bows, and with their crews -standing at attention in front of them. Those old, small ships--why, -they were Class Fourteens, obsolete for years! He supposed they were -all Earth had. - -Two men walked toward him. One was a middle-aged civilian, the other an -arrow-straight, elderly man in black uniform that also bore the old -Navy insigne. He stiffly returned Kirk's salute. - -"Nice landing, Commander," he said. "I'm First Admiral Laney, and I -welcome your squadron." - - * * * * * - -Incredulously, Kirk realized that the old admiral was keeping up the -pretense that the Fifth Squadron was still part of the Navy. - -It was so preposterous it was funny! Not for a century had the old -Galactic Navy had any real existence. Its staff never sent any orders -out to the squadrons of the five Governors, any more than Central -Council dared send orders to the Governors themselves. Yet this old -Earth officer was trying hard, in front of the crowd, to act as though -he really were Kirk's superior officer.... - -Then, seeing the faintly desperate look in Laney's eyes, Kirk softened. -After all, what difference did it make--it was only a pretense and he -felt sorry for the old chap trying to play this part. - -He saluted again and said, "Fifth Squadron, Kirk commanding, reporting -for orders, sir!" - -A look of grateful relief crossed Laney's face. He said uncertainly, -"At ease, Commander. Let me present Council Chairman John Charteris." - -Charteris, a graying, eager, anxious man, shook hands warmly. He began -a little speech, into the tele-cameras close by. "We welcome back one -of the gallant squadrons of the Galactic Navy to take part in our -commemoration of--" - -When the speeches and handshaking and bandplaying were over, Kirk gave -an order, and his men broke ranks. Larned came up to him. - -"Shall we debark our people now?" - -The old admiral told Kirk, "Quarters are all ready for them." - -Charteris said, "But you and your wife, Commander, must be my guests." - -They walked back between the lofty, looming ships. The women and -children and babies of the men of the Fifth started coming out of the -transports, and efficient Earth officers began smoothly shuttling them -into cars to take them to their quarters. From around the fences, a big -crowd of Earth folk watched interestedly. - -Of a sudden, for the first time his men's families seemed a little -outlandish to Kirk. The women and children were of so many different -star-peoples, so many different ways of speech and dress. He looked -resentfully for amusement in the Earth faces, but could not detect any. - -At the transport he excused himself and went in to Lyllin's cabin. He -stopped short when he saw her. He had never seen her like this. She -wore an Earth-style dress of impeccable lines, was perfect in a smart, -sophisticated way. She still didn't look like an Earthwoman, not with -that skin and eyes and hair. But she looked stunning, and he said so. - -"I'm glad I look civilized enough for your people," Lyllin said sweetly. - -"My people?" Kirk drew back stiffly. "So you're still brooding on that? -That's fine. I'm not in a tough enough spot here, my wife has to get -super-sensitive and make it tougher." - -Lyllin's expression changed. "What kind of spot?" He was silent. She -looked at him steadily. "It's something dangerous, isn't it?" - -"I'd have told you if it were something I could tell you," he said. -"You know that. Will you forget it? And forget about these people being -_my_ people!" - -He went out with her, and Lyllin went through the introductions, cool -and proud. Kirk told Larned aside, "Two-day leaves for all personnel -in regular rotation. Port facilities will take care of refitting and -fueling." - -Larned grunted. "I've seen better facilities on fifth-rate planets. -Plenty old! But we'll make out." - -Charteris' car swept them along a broad highway to New York. It had a -stiff, strange look to Kirk, its vertical towers huddled together bold -and black against the setting sun. He thought it a cramped and crowded -place, though Charteris' terrace apartment high above the myriad lights -was pleasant. - -There was a dinner there that night, and drinks, and more speeches, and -much talk about the Commemoration. Sector politics were unobtrusively -avoided. Kirk fretted and worried through it all. What was Solleremos -doing, where were his squadrons? Ferdias had said he'd get warning if -they moved, but would that warning come in time? - -In the morning, he found Charteris oddly changed. He looked at Kirk -with a queerly doubtful expression. - -Kirk said, "Before we make arrangements about the Commemoration, I--" - -"Oh, there's no hurry about that," Charteris said hastily. Then -suddenly he asked, "Do you know if Orion Sector will send a token -squadron too?" - - * * * * * - -Alarm rang a bell in Kirk's brain instantly. What was behind the -question? Had Charteris heard something that he hadn't? - -He answered, "Why, no, I don't. But surely you would know--" - -Charteris continued to eye him with that dubious expression as he said, -"We sent an invitation to Governor Solleremos to take part, of course. -But doubtless we'll soon hear from him." - -Kirk thought swiftly, he _has_ heard something--something that he -doesn't want me to know! But what? Was Orion already moving, were -Orionid forces coming to Earth on the excuse of the celebration, just -as he had? - -He'd get no information from Charteris. He'd better contact Ferdias, -as quickly as possible. He was only a naval commander, and he felt an -enormous desire for definite orders in this crisis. He could only get -such orders at the rendezvous Ferdias had told him to go to. - -Kirk said casually, "While I'm here on Earth I want to look up my -ancestors' old home here, and now would be a good time. It's in -a village not too far away, I understand. If we could borrow a -ground-car--" - -Charteris seemed glad to comply. "Of course. A sentimental pilgrimage, -in a way? Very understandable--" - -Kirk refused the offer of a driver. But by the time he and Lyllin got -out of New York and were rolling northward, he almost regretted that -decision. It seemed ridiculous for a man who could pilot a squadron -half across the galaxy in full overdrive, but the traffic frightened -him. He hadn't done much driving, and certainly none on highways like -this big northern boulevard. On this crowded Earth, people apparently -still used ground-cars in great numbers for short distances, and it was -not until they branched off on a subsidiary highway that Kirk felt easy. - -He said then, "I want to explain about this ancestral home business." - -Lyllin, looking straight ahead, said, "You don't have to explain. It's -perfectly natural that you should want to see where your people came -from." - -"Will you stop behaving like a woman and listen?" he said angrily. -"_My_ people, again. What the devil would I care where my seventh -great-grandfather lived. I'm doing what Ferdias ordered." He added, "I -wasn't supposed to tell you even that, but I couldn't very well go off -on this supposed sentimental pilgrimage without you." - -Lyllin's expression changed. "Then there'll be someone from Ferdias to -meet you there secretly, is that it? And I'm not to know about what?" - -"That's it," he said. "Ferdias' orders were not to tell anyone." - -He thought that Lyllin looked somehow relieved. "I don't mind. I'm -worried, I wish I knew, but it's all right if you can't tell me." - -It came to him that she was relieved to learn he didn't really care -about his Earth ancestors, that that had only been an excuse. - -Kirk felt a sharp relief himself, to be on his way to Orville, to the -old house there where Ferdias' agent would be waiting to tell him what -to do. In this gathering crisis he couldn't act blindly! It was vital -to get directive information as soon as possible. - -They turned off the big boulevard onto quiet, tree-lined back roads. -These roads were old and rambling, accomodatingly twisting around hills -and ponds and even houses. Some of the houses were modern chromaloy -villas, but there were antique stone houses also, and once he and -Lyllin both exclaimed when they saw a very old house that was built all -of wood. - -Out here away from the city, everything looked ancient. Stone fences -that had the moss of centuries on them, a steepled church mantled thick -with ivy, worn fields that had been tilled for ages. In the fields, -driverless automatic tractors were lumbering about their work, but -there seemed little bustle or activity. Kirk thought that this was an -old, worn world.... - -A brilliant bird flashed across the road and he and Lyllin argued what -it was. "A robin, I think," Kirk said doubtfully. "In school, when I -was little, we had an old Earth poem about Robin Redbreast. I didn't -know then what it was." - -"Not nearly so splendid as a flame-bird," Lyllin said. "But the red of -it, and the green trees, and the blue sky.... It's a pretty world, in -its way." - - * * * * * - -They rolled finally down a little hill and over a bridged stream into -the town of Orville. It was only a village, with shops around a big -open square. There was a corroded statue of a soldier at the center of -the park, and benches on which old men sat in the sun. - -Kirk asked directions of a merchant standing in front of his shop, -a chubby man who stared open-mouthed at the two visitors. And Kirk -suddenly realized how strange indeed they must look in this sleepy -little Earth village--he in his blue-and-silver starman's uniform, his -face dark from foreign suns, and Lyllin whose beauty was a breath of -the alien. - -He was glad to drive on out of the village, on the designated road. It -was an even more rambling road, looping casually along the side of a -shallow valley whose neat farms and fields and woods lay silent in the -blaze of the soft golden sun. They met no other ground-cars, though -an occasional air-car hummed across the blue sky. Kirk kept counting -houses, and when he had counted five he turned in at a lane, and -stopped. - -The house was of field-stone, an ancient, brown dumpy structure that -had a faintly forlorn, deserted look. Under the big, stiff, dark-green -trees in its front yard--were they the trees called "pines?"--the grass -was high and ragged. The lane went on past the house, past an orchard -of gnarled trees heavy with green fruit, to a big old barn. There was -no one in sight, and no sign that anyone was here. - -"Are you sure it's the place?" asked Lyllin. - -He nodded, moving toward the porch. "It's the place. Ferdias had -his agent here buy it, weeks ago, so we'd have this quiet place for -contacts. There should be someone here." - -There was a bell-push at the door, but no one answered it. Kirk tried -the door. It swung open, and they went in. - -They went into a room such as they had never seen before. The walls -were of painted wood, instead of plastic. The furniture was wooden too, -and of archaic design. The room, the house, were very silent. - -"Look at this," said Lyllin, in tones of surprise. - -She was touching a chair, and the chair rocked back and forth on its -bottom. "I thought it was a child's toy but it's not made for a child." - -He shook his head. "Beyond me. And it's beyond me too why Ferdias' man -isn't here!" - -He called, but there was no answer. He went through all the rooms, and -there was no one. - -Kirk felt a mounting alarm. Had something gone wrong with Ferdias' -careful plans? Where was Ferdias' agent, where was the man who should -have met him in this secret rendezvous with the information and orders -he must have? - -Suppose that man didn't come--who then could give him warning of -Solleremos' strike, if Orion _did_ strike? - - - - - CHAPTER V - - -Kirk stood, his dismay and anxiety increasing by the minute. What was -he going to do? - -He said, finally, "We'll have to wait. Ferdias' man is bound to be -along soon." - -"You mean--perhaps stay here all night?" said Lyllin. "But food, and -beds--" - -"We'd better look around," he said unhappily. - -They found fairly new blankets on the beds. And in the old kitchen -cupboards was food in the self-heating plastipacks. - -"We can make out," he said. "But it's a hell of a thing." - -While Lyllin prepared their supper, he went out and restlessly walked -around the place. The weedy yard ran into brushy fields and nearby -woods. The old barn was empty, and the outbuildings were shabby and -forlorn. - -He did not think much of Earth, if this was a sample. He went back -inside, and helped Lyllin solve the puzzle of an ancient sink. Even the -reddening sunset light pouring through the windows could not make the -old wooden walls and worn cupboards look less dingy. - -He said so, and Lyllin smiled. "It's not so bad. We'll eat out on that -back porch--it's less musty there." - -The porch was not screened, and friendly insects dropped in upon them -as they ate. The whole western sky was a flare of red, great bastions -of crimson cloud building ever higher. Under the sunset, beyond the -fields, the ragged woods brooded darkly. - -A small animal came soundlessly out of the high grass and stared at -them with greenish eyes. - -"What is it, Kirk--a wild creature?" - -He looked. "It's a cat, that's what it is. An Earthman in the -_Stardream_ had one for a pet, kept it at Base. He called it Tom." He -tossed a bit of food onto the step. "Here, Tom." - -The cat stalked carefully forward, eyed them coldly, then bent to the -food. After a moment it turned its back on them and departed. - -Darkness fell. Kirk began to feel a little desperation. Ferdias' man -hadn't come. What if he didn't come at all? How long could they wait in -this forgotten backwater, not knowing what was going on out there in -deep space? - -Lyllin said, "Isn't it possible your man is waiting in Orville, that -village--and doesn't know you're here?" - -"It could be, I suppose." Kirk grasped at the straw. "I'll go down to -the village. If he's there, he'll see me. Mind waiting--just in case -someone does come here?" - -She said she didn't mind. But he took the compact shocker from his -coat-pocket and left it for her before he went out. - -Kirk drove rapidly down the lonely, dark road to the village. But the -little town looked dark and lonely too, when he got there. The shops -were almost all closed. He saw only a few people. It was very quiet. In -the shadows of the square, the old iron soldier stood stiffly. - -The lights of a tavern caught Kirk's eye, and he went toward it. It -seemed about the only place where his man might be, and he needed a -drink anyway. He shouldered in, and instantly a small buzz of talk -fell silent. Kirk went to the bar, and the men at the farther end of -it followed him with their eyes. The tavern-keeper, a bustling, skinny -man, hurried up and tried to act as though a deep-space naval Commander -was no unusual visitor at all. - -"Yes, sir, what'll it be?" - -Kirk's eyes searched the rack of unfamiliar bottles. He shook his head. -"You pick it. Something strong and short." - -"Yes, sir, some fine old whisky right here." Whisky--well, he'd heard -of that. He drank it, and didn't like it. He let his eyes rest on the -other man. Could one of them be Ferdias' agent? - -He didn't think so. Most of these men looked like farmers or -mechanics, hearty-looking, sunburned men, the younger ones tall -and gangling. One was a very old man with a straggling beard who -shamelessly stared at Kirk with bright, beady eyes. They weren't -unfriendly, but they were aloof. Kirk had an idea he'd get little out -of this insular bunch. He might as well go--none of these could be -Ferdias' man. - -But as he set his glass down, the bearded old man limped forward, -peering bright-eyed and inquisitive at him. - -"You're the fellow who was asking directions to the old Kirk place -today," he said, almost accusingly. - -Kirk nodded. "That's right." - - * * * * * - -The old Earthman was obviously waiting for an explanation. It occurred -to Kirk that he'd better give one, if he didn't want this whole -countryside wondering audibly why a starman had come here. - -He said, "Kirk's my name. My great-great something grandfather, a long -time ago, came from here. I'm just looking up the old place, that's -all." - -He turned to go then, feeling that he was wasting time here. But one of -the middle-aged Earthmen came forward to him with hand outstretched. - -"Why, if your folks came from here, that makes you sort of an Orville -boy, doesn't it? What do you know about that! Vinson's my name, -Captain." - -"Commander," Kirk corrected, as he shook hands. "Glad to know you. I -guess I'll be on my way." - -"Say, now, not without me buying you a drink," boomed Vinson. "Not -every day one of our own boys comes back from way out there." - -There was a chorus of agreement, and more outstretched hands, and -hearty introductions. Kirk stared at them in wonder. What in the -world--Then he got it. - -All over space, the pride of Earthmen was proverbial, and their -clannishness. He'd met it and he didn't like it. He was therefore all -the more astonished now, that they should suddenly accept him as one of -their own. Seven generations, and the whole width of the galaxy between -him and this place, yet they claimed him as "one of our own boys"! - -He wanted to get out now, he'd found no trace of Ferdias' agent here -and time was passing, but it wasn't easy to get out. More men kept -coming into the tavern, as word got around, to shake hands with and -buy a drink for the "Orville boy" from far-off space. Vinson, a -jovial master of ceremonies, rattled on with introductions Kirk only -half-heard--"Jim Barnes, whose farm's up beyond your folks' old place", -"here's old Pete Marly, he can remember when there were still Kirks -living there," on and on until in desperation, Kirk thanked them and -shouldered toward the door. - -"Have to go, my wife's waiting," he said, and a friendly chorus of -voices bade him good-night, "I'll ride with you far as my own house," -said Vinson. - -Kirk was sweating as he drove out of the village. A hell of a way to -conduct a secret job, with the whole village bawling his name! And it -had got him nowhere-- - -Vinson's house was the second on the same road. As he got out of the -car, he said, "Sure does beat all, your coming back from so far. Shows -it's a small world." - -"It's a small galaxy," Kirk said, and Vinson nodded. "Sure is. Well, -I'll be seeing you. Drop over. Good-night." - -As Kirk drove on, he was faintly startled by an upgush of yellow light -that silhouetted the bending trees ahead. A great segment of silver -was rising in the sky. Then he realized--it was that moon that they'd -passed on their way in. - -The moon of Earth, the "Moon" of the old Earth poems people still read. -Not too impressive, but pretty. But how the threads of all you'd read -and heard kept subtly running back to this old planet! He supposed -some of these flowers whose fragrance he could smell on the warm night -air were "roses". Funny, how much you knew about Earth that you didn't -realize you knew. - - * * * * * - -The old road gleamed beneath the rising moon. He glanced up at the -star-pricked sky. Had the Kirk who was his seventh grandfather, all -those years ago, looked at the starry sky as he walked this same road? -He must have. He'd looked too long, and finally he'd gone out to that -sky and not come back. - -The house was dark when he turned in at the lane, but he saw Lyllin's -dim figure sitting on the front porch. - -"No. No one came," she said, as he sat down beside her. - -"And no sign of any agent of Ferdias in the village," Kirk said. "A -fine thing. We'll have to wait." - -They sat a while in the soft warm darkness. Kirk's thoughts were more -and more gloomy. They couldn't wait here forever, yet he had to make -contact as Ferdias had ordered-- - -Strange, glowing little sparks of light drifted across his vision, and -now he became aware that the whole dark yard and woods were swarming -with such floating sparks. They winked on and off, in a fashion he had -never seen, dancing and whirling under the dark trees. - -"What are they?" asked Lyllin, fascinated. - -"Fireflies?" Kirk said doubtfully. "I remember that word, from -somewhere...." - -Then he suddenly started and exclaimed, "Hell, what--" - -A small sinuous body had suddenly plopped into his lap. Two green eyes -looked insolently up at him. It was the cat. - -"It's very tame," said Lyllin. "It must have been somebody's pet." - -"Probably belonged to the last people who lived here," Kirk said. "It's -tame, all right." - -He stroked its furry back. The cat half-closed its eyes and emitted a -rusty purring sound. "Like that, eh, Tom?" - -Tom settled down cozily, in answer. Lyllin reached to stroke its head. - -With startling swiftness, the cat recoiled from her and leaped off -Kirk's lap. It stared green-eyed back at them, then started across the -lawn. - -Kirk turned, laughing. "Crazy little critter--" He stopped suddenly. -"Lyllin, what's the matter?" - -She was crying and he had rarely seen her cry. "Did it scratch you?" - -"No. But it feared me, and hated me," she said. "Because it knew I'm -alien." - -Kirk said, "Oh, rot. The wretched beast is just afraid of strangers." - -"It wasn't afraid of you. It sensed that I'm different--" - -He put his arm around her, mentally cursing Tom. Then, as he wrathfully -looked after the cat, Kirk stiffened. - -Tom had started across the lawn toward the dark brush nearby. But the -cat had stopped. And, as Kirk looked, Tom suddenly emitted a hiss and -recoiled. It went away from the dark clumps, in long swift leaps. - -Kirk's thoughts raced. The cat had recoiled from that brush, exactly -as it had recoiled from Lyllin. For the same reason? Because someone -alien, not of Earth, was in those shadows? He thought he could hear a -slight sound, and his muscles suddenly strung tight. Ferdias' agent -wouldn't approach so secretly. Non-Earthmen skulking in those shadows -meant only one thing. - -He said, "Come on in the house and forget it, Lyllin. I could stand -another drink--" - -But instantly, when inside the house, Kirk made a lunge toward the -nearest bedroom and grabbed for the blankets there. He tossed one of -the blankets to Lyllin with frantic speed. - -"Wrap it around your head--_quick_!" - -She was intelligent. But she was not used to obeying orders instantly -and without question "Kirk, what--" - -He grabbed the blanket out of her hands and started wrapping it many -times around her head, speaking in a whisper as he did so. - -"Out there. Someone. If they want to be quiet about it, they're sure to -use a sonic knockout-beam. _Hurry_--" - - * * * * * - -He pulled her to the floor. The blanket swathed her head. He wrapped -the other one around his own head, fold after fold. They lay, tense, -waiting. - -Nothing happened. - -He thought how foolish they would look, lying on the floor with their -heads swathed, if nothing at all did happen. - -He still did not move. He waited. - -A series of small sounds began in the back of the house, just vaguely -audible through the blanket-folds. A chattering of windows, creaking -and rattling of beams, clink of dishes. - -The sounds came slowly through the house toward them. _Chatter, -rattle_--leisurely advancing. He knew then he'd guessed right. The -sonic beam itself was pitched too low to hear. But it was sweeping the -house. - -It hit them. Lyllin stirred suddenly with a small sound, and Kirk -gripped her arm, holding her down. He knew what she was feeling. He -felt it himself, the sudden shocking dizziness, the keening inside his -head. Even through the swathings of thick blanket, the beam made itself -felt. Without protection they'd already be unconscious. - -The shock passed. The beam was sweeping on to the front of the house. -Kirk remained on the floor, his hand still holding Lyllin's arm. He'd -used sonics himself. He had a pretty good idea of how this one would be -used. - -He was right. The small, half-audible sounds of the house and its -shuddering contents came walking back toward them. - -_Chatter--clink. Rattle--clink--_ - -It hit him again, and he set his teeth and endured it. And again it -passed them, and once more the kitchen dishes started talking. - -Kirk suddenly thought of the unsuspecting Earth folk in the nearby -farms, sleeping peacefully in their old houses, without ever a dream -that in their quiet countryside, alien folk from the stars were pitted -in a secret struggle that had this whole ancient planet as its prize. - -The sounds shut off abruptly. Kirk unwrapped his head, and twitched at -Lyllin till she did the same. He made a warning motion to her, to keep -down, and he himself crawled forward to the old living-room. He had the -little shocker in his hand now. - -In a corner of the living-room, behind a grotesque old table, he -waited. There was no sound at all. - -Then there was one. Footsteps, on the porch outside--coming fast and -confidently to the door. - -A man came into the room. He wore a dark space-jacket and slacks, he -carried a shocker, and he walked like a dancing panther. - -Kirk knew him. - -His name was Tauncer. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - - -Behind Tauncer came an older man, as gray and solid and rough at the -edges as an old brick. He could have been an Earthman, and probably -was. He was loaded down with a porto, and some other piece of equipment -in a carrying case slung over his shoulders. - -Taking no chances at all, but allowing himself to feel a deep and -vicious pleasure, Kirk fired from behind the table. - -Even so, warned by some faint sound or perhaps only by the instinct of -the hunter, Tauncer swung toward him in the instant before the burst of -energy hit. He did not quite have time to fire. The impetus of the turn -made him hurtle halfway across the room to hit the floor headlong. - -The brick-like man was slower. He had only managed to open his mouth -and lift his hand halfway toward his armpit when Kirk's second blast -dropped him quietly where he stood. - -Kirk got up. He found that he was shaking. He looked down at Tauncer, -thinking how easily a man could die, flexing his fingers in a hungry -way. Lyllin came into the open doorway, and he said angrily, - -"You were to stay back there." - -Her eyes did not leave his face. She murmured, "Yes. I did wrong." -Then, looking at the sprawled bodies, "Are they dead?" - -"We're not out on the Sector frontier," Kirk growled. "I wish we were. -But here on these old planets they take violence seriously. No, I just -used stunning bursts on them." - -He rummaged the house until he found wire, and bound the hands of the -two men very securely behind them. Then he searched them. He did not -find any documents, which was no surprise. He removed a shocker from -the brick-like man, and took it and the porto and the heavy carrying -case far out of reach. - -The carrying case contained a vera-ray projector with its tripod -collapsed. Possibly the same one Tauncer had tried to use on him in the -cluster world. Tauncer seemed extremely fond of the vera-ray. Probably, -in his business, he never traveled without one. - -He gave Lyllin the shocker that Tauncer had dropped. "Watch them. Back -in a moment." - -He went out and rapidly, carefully, searched the grounds of the old -farmhouse. He found the sonic device squatting heavily behind a bush. -He stood by it for some moments, perfectly still, listening, but there -was no sound except the faint stirring of the breeze. There did not -seem to be anyone else around. Tauncer and the Earthman must have -come alone. Kirk frowned. He picked up the sonic device and stood -for a second longer, uneasy but baffled. There was no sign of an -air-car. They must have landed far back in the woods to avoid betraying -themselves by the noise of the motors. But he could not search the -whole woods, not tonight. - -He went back to the house. - -"They're coming around," said Lyllin. She was sitting in a chair in -front of the two bound men, watching them. She rocked back and forth in -a rhythmic motion, making the old floorboards squeak. "Look," she said, -in a voice just a little too high, "I found out what this queer chair -is for. It's rather pleasant." - -"I don't find it so," said Tauncer suddenly. "The creaking irritates -me." He opened his eyes, and Kirk had the feeling that he had been -keeping them closed for some time, shamming, while he took stock of the -situation. - -"Well," he said to Kirk. "I'm an acknowledged expert with the -sono-beam. Would you mind telling me how you did it?" - -Kirk said, "We had warning--a friend of mine named Tom." He motioned -Lyllin to get up. "Go on in the other room, dear. I don't think you'd -enjoy this." - -She looked at him as though he was someone she had just met and was not -sure she liked. - -"Try to understand," he said. "I don't do this sort of thing every day. -It's hardly ever necessary." - -"Of course," she said. She went into the next room, and he shut the -door behind her. Then he sat down in the rocking chair, with the -shocker held ready in his hand. - - * * * * * - -Kirk looked at Tauncer. "I'm a peaceful man," he said, "visiting my -ancestral home. What did you want with me?" - -Tauncer smiled. There was something about him that made Kirk more and -more uneasy--a lack of concern, a deep-based confidence that didn't fit -a man in his position. - -Tauncer said gently, "You are the Commander of the Fifth Squadron, Lyra -Sector, awaiting orders from your Governor. You are wasting your time." - -Kirk's nerves tightened painfully, but he kept his face impassive. "Go -on," he said. "I'm listening." - -"Ferdias' agent was supposed to meet you here secretly with -certain--information." Tauncer spoke with deliberate clarity, as one -who explains some problem to a child. "He is not coming. We've known -who he is, for some time. And I got to him, before he ever left New -York." He nodded to the vera-ray projector across the room. "I used -that extremely useful invention on him, and of course he told me all -about this place and how he was supposed to meet you here. So I came -instead." - -Kirk looked at the vera-ray himself, but Tauncer shook his head. "It -wouldn't do you any good. The particular piece of information you -need--namely, when and where to move--is not known to me, and your -contact man had not received it yet either. When it does come through, -one of our men will get it--probably already have." - -Tauncer's eyes looked up brightly at Kirk, the eyes of the adroit and -wily man measuring the honest clod for another defeat. - -"You might just as well free me, Kirk. It was a good try, but your -cause is hopeless now." - -"Not as long as I'm on my feet," said Kirk, getting up. He was a very -angry man. "Not as long as the Fifth will follow me. If I don't get -orders, I'll make my own." - -"No," said a familiar voice behind him. "The Fifth isn't going -anywhere, Commander." - -Kirk whirled around. - -Joe Garstang was standing in the front door. He had a shocker in his -hand, pointing with rocklike steadiness at Kirk's breast. - -"Drop your weapon," said Garstang. - -A red haze swept over Kirk's vision. Through it he saw Garstang, -wavering and distorted. Blood hammered in his temples. "You," he said, -so choked with rage at this enormity that he could hardly form the -words. "My own captain. My friend. Traitor. Working for him--" - -Distant and strange in the red mist, Garstang's face became twisted as -though with pain. - -"I'm sorry," he said, and fired. - -Kirk fell onto the floor. Garstang must have pressed the stud back -to a light charge, because Kirk was still conscious and only partly -paralyzed. His own weapon dropped out of his nerveless fingers. - -Garstang came and kicked it away. Kirk flopped around like a gaffed -fish, trying to get his reflexes working again. He heard the inner door -open, and then Lyllin screamed, partly in fear but mostly in fury, -a purely animal sound. She went for Garstang, ignoring his shocker, -with a single-minded intent to kill. Her own hands were empty. She was -content with them. - -Garstang dropped his weapon in his pocket and caught her, holding her -hands away from his face and eyes. - -"Please," he said. "Please, Lyllin. He's not dead, he's not even hurt." -He turned to Kirk. "You should have dropped your shocker. I told you." -There was a fresh onslaught, and a red line sprang out on Garstang's -cheek. It began to drip slowly, small bright drops against the leathery -brown. "Kirk, for God's sake call her off," he said. - -Kirk managed to sit up. He mumbled, shook his head two or three times, -and finally the words were intelligible. "I'm all right. Come here, -Lyllin. Help me up." - -She relaxed then, dropping her hands. Garstang let her go. She hissed -at him in furious Vegan and then ran to Kirk. "I should have used that -weapon," she said. "I should have killed him. I forgot it. I'm sorry." -She began to struggle, trying to lift him. - - * * * * * - -Garstang went immediately into the next room. Through the open door -Kirk saw him look around and then pocket the shocker that Lyllin had -laid down and forgotten. Lyllin didn't notice, and he said nothing. -What was the use? - -"Push that chair over here," Kirk said. "Now don't worry, this'll wear -off. I'll be all right in just a few minutes. Yes. That's it." - -He sat in the rocker, rubbing his numb right arm with his left, trying -to stamp his foot, but he couldn't move it yet. He glared up at -Garstang, who had come and was standing near Tauncer, looking from him -to Kirk with a faint frown. - -Tauncer had not spoken, and he did not speak now. He sat where he was -and waited, and watched them. - -"Well," said Kirk, "what are you waiting for, Joe? Go ahead and untie -him." - -"No," said Garstang, shaking his head slowly. "No, I'm not going to -untie him." - -"Why not?" demanded Kirk bitterly. "Or have you decided to double-cross -him, too?" - -"I don't think you understand," said Garstang. "I'm not working with -Tauncer. I'm not working for Solleremos at all." - -Kirk stared, for a moment surprised out of his rage. "But then who--" - -"My loyalty," said Garstang, "is to Earth." - -"Oh, hell, that doesn't make sense," said Kirk. "You're no more -Earthman than I am--" - -"I am, Kirk. You never knew it, but I'm all Earthman. And I've been in -Earth Intelligence for fourteen years." - -Garstang went on slowly. "Earth may be old and partly helpless, but she -is not so blind as to let five powerful hungry Governors go unwatched. -We've seen this grab coming for a long time. The only thing we didn't -know, and couldn't find out, was which one of the five would try it -first. But now I think we know." - -"What do you think you know?" said Kirk. - -Garstang looked at him steadily. "Ferdias was the only Governor who -sent a squadron to Earth, for the Commemoration. Why?" - -Kirk cried, "To protect Earth from Solleremos! It's Orion who's going -to try the grab!" - -"I thought you'd say that, Kirk. Maybe you believe it. But ask -yourself--if that's so, why didn't Ferdias warn us openly? Why did he -have you sneak off to this undercover rendezvous?" - -Garstang shook his head. "No, Kirk. I think you're an honest man. And I -think you've been had. I think you've been had all the way." - - - - - CHAPTER VII - - -Kirk began to laugh. He laughed until tears of rage and desperation -stood in his eyes. - -"Christ," he said, "If Earth agents are all as bright as you are, Joe, -God help her." - -He pointed to Tauncer. "Allow me to introduce you. This is Tauncer, -Solleremos' right-hand man." - -Garstang nodded. "I know." - -"I've just fought him off, and now I have to fight you. A fine thing. -A damn fine thing. Listen, Joe. The Fifth was sent here by Ferdias to -protect Earth. Solleremos will attack--" - -"When?" asked Garstang. - -"I don't know. Ferdias' agent was supposed to meet me here and give me -final orders. Tauncer has taken care of that. Why do you suppose he did -that? Why do you suppose he came here and attacked me? He--" - -Garstang turned to Tauncer. "Yes," he said. "Why did you?" - -Tauncer said quietly, "You were perfectly right, Garstang. Ferdias -_has_ been planning to grab Earth. We knew that, in Orion. We had -to know when and how Ferdias would do it--and it was my mission to -find out. I was trying, there in the cluster. I tried here, but the -Commander was too much on guard." - -"You're lying," said Kirk between his teeth. "Not two minutes ago you -were telling me I couldn't stop Solleremos from taking over Earth. -Lyllin, you heard it--" - -Lyllin whispered, "I am sorry--but you sent me away from the room. -Remember?" - -Tauncer turned to the Earthman. "Harper will tell you I'm not lying. -You heard every word, didn't you, Harper?" - -The Earthman wrinkled his seamy cheeks and said in a tone of ringing -honesty, "I sure did." - -Kirk was not yet able to stand up and kill him, or Tauncer, so he shut -his jaws tight and tried to think. I mustn't be drawn into a verbal -slanging match, he thought. That's what Tauncer wants. The more I yell -and swear the worse I look. What must I do? Something. Something.... - -"--so we're going to act suddenly to disarm the Fifth Squadron," -Garstang was saying. "Charteris has been suspicious from the first, and -what I told him there last night made him more so. And--" - -"Disarm the squadron?" cried Kirk. "Are you insane?" He had a sudden -nightmare vision of the Orion ships sweeping in, of the cruisers and -transports of the Fifth disappearing in a storm of smoke and fire, the -men falling like dead leaves. - -"We can't take any chances," Garstang said, moving toward the phone. -"The Earth Navy--" - -"Ha!" - -"The Earth Navy," repeated Garstang, "is on full alert right now." - -"Solleremos will eat it up," said Kirk savagely. "Don't be a fool, -Garstang. I don't care how loyal you are to Earth, you've got to admit -her navy can't face Orion Squadrons for five minutes." - -Garstang hesitated. His face was grim and sad, and Kirk felt sorry for -him in spite of his anger. Garstang said, "We'll have to do what we -can. We'll fight enemies if they come, but we'll make sure first we -don't get stabbed in the back." - -He picked up the phone. A gleam of satisfaction crossed Tauncer's face. -Kirk saw it, and suddenly the inspiration came to him. - - * * * * * - -He exclaimed, "I've been an idiot! Listen, Joe--put that phone down. I -can prove what I said in three minutes. If I don't--then go ahead and -call." - -Garstang looked at him, frowning. - -Tauncer said, with the first edge of tension his voice had yet shown, -"Go ahead, Garstang, don't let him make a fool of you." - -Kirk said, "Shut up." He rose and hobbled over to the vera-ray -projector. "Help me set this up, Joe. Tauncer used it on Ferdias' -agent, and he was going to use it on me. Now let's see what it'll get -out of _him_." - -Garstang came over. "A vera-ray? Why didn't you mention it before?" - -"I was too damn mad to think straight," said Kirk. - -They set it up, and Tauncer watched them, not speaking, yet still the -look of apprehension in his eyes was tempered with some underlying -confidence. He seemed to be thinking, very hard. - -Garstang got the projector going. Harper, the seamy Earthman, winced -away from Tauncer as far as he could get. Behind the projector Kirk -could not feel anything, but Tauncer's face was briefly agonized, and -then it went slack and his eyes lost their keen brilliance, becoming -vague and unfocused. - -"Tauncer," said Garstang. "Can you hear me?" - -"Yes." - -"Is Solleremos planning to take Earth into his Sector?" - -Some dim vestige of a censor barrier seemed still to survive in -Tauncer's mind, because there was a long delay and Garstang asked the -question again, more sharply. But when the answer came it was clear -enough. - -"Yes." - -Kirk looked at Garstang, and Garstang's cheeks reddened. Lyllin said -triumphantly, "You see?" - -"All right," said Garstang, and turned again to Tauncer. - -"How will he do it?" - -"Direct attack. The Earth naval forces are negligible. Lyra Squadron -will be caught on the ground, disorganized by absence of command." - -"Absence of command," said Kirk slowly. A sudden alarm came into his -face. "You were going to keep me from returning to the squadron." - -"Yes." - -"But not here at this farm. Too many people knew where I was. -Charteris, folk in the town--" - -"Oh, no," said Tauncer, "not here. Fast scout. The ship that brought me -to Earth ahead of your squadron. It's been waiting out beyond radar -range. It will take us all off." - -Now, thought Kirk, I know why he's been so confident. He's been -planning for time. "You sent word to the scout-ship?" - -"Yes," said Tauncer. "On the porto, right after I beamed your house. I -was sure you'd be unconscious." - -Over Kirk's shoulder, Garstang said sharply, "When will it land?" - -Tauncer made a vague movement as though trying to get his arm around -where he could see his chrono. Garstang said, "It's exactly two minutes -after eleven, Earth time." - -Tauncer's lips moved. "Before midnight," he said. "Soon." - -He seemed, dazed as he was, to be smiling. - -Garstang said to Kirk, "You've got to get out of here, and fast!" He -started to turn hurriedly away, as though to hustle him and Lyllin out -of the house at once, but Kirk said, "No, wait, let me think." - -He spoke to Tauncer. "You don't know exactly where Solleremos' -squadrons are, or exactly when they'll strike." - -"No." - -"But there must be a signal, some word they're waiting for." - -"Yes," said Tauncer. "When the scout takes us off, that will be the -signal. Means we've got Commander. Means Lyra Squadron confused." - -Garstang tugged at Kirk. "Come on." - -"But," said Kirk to Tauncer, "suppose the scout doesn't find anybody -here." - -"All the same. They'll know I've failed, and plan may be known. So -order will be to strike like lightning before defensive measures taken." - - * * * * * - -Kirk shut off the projector. He bent over Tauncer. "Get up," he said. -"Joe! Give me a hand." They got Tauncer wobbling to his feet. "Put him -in the ground car and take him back to Charteris. Try and convince -Charteris to let the Fifth go on battle-alert. Every minute may -count--if we're caught on the ground, we're sunk." - -"Kirk--" - -"Don't argue. If anything happens to me, Larned is to take over and -cooperate fully with Admiral Laney. You--" - -"What do you mean, if anything happens, you're coming too." - -"No." - -They wrestled Tauncer down the front steps. - -"But the scout--" - -"That's just it. You heard what he said. The scout must _not_ take off -again." - -"So what are you going to do?" asked Garstang. "Stand and hold it with -your bare hands? We can't possibly get any help from New York in time." - -"Yeah," said Kirk. "So I'm going to try to get help right here." - -"From these people?" - -"Haven't you heard?" said Kirk. "I'm a local boy." - -"So if you get it? A bunch of farmers. Even if they'll listen to you, -which they probably won't--" - -They shoved Tauncer into the car. "Better tie his feet too," said Kirk. -"Lyllin! Lyllin, you're going with Joe." - -"No," she said from the porch. "I am not." - -"But you can't stay here!" - -"If you are going to get yourself killed here, I stay!" - -She was determined to make a fight about it, and Kirk had no time right -then. "All right," he said. "I guess you'll be safe enough with the -Vinsons." He slammed the door after Garstang. "Get going." - -Garstang swore but he roared the ground car out in a cloud of dust and -gravel. Kirk ran back into the house. Most of the feeling had come -back in his side, and he could move pretty fast. The Earthman, Harper, -was squirming around the floor trying to get free. Kirk gave him one -ruthless blast with the sono-beam that would put him to sleep for a day -or so. He could be dealt with later, when more important things were -out of the way. Then he got on the phone and called Vinson. - -A sleepy voice answered. "I was just going to bed. What do you want?" - -"When you have an emergency around here," said Kirk, "what do you do to -get help in a hurry?" - -Vinson's voice waked up. "Why, I phone around fast. The boys turn out -quick for fire, flood or whatever. Hey, you got a fire, Commander?" - -"Worse," said Kirk. "Do your people have guns of some kind?" - -"Sure, nearly every farm has a hunting-shocker. But--" - -"Tell 'em to come armed, and come fast. Your place. My wife and I are -coming now." - -"Say Commander, is this a joke or what?" - -"It's the unfunniest joke ever to hit Earth," Kirk said grimly. "Call -them!" - -He slammed the phone down, grabbed Lyllin by the hand, and lit out, -full tilt down the path and into the moonlit road. - - * * * * * - -By the time they reached Vinson's house, all the lights were on and -Vinson himself was standing in the road, waiting for them. - -"I hope you know what you're doing," he said to Kirk worriedly. "The -boys don't like getting hauled out for nothing. What's up?" - -Kirk told him, rapidly, between gasps, as he helped Lyllin up on the -porch. Mrs. Vinson, a pleasant-looking dark-haired woman in a pink -robe, cried out from the doorway and took Lyllin's hand to welcome her -in. - -"What on earth is going on?" she demanded. "Why, you poor thing, he's -run the legs off you! Come in, sit down--" Then she caught sight of -Vinson's face. "What is it?" she asked quietly. "Tell me, so I'll know -what to do." - -"There's going to be a fight," said Vinson, in a wondering, -half-incredulous tone. "There's a war going to start, and the first -fight is going to be right here, in Orville." - -"In the woods," said Kirk hastily, pointing. "You'll be quite safe -here. And if we can take them by surprise, there won't even be a -skirmish." - -"He says that the fate of Earth depends on us," said Vinson, still in -that wondering tone. "Well. I'm damned. What do you know!" - -A car roared up outside. Another followed it, and then others at -irregular intervals. Pretty soon Vinson's yard and porch were crowded -with men carrying hunting-shockers. They looked at Vinson, and at -Kirk, curious, doubtful, not exactly hostile but in no mood to be -hurried into anything they didn't understand. Kirk glanced up at the -sky and groaned. Then he spoke, as rapidly and forcefully as he could. - -"So that's the picture," he finished. "If that Orion scout takes off -again after it lands, your Earth may be a different place tomorrow. We -can stop it--if you will." - -He wailed. There was no reaction at all for a moment, the leathery -faces looking silently at him. Then one man said, - -"If people come bothering us, we'll bother them back--plenty. But we -don't need any stranger telling us what to do." - -Kirk's heart sank. The cursed Earth mulishness was going to defeat him, -after all. - -Vinson said loudly, "What do you mean, stranger! This is one of the old -Orville Kirks. _He's_ no stranger. It's strangers that he wants us to -help slap down." - -They thought that over for a moment, and again Kirk looked up at the -sky. It must be very close now. In minutes, maybe, it would drop down, -and there would be nothing at all to stop it from going away again and -giving the signal. And these stolid farmers.... - -The one who had spoken peered bleakly at Kirk, and said, "Well. Like I -said, we don't want strangers interfering with us. Do we, boys?" - -The men nodded assent, and stalked toward their cars. Kirk turned away, -defeated and furious. He'd have to try by himself-- - -Motors roared to life, and the cars started to go by him. A big red -truck paused beside him, and Vinson reached down from it to haul him -aboard. - -"What are you standin' there for?" he cried to Kirk. "You said it might -come any minute!" - -Kirk, a little dazedly, scrambled up into the truck beside him. "You -mean they're going back with me--" - -"What did you think? Like Fred said, no blasted strangers from away -outside are going to come sneaking in here!" - -The truck roared away down the moonlit road, following the speeding -cars back the way Kirk had come, waking hurrying echoes, raising a -great cloud of dust to redden the moon. - -Kirk thought, "I'll never understand these damned Earthmen--never!" - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - - -At three minutes and fourteen seconds before midnight a small, fast -spacecraft with the insigne of the striding warrior on her bows dropped -down out of the sky and landed in the brush-grown meadow at the edge -of the Kirk woods. There was nothing anywhere in sight around it but -the dark quiet mass of the trees, the patches of bramble and pale white -blossoms of the Queen Anne's Lace. Across the meadow was the Kirk -house, with a single lamp burning in it. - -A hatch opened and a party of men came out, climbing down a collapsible -ladder. There were fifteen of them, armed. They stood still, looking -around and listening. Then they began to move toward the house, -scrambling and stumbling among the briars and the tufts of bunch-grass, -fanned out like skirmishers. - -Kirk, lying behind a hazel bush in the fringe of the woods, waved one -hand slowly in an outward arc, and there were several small rustlings -in the brush to his left. He waited, feeling tense and prickly all -over, sweating heavily, though the night was cooler now. He counted, -slowly and carefully, moving his lips. Held tight in the crook of his -arm was the heavy sono-beam device, snatched up from the house as they -came past it. Vinson was beside him, and among the trees nearby were -eight more men, waiting for Kirk's signal. Kirk could not see Vinson's -face in the dark, but he could hear his breathing, quick and excited. -He leaned his head close to the Earthman's, and whispered, - -"Remember, keep down out of the way until you see me go in." - -He raised up cautiously. - -"All right. Now." - -He began to creep rapidly toward the slash of light from the -scout-ship's open hatch. The others came behind him. He was not used to -this sort of stalking, and he made more noise than the other nine put -together. He hoped no one would hear it. - -From the direction of the house there came a sudden crackling of -shocker-beams. Kirk flung himself forward, over the last few feet. -Secrecy was a lost hope now, and all that mattered was getting the -sono-beam projector into the open hatchway. The bloody thing weighed -a ton when you carried it, but its heft was only relative. Against -armor-plate and the strong double-hull of a space-ship it would be no -more effective than a bullroarer. - -There was a guard of two in the hatchway. They sprang to the lip of -the opening, staring toward the house, their shockers lifted. Kirk -yelled, "Get 'em!" Vinson and a man on the other side of him fired -almost together. The guards came tumbling forward onto the ground. Kirk -dodged between them and set the sono-projector on the edge of the hatch -floor. He had to reach high to do it. The others, following his orders, -were hugging the curve of the hull on either side of the ladder. Kirk -slammed the stud full charge and wide open. - -"They're coming back this way!" yelled Vinson. He was looking toward -the house. Kirk craned his neck. - -The shocker-flashes flickered like heat-lightning in the night. They -moved back toward the ship--probably the fifteen men, or what was left -of them, were retreating from the Orville men whom Kirk had stationed -in the house and yard. - -He said desperately, "Stop them, damn it, can't you stop them?" The -sono-beam projector was sliding out of his hands, walking itself with -its own vibration across the smooth-worn metal. He had to turn to hold -it. - - * * * * * - -Inside the ship there was bedlam going on, a sound of things breaking -and men's voices raised in inarticulate cries. A tall gray-haired man -with a captain's stars on his shoulder-tabs came at a staggering run -into the passage and dropped, and lay still. His hands quivered with -the jarring of the floor. - -Kirk shut off the projector and threw it away. He went up the ladder, -and at the top he paused a second to look at what was happening in the -meadow. The Orville men who had gone in behind the invaders had risen -out of the brush. Their shockers flared in a line of ragged light amid -the brambles and the white flowers. Then there was darkness and a -sudden peace. - -"Come on!" Kirk shouted, his voice carrying far across the meadow. Then -he ran down the passage, with Vinson and the other eight pounding at -his heels. The gray-haired captain did not move as they went by. - -And it was almost easy. Seven, eight, nine, of the crew lay sprawled -in the main passage or in doorways opening from it, unconscious. -The communications man was still making vague pawing motions at his -dials, but the motions were only reflex and the equipment was jarred -to fragments of splintered glass and plastic. In the small, compact -bridge, best protected by intervening bulkheads, the two junior -officers and three crewmen were still conscious but too dazed to offer -resistance. - -"Well," said Vinson, breathing hard, his eyes shining. "We did all -right." - -"We did fine," said Kirk, grinning. The other eight grinned, too, -nodding their heads at each other and at him. They had fought together -and won together, and now they were all comrades, men of Orville, men -of Earth. It was a good feeling, Kirk discovered. A very good feeling. - -Some of the men came in from the meadow. The fifteen from the scout -were all taken. The Orville men had suffered some casualties in the way -of burns and shock, but no fatalities. - -"Good," said Kirk. He looked at the Orionids. "Where can we put 'em for -safekeeping?" - -Vinson said, "The local jail is pretty small, but I guess we could pack -them in." - -"It won't be for long," said Kirk. "The high brass will take them off -your hands in a hurry." - -"We'll see to it," said Vinson. "I guess you'll want to call New York. -And don't worry about the women, I'll stop by the house and let them -know we're okay." - -"Thanks," said Kirk. He went out across the meadow to the house, and -put in his call to Charteris. - -After that things happened with desperate speed. A fleet of air-cars -descended on Orville and the Kirk house. Charteris was with them. He -inspected the Orion scout, conferred briefly with his aides, and then -spoke to Kirk. - -"I suppose I should apologize, Commander," he said, rather stiffly, -"but I'm not going to. In our position we have no choice but to suspect -any force too strong for us to deal with easily." - -"I don't care about anything," said Kirk, "except to get my squadron -off the ground before Orion strikes." - -Charteris nodded. "Your squadron is being fitted for action now. I -suggest we return to New York at once to confer with Admiral Laney and -decide strategy." - - * * * * * - -The next few hours were hectic ones. Orders, preparations, -requisitions, arguments. And Kirk found himself up against a totally -unexpected stumbling-block--the stiff-necked, stubborn pride of Earth. - -"We recognize perfectly," Admiral Laney said frostily, "our position as -a fifth-rate naval power, but we have never yet run from battle and we -don't intend to start doing it now." - -"But against Orion Sector's two crack squadrons--" - -"We're grateful for the presence of the Fifth Lyra," said Laney, "but -our own ships will bear the brunt of the attack." - -"Sir," said Kirk, and he meant it, "I would be proud to fight under -you. But facts are facts. I think you understand that the Fifth Lyra -has a certain pride too. But we're not going to bear the brunt of any -attack where we know in advance we're outnumbered two to one. In short, -if you meet Solleremos head on, you meet him alone." - -"Now here," he went on, turning to the huge depth-chart of the Solar -System, "was my thought. We know from the vera-ray examination of the -captain of that Orion scout, that the scout's take-off was literally to -be the signal for the attack. They didn't dare risk a radio message, -even in code, that might be intercepted. So the course of take-off, -on the exact coordinates of the hidden fleet, was to serve as a -message. They could spot this by ultra-wave scanner, using relays at -previously-arranged points in deep space. So, we have the coordinates--" - -He wrote them down on the chart. - -"Carried to point of convergence, that would put the Orion fleet about -there--far off this chart, of course, but roughly south-east of the -star Saiph. They will presumably attack along this line--" He drew one, -bold and red, a dagger pointed at Earth's heart. - -"Roughly nadir-point zero six, from our viewpoint," said Laney. "Well?" - -"Here," said Kirk, "you seem to have a natural sort of -chevaux-de-frise, to borrow an ancient term." - -He pointed to a blurred and speckled area lying between Mars and -Jupiter. - -"The Asteroid Belt," said Laney. "Yes. We know our way around in it, -but anyone else would find it hard going." His eyes brightened. "Plenty -of places for ambush. Yes, I see what you're driving at. If we could -entangle their superior forces in the drift--" - -"Exactly. Bait them in there, harry them all you can. Now, then. -They'll be expecting to catch the Fifth Lyra on the ground. As far as -they know, Tauncer succeeded and all is well. So perhaps they won't be -too watchful. We'll be up here hiding above the Sun, screened by it -from their radar. When you have them hooked--" - -He made a downward slashing motion with his hand. - -"That suits me," said Laney. He shook hands with Kirk solemnly. Then he -turned to Charteris and the others who were gathered with anxious face? -in the conference room. "I think we may as well get started." - -Charteris sighed. He picked up the intercom and spoke into it briefly. - - * * * * * - -Northward, the fields around Orville were brightening with a new day. -In the meadow behind the Kirk house the briars and the Queen Anne's -Lace were beaten down by the passage of men and trucks. They were all -gone now except for one truck with massive electronic equipment, pulled -back to a safe distance from the Orion scout. The necessary changes -had been made in the ship's control system. Now the crew of the truck -waited for a signal from the house. - -It came. - -The truck crew went to work, activating the remote-control relays, -setting up a locked-in series of coordinates. Then the firing key was -pressed. - -With every semblance of life, the Orion scout took off on its destined -course--a Judas goat, empty and silent, with no living thing inside its -hull. - -Standing on the steps of the Vinson's house, Lyllin watched it rise and -vanish in the blue air. She had had one short call from Kirk. _Wait -there. I'll come back._ Now the small dying thunder of the scout-ship's -flight seemed like the receding footsteps of everything she had ever -loved, passing over the distant hills. - -She turned slowly and went back into the house. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - - -The sky screamed light, beneath them. The Sun, its atoms ceaselessly -riven and then reborn, shrieked raving energy, magnetism, electricity, -light, radiant heat, a rage across the heavens, a cosmic storm flinging -up wild plumes and spindrift of violet calcium, of yellow sodium, of -blue and red and purple. - -Over it, as over a limitless fiery ocean, hung the shoal of silver -ships. Tossed and twitched by storms of radiation, wrenched by the -mighty claws of the titan magnetic field, scorched by the blaze of the -star, they fought to hold position. Their formation wavered, sagged, -re-formed and wavered again, and still they held together. - -On the bridge of the _Starsong_, clutching a stanchion as the deck -heeled and shuddered under him, Kirk stood with Garstang watching the -screens. - -"Not a sign!" said Garstang in his ear. "And we can't sit up here -forever!" - -The rim of the Asteroid Belt showed on one screen, a jagged wheeling -of rock fragments, dust and pebbles and little naked worlds, black -on their shadow-sides flashing like heliographs where they caught -the light. Beyond them was space, very deep, very dark, very empty, -looking toward Orion and his pendant sword. - -In that deep emptiness out there, five ships moved slowly. Earth ships, -behaving like a normal patrol. The remainder of Earth's fleet was -hidden among the asteroids. Even the searching rays that fed the screen -could not see them. - -Suddenly Garstang caught Kirk's shoulder. "There!" he said. He leaned -forward and pointed his blunt forefinger at the screen. - -Out of the depths toward the star Saiph came a swarm of tiny flecks -that might have been nothing more than bits of cosmic drift, except -that they moved together and very fast. They swept in toward the Solar -System with a gathering rush, growing, picking up the sunlight on their -polished sides. Two full squadrons of Solleremos' fleet, on planetary -approach. - -The five Earth ships out there wheeled in perfect formation and went on -out to meet them. - -Kirk's mouth was dry. Runnels of sweat crept down his temples, down his -body. The palms of his hands were clammy. - -"Screen's gone again," he said, and swore. - -The screens blazed useless white, even the powerful rays that served -them wrenched and cut by an outburst of solar electricity. Then they -cleared again. - -The Earth ships had not gone far out. Suddenly they wheeled again, -abandoning formation now. Spurts of light came from their launching -tubes in quick rotation, each ship firing as she bore on the target. -Then they cracked on speed and ran for the Belt. - -One of the Orionid cruisers burst into a great flame and was gone. - -Garstang shouted, and as though at a signal the screen went out again. - -Kirk ran his uniform sleeve over his face, and kept still. There were -so few of the Earth ships, and so many of the others, something more -than double the strength of his own squadron. Far below, Earth lay -naked, stripped, utterly without defense. Kirk thought of Lyllin, and -the Vinson house with the dusty road in front of it. He thought of the -woods and the meadow where they had fought in the night, and curiously -enough he thought of the cat. Insolent little beast.... - -He waited for the screen to clear, and watched. - -A number of Orion ships detached themselves from the main fleet and -raced after the Earth ships. They were much faster. The long aim of -Solleremos was reaching swiftly now, and one of the Earth cruisers -winked out with a brave, brief burst of flame. The other four reached -the Belt. - -The Orionids plunged in after them. - -"Now," whispered Garstang. "Now, now--" - - * * * * * - -The eight Orionid cruisers, apparently detailed to mop up this patrol, -sped down a deceptively open "lead" through the asteroid drift. The -scanner beams swung to a better angle to follow them, and now the -screen showed a closer view of that stony wilderness. The Earth ships -had vanished. The lead pinched out in a cul-de-sac of wildly gyrating -rocks. The Orion cruisers did a fast-about, practically on each others' -heels, but before they were finished the four Earth ships and half a -dozen others appeared from nowhere, all around them. - -"Hit them," muttered Garstang. "Oh, hell, get onto it and _hit_ them!" - -They hit them. There was a quick holocaust of light-bursts and the -Orionid cruisers in there were gone. - -"That hurt them," said Garstang. "They're hooked--" - -He turned and looked at Kirk. Kirk lifted his hand, his body bent -slightly forward, his eyes intent upon the screen. - -Out there in the Asteroid Belt, the trap was sprung. And now the -Orionids knew they had the whole Earth fleet, such as it was, to deal -with--a force too small to stop them, but too formidable to leave on -their flank and rear. The squadrons altered course, curving in a long -bow-shaped line toward the Earth ships that hovered, in apparent doubt, -above the fringes of the drift. - -Kirk brought his hand down in a slashing gesture. "_Now!_" - -The Fifth Lyra swooped out of the sun. - -Now. - -Now is the moment, the one right time, there will not be another. -Either you make it or you don't. Outnumbered, outmanned, and outgunned -the element of surprise is all you've got. - -The Sun falls behind, the edge of the Belt shifts and tilts and swings -as you cut the plane of the ecliptic. Out of the furnace into the fire, -at full drive. - -The long line of the Orion ships is very beautiful, strung against the -glittering emptiness of space. - -The _Starsong_ groans and quivers like a living thing. You can hear the -beating of her heart, the pounding throb of power pushed to the limit, -and beyond. Garstang, in the captain's place, has a face of iron, dark -and still. Sweat shines on the edges of it. The men are quiet. - -The Commander is afraid. - -Ships, lives, men, a planet. Who would say _Now!_ and not be afraid? - -The Orion fleet springs at the viewports. The ships grow large, the -intervals between them widen out. The _Starsong_ flies at the point -of a wedge shaped like an axe-blade. Behind her, on either side, the -squadron follows in close formation. - -In a tight, flat voice, the Commander says, "Prepare to engage." - -The Fifth Lyra, the falling wedge, the axe-blade, hits the line of -cruisers from above and cuts it in two. - -Instantly the close-held wings fan out, driving the severed sections -apart, opening the gap so wide it can never be closed again. Shells -burst, little blinding suns, little fountains of hellfire, racking the -ships, burning them, destroying them. But the wings sweep on. Part of -the Orionid line is rolled up and driven into the drift of the Belt, -where the Earth ships strike and strike again, and the proud cruisers -with the polished sides become wreck and flotsam to join the cosmic -debris in its endless journey around the Sun. The other section is -driven outward into space, back toward Orion. - -And the _Starsong_ hunts down the _Betelgeuse_, flagship of Solleremos' -fleet. - -Kirk says, If we can get her, I think the rest will all go home. Fire -One-- - -_Fire Two._ - -The _Betelgeuse_ answers, and space is drowned in a flaming cloud. The -_Starsong_ staggers and men are thrown down on the reeling iron deck. -A red light flares on the telltale board. Somewhere deep in the ship's -vitals the bulkhead doors slam shut, sealing off. The _Starsong_ has a -hole in her and some men have died, but she's still alive, still strong -to move and strike. - -_Fire Three._ - -The _Betelgeuse_ dives clear and her own tubes spout hellfire, a double -flowering of death and destruction. The _Starsong_ wrenches away, -desperate, shaken, and once more the ports are filled with fire and a -red light glimmers on the board. - -_Fire Four._ - -The _Betelgeuse_ quivers strangely. With a dreamlike slowness two -pieces of her appear out of the brilliance and the flame, bow and stern -at odds with each other, going different ways. Then there is a white -blinding flash, and she is gone. - -And the Orion fleet, leaderless, surprised, mauled and clawed and -wounded, is pulling out. One by one, in pairs, in little groups, they -turn tail and streak for open space, and are gone. - -The Fifth Lyra and the ships of Earth follow them, but not far. Space -is empty, and in the ships there is a great silence, while the men -breathe softly and look at nothing and feel that they are still alive. -There is no light now but the light of the Sun and the distant stars. -The Belt wheels on its way, and bits of riven metal that once were -ships fall slowly toward it. - - * * * * * - -After a time, on the bridge of the _Starsong_, Garstang turned to Kirk. -His face was sweating and wild, and his eyes had a dazed look. He said, -"What now?" - -"We wait and see what," said Kirk. "Maybe nothing." - -"Nothing?" - -"Solleremos has missed his spring. I've an idea he may prefer to make -like it all never happened, if we don't give any official news of this -fight. I think Charteris will see it that way." - -Charteris did. The battle couldn't be kept secret really, but Earth's -authorities pretended that it had never happened. There was no profit -in starting a full-fledged war, and there wouldn't be one if Solleremos -had learned his lesson. - -He had learned it, it seemed. From Orion there was a long silence. -Then came a routine congratulation on the Commemoration. The Governor -of Orion Sector, it appeared, was happy for Earth. - -"The so-and-so must be raging, but he won't try _that_ again," said -Kirk. - -To him, and to the Squadron, had come another message, from Ferdias. -Well done. That was all. But from Ferdias, it was plenty. - -And the Commemoration blazed, on Earth. The lights, the bands, the -speeches, and then the fly-over--the battered mighty giants of the -Fifth roaring across the sky with the even more battered Earth cruisers -leading the way. - -From its museum they had brought the first of all the space-ships, and -everyone held their breath and kept fingers crossed while it lurched, -coughed and wobbled up into the sky, and labored bravely around the -planet, and by some miracle came down safe again. - -And the great day was over. - -Garstang, looking strange now in the black uniform of Earth, spoke -earnestly to Kirk the day before the Fifth was to leave. - -"You know you're pretty much a hero here now, Kirk. You'll be retiring -from service in not too many years. Why don't you come back to Earth to -live?" - -"Why does everyone say, come _back_ to Earth," Kirk complained. "Just -because I had ancestors here I'm no Earthman!" - -He added, "And whatever you do, don't mention that bright idea to -Lyllin! I'm going up to Orville now to get her." - -Garstang only smiled at him, a queer sort of smile. - -Kirk drove up through the quiet roads, the green countryside. The -golden sun was soft upon his face. The breeze held a faint, smoky tang -of oncoming fall. Earth's fall--he'd heard about that. - -Peaceful, beautiful--but it was no world for him! Come "back" to Earth, -indeed! Why, he'd lived on many worlds and none of them had ever got -that kind of sentimental hold on him. Though he could understand why -people felt that way about this old place-- - -Hell, he must be getting sentimental himself! He put a curb on such -thoughts and drove on. And when he drove into Orville, there were -frantic handwavings from every street-corner, his name was shouted by -the kids along the sidewalks. - - * * * * * - -Vinson came running out of his house to meet him when he pulled up. - -"Your wife's over at your house," Vinson explained. He shook hands. He -was vastly excited and proud. "You know what--the village is going to -put up a plaque. With all our names on it. Just saying, 'They fought -the Battle of Orville'. Nothing else, account of diplomacy." - -Kirk said, "It deserves the plaque, that fight. If you chaps hadn't -turned out that night--" - -"Hear you're leaving tomorrow," Vinson went on. "Thought I'd keep your -old place going better, while you're gone, by working the fields. I'll -keep an eye on your house, too." - -Kirk said, "What makes you think I'm coming back?" - -Vinson said, puzzledly, "Why, you are, aren't you? I mean--you're an -Orville boy--this is your real home--" - -Kirk suppressed the impatient words he'd been about to utter. No use -upsetting a nice guy. He said, "Oh, sure, I'll be back--" - -He drove on to the old house. Lyllin sat on the porch. He saw, to his -surprise, that on her lap there cozily reclined a large black cat. - -Lyllin smiled. "I think I've been accepted. By the people here--and by -Tom." - -Tom yawned and looked with insolent green eyes at Kirk. "His sides are -bulging," Kirk said. "You've been bribing the beggar with food." - -She laughed. "I don't know how he'll like space-travel. But we'll be -bringing him back some day." - -"Will we?" said Kirk. - -She looked up at him. "Joe Garstang was talking to me. You _will_ be -retiring from active service in a few years. And I like it here now, -Kirk. I really do." - -He said, loudly, "Why in the world must everyone assume that I _want_ -to come back to this place? Will you tell me that?" - -"Don't you?" - -He started to answer, then didn't. He looked out from the porch of the -old house, at the sunset light sweeping the green valley, at the old -trees beyond the fields, at everything that had somehow got a queer -grip on him without his knowing it. - -He said, "Well, I don't know. Maybe." - -Lyllin smiled. - -That night the Fifth went skyward in a great thundering that rolled -louder and louder across the cities and the countryside. Great black -bulks flying up fast across the glittering sky, roaring, bellowing, -shouting a gigantic farewell down to the watching millions as they -rushed out toward the stars. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BATTLE FOR THE STARS *** - -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. 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If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Battle for the Stars</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Alexander Blade</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: November 29, 2021 [eBook #66843]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BATTLE FOR THE STARS ***</div> - -<div class="figcenter x-ebookmaker-drop"> - <img src="images/illusc.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>BATTLE for the STARS</h1> - -<h2>By ALEXANDER BLADE</h2> - -<p>Kirk had never seen the distant planet<br /> -called Earth, yet his squadron was now ordered<br /> -there—to stem the outbreak of a galactic war!</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy<br /> -June 1956<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>It was well called the Dragon's Throat, thought Kirk. Throat of fire, -of burning suns, a cosmic blind-alley into danger!</p> - -<p>You made your decision. You threw a ship, a hundred men, your officers, -your friends, your own Commander's badge you threw them all down on the -gamble. But when the stakes were stars....</p> - -<p>He said to himself, "The hell with it, we're committed."</p> - -<p>He said aloud, "Radar?"</p> - -<p>Joe Garstang, standing on the bridge beside him, answered without -turning. "Nothing has been monitored yet. Not <i>yet</i>."</p> - -<p>Kirk's palms itched. If they were running into an ambush, if Orion -heavy cruisers were waiting for them, they'd soon know it. There could -be ships all around them. Radar wasn't too dependable, in the howling -vortices of force-field energy flung out around this jungle of stars.</p> - -<p>Through the broad bridge-windows—the "windows" that were really -scanners cunningly translating faster-than-light probe rays into visual -images—there beat upon his face the light of a thousand suns.</p> - -<p>It was Cluster N-356-44, in the Standard Atlas. It was also hellfire -made manifest, to starmen. It was a hive of swarming suns, pale green -and violet, white and yellow-gold and smoky red, blazing so fiercely -that the eye was robbed of perspective and these stars seemed to crowd -and jostle and rub each other. Up against the black backdrop of the -firmament they burned, pouring forth the torrents of their life-energy -to whirl in terrific cosmic maelstroms. The merchant ships that boldly -drove the great darks between ordinary star-worlds would recoil aghast -from the navigational perils here. Only a fool—or a cruiser—would go -in here.</p> - -<p>There was a narrow cleft between cliffs of stars, with the flame-shot -glow of an immense nebula roofing it. The only possible way into the -heart of the cluster, this Dragon's Throat of starman legend. But -others had gone in this way. At least, so said the rumors, rumors -that had reached the squadron as far away as the Pleiades. Rumors too -factual, too alarming, to be ignored.</p> - -<p>Rumors of cruisers from the squadrons of Orion Sector, that had gone -into this cluster. Rumors of a secret base, on a hidden world. The -ships of Orion Sector had no business here. Neither, for that matter, -did the ships of Kirk's own Lyra Sector. This cluster was no-man's -land, part of the buffer zones that were supposed to reduce friction -between the five great Sectors of the galaxy. Actually, these stellar -wildernesses were the scenes of constant, nameless little wars.</p> - -<p>The five governors of the five great Sectors were, all of them, -ambitious men. Solleremos of Orion, Vorn of Cepheus, Gianea of Leo, -Strowe of Perseus, Ferdias of Lyra—they watched each other jealously. -Five great barons of the galaxy, paying only a lip-service allegiance -to the shadowy Central Council far away on a half-forgotten world -called Earth, in reality independent satraps of the stars, hungry for -space, hungry for power. Yes, even Ferdias, thought Kirk. Ferdias was -the man he served, respected, and even loved in a craggy sort of way. -But Ferdias, like the others, played a massive game of chess with -men and suns, moving his squadrons here and his undercover operatives -there, laboring ceaselessly to hold on to what he had and perhaps -enlarge his domain, just a little, a solar system here and a minor -cluster there....</p> - -<p>And the game went on. Right now, Kirk thought he was probably heading -into a trap. But if Orion cruisers <i>were</i> in here, he had to know it. A -hostile base here, if left to grow, could dominate all the star-lanes -from Capella to Arcturus. It was up to him as a squadron-commander, to -go in and find out.</p> - -<p>Kirk looked at the looming, overtopping cliffs of stars that went up -to the glowing nebula above and down to the black pit of absolutely -nothing below.</p> - -<p>He thought of Lyllin, waiting for him back at Vega. A starman had no -business with a wife.</p> - -<p>He said again, "Radar?"</p> - -<p>"Still nothing," said Garstang. His square face was no less grim than -Kirk's. He was captain of this flagship <i>Starsong</i>, and what happened -to her was important to him. "If there is a base here," he said, "we -should have come in with the whole squadron."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Kirk shook his head. He had made his decision and he was not going to -start doubting it now, no matter how lonely and exposed he felt.</p> - -<p>"That could be exactly what Solleremos wants. With the right kind of -ambush, a whole squadron could be clobbered in this mess. Then Lyra -would be wide open. No. One ship is enough to risk."</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir," said Garstang.</p> - -<p>"The hell with you, Joe," said Kirk. "Say what you're thinking."</p> - -<p>"I am thinking that the rumor mentioned cruisers, plural, indefinite. -We'd better catch them while they're all asleep."</p> - -<p>The <i>Starsong</i> forged her way onward toward the two red suns at the end -of the Dragon's Throat. And Kirk thought that if he had made the wrong -decision, if the <i>Starsong</i> never came back again, Ferdias would be -very angry. But that would not then make any difference to him.</p> - -<p>Looking up at the flaring, tumbling waves of the nebula, like the -underside of a burning ocean, Kirk said to Garstang:</p> - -<p>"Does it seem to you the pace is speeding up? I mean, this jockeying -for power between the Sectors has gone on a long time, ever since Earth -lost real authority. But it seems different lately, somehow. More -incidents, more feeling of something driving ahead toward a definite -goal, a plan and a pattern you can't quite see. You know what I mean?"</p> - -<p>Garstang nodded "I know."</p> - -<p>The computer banks clicked and chattered. Relays kicked, compensating -power, compensating course, compensating tides of gravitic force quite -capable of breaking a ship apart like a piece of flawed glass. The two -red binaries gave them a final glare of malice and were gone. They were -clear of the Throat.</p> - -<p>A star the color of a peacock's breast lay dead ahead.</p> - -<p>"Ready for approach," said Garstang.</p> - -<p>"Stand by," said Kirk. "We'll wait until the last possible minute to -shift. If they haven't picked us up already, maybe they won't."</p> - -<p>Garstang gave his orders. Kirk watched the blaze of peacock-blue grow -swiftly. No ambush in the Throat, so now what? Ambush on the world of -the blue star? Or nothing? A wild-goose chase, time and money wasted? -Or maybe Solleremos had planted those rumors to draw Kirk's attention -while a strike was made somewhere else.</p> - -<p>Suddenly Kirk felt very old and very tired. He had been in the squadron -for twenty years, ever since he was sixteen, and in all these twenty -years the great game of stars, the strain, the worry, had never let up.</p> - -<p>It must have been nice in a way, Kirk thought, in the old days a -couple of centuries ago when Earth still governed in fact, and all the -star-squadrons were part of the Galactic Navy, and the great battle was -with the galaxy itself and not with one another.</p> - -<p>"We're getting close," said Garstang.</p> - -<p>Kirk shook himself and got down to business. There followed a few -minutes of split-second activity, and then the <i>Starsong</i> had shuddered -out of overdrive and was plunging toward a bright world almost -dangerously close to her. There was still no sign of any enemy, and the -communicators remained silent.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>An hour later by ship's chrono they had located the one port of entry -listed for the planet and they had set the <i>Starsong</i> down in the -middle of a large piece of natural desert that served well enough for -what space traffic ever came here.</p> - -<p>It was night on this side of the planet. There was no moon, but on a -cluster world a moon is a useless luxury. The sky blazes with a million -stars, so that day is replaced not by darkness but by the light of -another sort, soft and many-colored, full of strange glimmers and -flitting shadows. In this eery star-glow a town was visible about a -mile away. Otherwise there was nothing. No ships.... No legions of -Orion Sector.</p> - -<p>"The ships could be hidden somewhere," Garstang said. "Maybe halfway -around the planet, but waiting to jump us as soon as they get word."</p> - -<p>Kirk admitted that was possible. He put on his best dress uniform of -blue-and-silver, and strapped a portable communicator between his -shoulders. It rather spoiled the effect, but there was no help for -that. Garstang watched him.</p> - -<p>"How many men will you want?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"None. I'm going in alone."</p> - -<p>Garstang's eyes widened. "I won't come right out and say you're crazy."</p> - -<p>"I was here once before," said Kirk. "When old Volland was commander -and I was an ensign. These people are poor but proud. They have -traditions of long-ago splendor, claim their kings ruled the whole -cluster and so on. They dislike strangers, and won't let many in."</p> - -<p>"But if Solleremos' men are already here—"</p> - -<p>"That's the reason for the porto." Kirk frowned, trying to plan ahead. -"Exactly twenty minutes after I enter the town I'll contact you, and -I'll continue to do so at twenty-minute intervals. If I'm so much as a -minute late, take off and buzz hell out of the place. It'll give me a -bargaining point, anyway."</p> - -<p>Garstang said dourly, "A lot can happen in twenty minutes. Suppose -you're not able to bargain?"</p> - -<p>"Then you're on your own."</p> - -<p>In the airlock, open now and filled with a dry, stinging wind, Kirk -paused, looking toward the distant town, a lonely blot of darkness -between the star-blazing sky and the gleaming sand. Here and there in -it lights burned, but they were few and somehow not welcoming.</p> - -<p>"She's all yours," he said to Garstang. "If anything looks wrong to -you, don't wait for me. Take her away."</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir," said Garstang.</p> - -<p>Kirk smiled. He climbed down into the sand and began to walk.</p> - -<p>The town took shape as he approached it. The stone-built houses, mostly -round or octagonal, were scattered out with no particular plan. Under -the red and gold and diamond-colored stars that burned above them as -bright as moons, they looked curiously remote and evil, like old -wizards in peaked hats, peering with little winking eyes. The dry wind -blew, laden with alien scents. Apart from the wind there was no sound.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Three men met him at the edge of the town. They wore pale cloaks and -carried long staffs tipped with horn. They were all of seven feet tall. -They wore their hair high on their heads to accentuate this height, and -they were slender and graceful as reeds, walking along with a light -dancing step as though the wind blew them. But their faces in the -star-glow were smooth and secret, their eyes as expressionless as bits -of shiny glass.</p> - -<p>"What does the man from outside desire?" asked one of them, in the -universal speech.</p> - -<p>Kirk said, "He desires to speak with those others from outside who -enjoy your hospitality."</p> - -<p>But they were not going to make it that easy for him. Their faces -remained impassive, and the one who had just spoken said coolly, "Our -lord has wisdom in all matters. Perhaps he will understand your words. -I do not."</p> - -<p>They fell in around Kirk and moved with him into the wide sandy space -that went between the wandering houses. The nerves tightened up in -Kirk's belly, and his back felt cold. He looked at his wrist chrono, -carefully. There was no sound but the whispering of sand under their -feet. Garstang would be watching with the 'scope, but once he was in -among the houses he could no longer be seen.</p> - -<p>That was almost at once. The tall men walked on with their light -swaying stride, so that he had to move at an undignified trot to keep -up. The stone houses with their high roofs closed in behind him. This -dark and brooding town ill accorded with old tales of cluster-kings, he -thought. Yet the past held many things.</p> - -<p>When they were close to the center of the town, the leader stopped -beside a round structure from whose open door came light.</p> - -<p>"Will the man from outside enter the dwelling of our lord?"</p> - -<p>Kirk breathed a little easier as he went through the door. Apparently -there was no truth to the rumors that....</p> - -<p>A chopping blow took him on the back of the head. He fell forward. He -was stunned but not unconscious, and he tried to roll over, thrashing -out blindly with his fists and feet. But at once there were men on top -of him, heavy solid men grinding his face into the gritty carpet, -pounding the wind out of him, holding him down.</p> - -<p>In a minute his hands were tied tight behind him and his ankles lashed -together. They cut the straps of the porto and pulled it off him. Then, -like a sack of meal, he was dragged to the wall and propped upright.</p> - -<p>In an absolute fury of rage, he spat blood out of his mouth and looked -up dizzily into the light.</p> - -<p>There were three or four men here, obviously not natives of this -planet, but he did not pay much attention to them. The one he looked -at stood apart, directly in front of Kirk, a lean dark iron-faced man -with very alert eyes, and the easy, dangerous manner of one who enjoys -his work because he is so admirably well fitted for it, as a cat enjoys -hunting.</p> - -<p>He said to Kirk, "My name is Tauncer."</p> - -<p>Kirk nodded. He looked with feral interest at this most famous of -Solleremos' agents. "I should be flattered, shouldn't I?"</p> - -<p>Tauncer shrugged. "We all do what we can, Commander. Each in his own -way."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Kirk. "What do you want?"</p> - -<p>"The answer to one simple question."</p> - -<p>His face came closer to Kirk's, very tense, very keen, searching for -any sign of evasion.</p> - -<p>He asked his question.</p> - -<p>"What is Ferdias planning to do about Earth?"</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="ph1">CHAPTER II</p> - - -<p>There was a long moment of complete silence, during which Kirk stared -wide-eyed at Tauncer, and Tauncer probed him with a gaze like a scalpel.</p> - -<p>On Kirk's part, it was a silence of sheer astonishment. No question -could have taken him so unexpectedly. He'd been prepared to be grilled -on squadron dispositions, forces in being, bases, all the things that -the men of Orion Sector would like to know about Lyra. But this—</p> - -<p>It didn't make sense. Earth was not part of the present-day star -struggle. That old planet, so far back in the galaxy that Kirk had -never been within parsecs of it—it was history, nothing more. It had -had its day, its sons long ago had spread out to the stars and their -blood ran in the veins of men on many worlds, in Kirk himself. But its -great day had long been done, and the Sector governors who played the -cosmic chess-game for suns paid it no heed at all.</p> - -<p>"I'll repeat," said Tauncer softly. "What's Ferdias planning to do -about Earth?"</p> - -<p>"I haven't," said Kirk, "the faintest idea what you're talking about."</p> - -<p>Tauncer sighed. "Possibly." He straightened up. "Even probably. But -I've been sent here to make the inquiry, and I'll need more than your -word and an expression of innocence. Brix!"</p> - -<p>One of the other men came forward. Tauncer spoke to him in a low voice, -and he nodded, and went into the shadows across the room. Kirk's heart -pounded in alarm. He tried to get up, but he had been too well bound. -He could not see his chrono, but he did not think that more than seven -or eight minutes had elapsed since he had entered the town. Plenty of -time for mischief. He said to Tauncer,</p> - -<p>"I didn't walk into this with my eyes completely shut. My men have -instructions."</p> - -<p>"I'm sure they have. And don't feel too badly about this, Commander. -The details of the trap were based on a minute study of your psychology -and past record. It would have been almost impossible for you to avoid -falling into it. Can't you hurry that up Brix?"</p> - -<p>"All ready." Brix came back carrying a light tripod with a projector -mounted on it. And now Kirk's heart sank coldly into the pit of -his stomach. He had seen that particular type of projector before. -It was called a vera-ray, and it beamed electric impulses in a -carefully-controlled range that absolutely stunned and demoralized a -man's brain, making him temporarily incapable of lying or resisting -questioning.</p> - -<p>Kirk had no information about Earth to give away. But there were plenty -of other things in his mind, things of military importance to Lyra -Sector that Solleremos would be only too glad to get hold of.</p> - -<p>How long now? Ten minutes more? Too long. Even five minutes would be -too long, with that projector pounding his skull.</p> - -<p>He couldn't get up, but he could roll. He rolled, acting on a -split-second reflex that caught even Tauncer by surprise. The projector -was only four or five feet away. Brix and the other men were on top of -him again almost at once but not quite in time. He fetched the tripod -a thrashing kick, with both his feet bound together. It fell over. He -could not hope that it was broken, not on this soft carpeted floor, but -it would take them time to set it up again.</p> - -<p>He tried to keep them busy as long as he could, but Tauncer understood -perfectly well what he was up to. He pulled his men off and set Brix to -adjusting the projector again, and turned to Kirk.</p> - -<p>"You may as well spare yourself, Commander. I have my mission, and -the military have theirs. There are three cruisers standing off and -on, just out of radar range—they got word the moment you landed, and -they're already on their way."</p> - -<p>He smiled briefly. "The price you pay for fame, Commander. The Fifth is -Ferdias' elite squadron, and nobody gets command of it unless he's in -Ferdias' special favor."</p> - -<p>"Friendship is one thing," said Kirk hotly, "and favor is another. I -don't like your choice of words."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He was just talking, words, sounds with no meaning. Inside he was -thinking of Garstang and the <i>Starsong</i>, and all the lives of all the -men in her. He had led them here.</p> - -<p>He looked at Tauncer, and he began now to hate him, with a hate as deep -and cold as space.</p> - -<p>"Ferdias will tear your heart out," he said.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps," said Tauncer. "But he may have other things to occupy his -mind."</p> - -<p>"Earth? He's never been there. None of us have. It's only a name, and -a half-forgotten one at that. Why should Earth occupy his mind? Why, -Tauncer?"</p> - -<p>How long is twenty minutes? How long does it take three cruisers to -come from Point X beyond radar range to Target Zero? How long does it -take a man to realize he's through at last?</p> - -<p>Brix said again, "All ready."</p> - -<p>Tauncer nodded.</p> - -<p>Brix touched a stud on the projector.</p> - -<p>As though that touch had done it, a dull and mighty roaring echoed from -the desert—the full-throated cry of a heavy cruiser taking off.</p> - -<p>The men looked, startled, toward the door. Desperately, Kirk rolled -sideways, out of the force that was already battering at the edges of -his mind.</p> - -<p>"You out there!" he shouted at the doorway. "The men from outside -avenge treachery! Call your lord—"</p> - -<p>One of Tauncer's men kicked him alongside the jaw. Kirk shut up, -hanging with blind determination to his consciousness. Fore-thought had -provided this one chance. He would not get another. He did not dare to -miss it.</p> - -<p>The cruiser came low over the town. Dust sifted out of the cracks of -the stone walls. The men fell to their knees, covering their heads -with their arms. The floor rocked under them, beaten by the rolling -hammers of concussion.</p> - -<p>The ripped sky closed upon itself with a stunning, thundering crash. -After a minute or two the noise and the shock wave ebbed away.</p> - -<p>Silence.</p> - -<p>The men began to get up again. But Kirk did not move.</p> - -<p>The cruiser came back. This time it was even lower. Garstang must have -tickled her belly on the peaked roofs. Christ, thought Kirk, he's -overdoing it. This time the stones were shaking loose. When it was -over, a long thin shape came in through the doorway. It was the leader -of the tall men who had brought Kirk here.</p> - -<p>His face was a mask of fear and rage as he spoke to Tauncer. "You said -that if we helped you, you would keep all other outsiders away!"</p> - -<p>"We will," said Tauncer. "Listen—"</p> - -<p>"Yes, listen," mocked Kirk. "Listen to it coming back. It'll keep -coming back, unless I walk out of here—until your town is flattened."</p> - -<p>The tall man stood hesitating. Then the <i>Starsong</i> roared back over. -When it was gone, he picked himself up and with a knife cut the cords -around Kirk's wrists and ankles.</p> - -<p>"Oh, no," said Tauncer, starting forward. "You can't—"</p> - -<p>The tall man turned on him a face livid with frustrated anger. "Shall -the children of cluster-kings be destroyed to serve <i>you</i>? Shall I call -my people in?"</p> - -<p>Kirk, scrambling to his feet, saw outside the door the crowd of tall, -pale-cloaked men who had gathered. Tauncer saw them too, and stopped.</p> - -<p>As Kirk picked up the porto and started for the door, the man Brix -cried violently, "Are we just going to stand here?"</p> - -<p>Tauncer said levelly, "Why, yes, there are times when you do just that. -But I think we'll see the Commander again."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Kirk went out through the door and through the crowd outside it. No one -followed him. He got the porto working and talked fast to Garstang, -then dropped the porto and sprinted out of the town toward the desert.</p> - -<p>The cruiser dropped down ahead of him, as black and big against the -stars as a falling world. The lock yawned open, and Garstang was inside -it to meet him. He started to ask what had happened, but Kirk pushed -him bodily away down the corridor, heading for the bridge.</p> - -<p>"Get in there and do your stuff, Joe. We've got three Orion cruisers on -our tail, as of the time we landed."</p> - -<p>At that moment they heard the voice of the radarman crying out in -sudden anguish, "Sir!"</p> - -<p>Garstang said in mild reproval, "You ought to give a man more time, -Commander. Radar, what's the bearing? All right, stand by—"</p> - -<p>Orders crackled over the intercoms. Men moved swiftly at the -control-banks. The last thing Kirk heard before the howling roar of -take-off drowned everything was Garstang complaining that this sort of -thing was hard on a ship. Then there was a dull crash from somewhere -outside. The <i>Starsong</i> was shaken as though by a great wind. Both Kirk -and Garstang had weathered enough fire to know that she had taken no -hurt. But the Orion cruisers were in range now, bearing down on them in -normal space at planetary speeds. The next shell would likely be a good -deal closer. They dared not wait for star-room to go into overdrive.</p> - -<p>"Hit it!" yelled Kirk. Garstang threw the relays open. Sirens shrilled -and the lights went dim. The <i>Starsong</i> shuddered vertiginously.</p> - -<p>And then they were in overdrive and racing out toward the twin red suns -that guarded the entrance to the Dragon's Throat.</p> - -<p>The scanners and ultra-speed radar came into play, replacing normal -instruments, making an illusion of sight. And the voice of the radarman -said dismally,</p> - -<p>"They're still with us, sir. F-Type cruisers, heavy-armed and plenty -fast."</p> - -<p>For the next quarter of an hour the <i>Starsong</i> gained velocity at a -suicidal rate, but the Orion cruisers would not be left behind. The -radarman called their coordinates in a steady sing-song and Garstang -ordered more power and more power, keeping one eye on the stress -indicators and the other on the overhanging star-cliffs of the Throat -that seemed to be leaping toward the ship.</p> - -<p>There was a limit. You could not take the Throat too fast. In that -swarm of suns a ship's fabric could be torn apart in some swift tide -of gravity, or vaporized in collision. Garstang had already passed the -limit. But the Orionids were refusing to be bluffed.</p> - -<p>Kirk said nothing. This was Garstang's job, and he let him do it. -But he watched the indicators as closely as the captain. Under his -feet and all around him he could feel the <i>Starsong</i> quiver, wincing -and flinching like a live thing now and again as some wild current -wrenched at her. His gaze flicked upward to the nebula, like a fiery -thundercloud above the Dragon's Throat, and then to the shoaling suns -below, with the narrow pass between them. The twin red stars of the -binary flashed by and were gone.</p> - -<p>Suddenly, in the screen that mirrored space astern, a tiny nova flared -and winked away. The <i>Starsong</i> trembled, like a running deer that -hears the hunter's gun.</p> - -<p>"Wide astern," said Garstang. He looked at the cleft of the Throat and -shook his head. "But we'll have to slow down for that, and they know -it. They'll have time to range us before they come in themselves. They -won't," he added grimly, "have to come in."</p> - -<p>Kirk nodded. "So we'll fool them. We won't go into the Throat either."</p> - -<p>Garstang stood silent for a moment. Then he said, "I was hoping you -wouldn't think of that."</p> - -<p>"Have you a better idea? Or even a worse one?"</p> - -<p>"No." Garstang took a deep breath and spoke into the communicator. "New -course, north and zenith, forty degrees. We're running the nebula. On -full autopilot. If anyone wants to pray, go ahead."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The <i>Starsong</i> shot upward, plunging high into an area so choked with -stellar radiance that it made the Dragon's Throat seem like empty -space. The manual control-banks were dark and dead. From the calc-room -back of the bridge a new sound came, different from the normal -occasional outbursts of chattering. This was a steady sound, a sound of -authority, the voice of the <i>Starsong</i> speaking. She was flying herself -now. The men aboard, Captain and Commander, able spaceman and ensign, -were her charges, dependent on her wisdom and her radar vision and her -strength. There was nothing they could do but wait.</p> - -<p>The <i>Starsong</i> spiralled higher, her radar system guiding her on a -twisting path between the clotted stars. Then Kirk saw a great glowing -edge slide onto the screen and grow into a vastness of dust and cosmic -drift illumined by the half-smothered stars it webbed.</p> - -<p>The Orionid cruisers had altered course and were coming after them. But -the <i>Starsong</i> was already skimming through glowing arms that reached -like misty tentacles searching for other stars to trap and feed upon. -Once in the cloud, she would be screened from the cruiser's radar beams -by the most effective scrambling device in space, the nebula itself.</p> - -<p>Effective. Yes. But potentially as deadly as Orionid warheads. The only -difference was that with the nebula you had a chance. Against three -cruisers you had none.</p> - -<p>Kirk strapped himself into the recoil chair beside Garstang. Nothing -moved now within the ship. The frail, breakable organism of breath and -heart and bone were encased in protective webs. This was the hour of -the ship, the hour of steel and flame and the racing electron, faster -than thought.</p> - -<p>The <i>Starsong</i> spoke to herself in the calc-room, and plunged headlong -into the cloud.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="ph1">CHAPTER III</p> - - -<p>The universe was swallowed up in golden light, in racing, streaming -tides of luminous dust. Like an undersea ship of old the <i>Starsong</i> -raced with the gleaming currents and burst through denser, darker deeps -where the stars were faint and far away, to leap once more into a glory -of wild light where the drowned suns burned like torches in a mist. And -the voice in the calc-room rose to an unhuman crying as the computers -strained to take in the overwhelming surge of data from defensive -radar, analyze it, and send imperative commands to the control-relays.</p> - -<p>It had almost a sound of insane music in it, that voice, and the -<i>Starsong</i> danced to it, whirling and swaying between the fragments of -the drift that threatened her with instant destruction if she faltered -for a fraction of a second. Kirk, half-dazed, clung to his padded chair -and gasped for breath, and felt, and listened.</p> - -<p>The same illusion gripped him now that had mastered him before when -forced to run a cloud—the feeling that the suns and star-worlds were -all gone, that he was enwrapped in the primal fire-mists of creation. -Mighty tides seemed to bear the ship forward, everything was a boil and -whirl of light, millrace currents seemed to rush them endlessly through -infinity, with all space and time cancelled out. He wondered briefly, -once, how the Orionids were doing, and then forgot them. The agony, -the intoxication, the godlike joy and the terror were far too great to -admit any petty worries about anything human.</p> - -<p>Then, with almost shocking abruptness, they broke into clear space, and -the cloud was behind them. Like men enchanted waking from a dream, Kirk -and Garstang shook themselves and stood erect again, and the voice of -the <i>Starsong</i> was stilled, and human voices spoke once more.</p> - -<p>And human problems were still with them. Somewhat farther astern now, -but still doggedly following, three tiny flecks of darkness came after -them out of the cloud.</p> - -<p>Kirk went into the com-room and made contact with his squadron far -ahead. He gave crisp orders, and then rejoined Garstang on the bridge.</p> - -<p>"Larned's on his way," he said. "Can you keep clear?"</p> - -<p>"I can," said Garstang, and ordered full power. He had nothing between -him and the Pleiades now but light-years of elbow room, and he took -full advantage of it. The Orion cruisers apparently had intercepted -Kirk's message, and made a frantic last attempt to overhaul him.</p> - -<p>When that proved impossible, and their trial shots fell so far short -that it was obvious the range could not be made before the <i>Starsong</i> -reached the point of convergence with the squadron, they turned tail -and ran back for the cluster. When the squadron did arrive, space was -empty of everything but themselves and the distant stars.</p> - -<p>The hard, excited voice of Larned, Kirk's Vice-Commander, came rapidly -as they joined the squadron.</p> - -<p>"So there <i>is</i> an Orionid base in there! By God, we'll soon—"</p> - -<p>"No," Kirk cut in. "There was no base in there. There was a trap, for -me—only I still don't know just why they set it."</p> - -<p>He went to the com-room and set up a message on the coding machine. -Top secret, to Ferdias at Vega, briefly detailing his encounter with -Tauncer.</p> - -<p><i>"—am unable to explain interest in Earth, and your plans concerning. -Suggest attempt to distract from some other objective? Await -instructions. Kirk."</i></p> - -<p>In a remarkably short time the answer came back.</p> - -<p><i>"Report Vega at once with full squadron." And it added, -"Unfortunately, no distraction. Ferdias."</i></p> - -<p>Looking at the cryptic tape, Kirk had an uneasy feeling that he had all -unknowingly stepped over one of those thresholds into a new phase of -existence, where nothing was going to be quite the same as it had been -ever again. He had once more that premonition that the pace, the tempo -of the great game for suns, was about to step up still faster.</p> - -<p>He said nothing of that to Garstang or the others. To them, the -unexpected recall to home base meant an unlooked-for leave. And to him, -it would mean returning to Lyllin sooner than he had hoped. But even -that could not quite banish his uneasiness.</p> - -<p>The squadron wheeled in tight formation and set its course toward the -great blue-white sun that burned in Lyra, capital of a mighty Sector -that was in everything but name an empire of stars.</p> - -<p>When they made their world-fall, when the squadron swept down through -the bluish glare over Vega Town and landed on the spaceport, Larned -came at once from his own ship. The Vice-Commander, a blocky, brusque -and competent young man, bristled with questions.</p> - -<p>"What the devil is all this about, Kirk? Pulling us in like this—"</p> - -<p>"I haven't an idea," Kirk said. "But I'm about to find out. Call Lyllin -for me and tell her I'll be along soon."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>An air-car with a uniformed driver took him across the great city. It -was really two cities. The older city of graceful white towers had been -built long ago by the native Vegans, Lyllin's people. But then, more -than a century ago, the starships had come to Vega, the first wave of -explorers and colonizers from the inner galaxy. They had not been all -Earthmen, even though that wave had first started from Earth. By the -time they reached here, Earthmen had already mixed and mated with many -other human star-folk. It was these newcomers who had built the new -part of Vega Town.</p> - -<p>It was to the newer city that the air-car took him, to the looming, -dominating mass of Government house. A lift took him down from the -roof, and he went through the corridors, a tall man with a faintly -worried look on his copper-bronzed face. Efficient secretaries shunted -him smoothly and quickly into a room few people ever entered.</p> - -<p>It seemed a small room, to be the center of government of so many -stars. For this was the center—the Sectors each had their elected -legislatures but it was the Governors who wielded the power.</p> - -<p>"Stop saluting, Kirk," said Ferdias. "You know you're at ease when you -step in here."</p> - -<p>Ferdias came around the desk. He limped, from the crash of a Class -Twenty long ago. But you never remembered his limp, or how small a man -he was. You saw only his face, and when you saw it you knew why, at the -age of forty, he was one of the five great Governors.</p> - -<p>"Now let's have it," he said.</p> - -<p>Kirk let him have it, the full story of the trap in the cluster. And -Ferdias' face got just a trifle longer.</p> - -<p>He said, finally, "You had no business going in alone. But since you -got out, I'm glad you did it. For I'm sure now of what I only suspected -before. In his eagerness to find out how much I know, Solleremos has -told me what I <i>wanted</i> to know."</p> - -<p>Kirk, frankly puzzled, said, "I just don't get it. What is Ferdias -planning to do about Earth? What plans <i>would</i> you have about it?"</p> - -<p>Ferdias limped back to his chair, and sat down, and then looked up -keenly. "Kirk, you're at least half Earth blood. Tell me, how do you -feel about Earth?"</p> - -<p>Kirk said, "But I've never been there. You know that—I was born in -a transport off Arcturus, and have never been farther back in than -Procyon."</p> - -<p>"I know. But what do you think about Earth?"</p> - -<p>Kirk made a gesture. "What's there to think about? It's a third-rate -planet, from what I hear, important only because star-flight began -there. Its Galactic Council tried to hold all the galaxy together in -one government, but of course that proved impossible. Hell, it's hard -enough to hold a Sector together, let alone the whole galaxy."</p> - -<p>"But Earth isn't any of the Sectors, of course," said Ferdias.</p> - -<p>Kirk looked at him keenly. "Of course not. Sector Governors don't -touch Earth's small federal district...." He stopped. He said, after a -moment, "Or do they? Do they, Ferdias?"</p> - -<p>"Solleremos would like to," said Ferdias.</p> - -<p>Kirk was astonished. "You mean, he wants to take <i>Earth</i> into Orion -Sector?"</p> - -<p>"He wants to very much indeed," said the other. "Listen, Kirk. -Solleremos' pressure on our borders lately has been only cover-up. It's -Earth he's after."</p> - -<p>"But <i>why</i>? That unimportant little star system—"</p> - -<p>"Is it so unimportant?" Ferdias' blue eyes, hot and flaring now, -fascinated Kirk. "Materially, maybe it is—a worn-out, third-rate -world. But psychologically, it's a very important world indeed. Think -of the Earth blood mingled in all the galaxy races now—in you and in -me, in half the civilized peoples! Think of the feelings they have, -perhaps without altogether realizing it, toward that old planet they've -never seen! They know it no longer directs things, they know its -Council and Navy are a shadowy sham—but still it's Earth, it's the -old center of things, the old heart-world. Suppose one of the other -Governors gets Earth into his Sector, and speaks from it thereafter?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Kirk saw it now. He realized, not for the first time, that when it came -to galactic intrigue he was a babe in arms.</p> - -<p>It <i>would</i> give any of the rival Governors a colossal psychological -advantage, to make the old center of the galaxy his seat of government. -Commands that came from Earth would have a psychological potency hard -to withstand.</p> - -<p>"But you're not going to let Solleremos get away with it?" he exclaimed.</p> - -<p>"No Kirk. <i>I</i> don't want Earth. But I'm not going to let Orion Sector -grab it, either!"</p> - -<p>He went on. "Solleremos knows I'll try to stop him. That's why he had -Tauncer, his right-hand man, set that little trap for you. They know I -trust you. They hoped I'd have told you how I plan to block them."</p> - -<p>Kirk looked at him, and then said, "How <i>are</i> you going to stop them?"</p> - -<p>Ferdias said, "There's a big celebration coming up on Earth soon. -The two-hundredth anniversary of the first space-flight from Earth. -It means a lot to them. Their Council invited me to send an official -delegation to represent Lyra Sector. So I'm sending you."</p> - -<p>Kirk stared. "Me—to Earth? But what can <i>I</i> do if—"</p> - -<p>Ferdias interrupted. "The Fifth Squadron will go with you. To take part -in the commemoration pageant, the fly-over."</p> - -<p>Now Kirk began to understand. "Then if Solleremos tries anything, the -Fifth will be there waiting for him?"</p> - -<p>"Exactly." Ferdias spoke the word like a wolf-snap. "I know Solleremos' -intentions. I know about when he plans his grab for Earth. Earth can't -stop him, not with their small forces. But the Fifth can!"</p> - -<p>Kirk felt a bit stunned. Fighting the hidden border wars of the rival -Governors was one thing. But a full-fledged struggle between Sectors, -back there at old Earth, was quite another. It could rock the galaxy....</p> - -<p>Ferdias went on matter-of-factly, "You'll take off five days from now. -You may be there a while, so you'll take full supply auxiliaries and -transports."</p> - -<p>Kirk looked up. Transports meant the families of all personnel would -accompany the squadron—and that meant Lyllin would go with him. He was -glad of that.</p> - -<p>"But when we get there," he said. "Besides taking part in that -celebration, what do we <i>do</i>?"</p> - -<p>Ferdias said, "Go and look up your ancestral home."</p> - -<p>"My—what?"</p> - -<p>"Ancestral home. Place where the Kirks came from, on Earth. I had it -hunted out, and it's still standing. It's in Orville, a place near the -city New York. You go and look it up first thing."</p> - -<p>Kirk began to get it. "You'll send me orders there?"</p> - -<p>"You'll hear from me. And you'll get warning if Solleremos moves on -Earth. But Kirk—one more thing."</p> - -<p>"Yes?"</p> - -<p>"You're not to talk of this to anyone. <i>Anyone.</i>"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Kirk, as the air-car took him homeward across the city, hardly saw the -brilliant Vegan capital flashing by beneath. He was badly worried. A -deadly, secret galactic struggle was moving toward crisis, and he was -not the man to combat conspiracies, he was no good at plots and plans. -But—and his jaw set hard—if Solleremos <i>did</i> try to grab Earth by -force, there was one thing the Fifth was very good at, and that was -fighting.</p> - -<p>He couldn't tell Lyllin about any of this, not against Ferdias' strict -injunction. But at least she would be going with him this time, and -that would be good news to her. He strode eagerly into the metalloy -cottage that was home to him. Its familiar rooms were cool and silent. -He found Lyllin waiting for him on the terrace.</p> - -<p>The blue sun was touching the hills, and the sky was flooded with a -purple dusk. Lyllin came toward him. She was all Vegan and looked it, -her flesh showed pale as new gold, with the darker masses of her hair -picking up the same tint and turning it to copper. She was dressed in -the fashion of her own people, in a chiton so mistily transparent that -her fine slender body seemed to be draped in a bit of the oncoming dusk -itself.</p> - -<p>He held her, and then told her his news, and was surprised that it did -not seem to make her happy. "To Earth?" she murmured. "Just for the -space-flight anniversary? It's strange—"</p> - -<p>"But this time you'll be with me," he said. "Not on the voyage—you'll -ride transport, of course—but on Earth, all the time I'm there."</p> - -<p>"How long will that be, Kirk?"</p> - -<p>He didn't know, and said so. Lyllin's face shadowed subtly. But she had -a way of silence, and it was not until later that night that she spoke -of it.</p> - -<p>She said, suddenly, "I shall hate it at Earth."</p> - -<p>Kirk was shocked. "But why in the world? That's ridiculous. A place -you've never seen, and hardly know about—"</p> - -<p>"It's your place, your people. Not mine." She was not looking at him. -"You'll be going home. But what will they think of me there? What will -<i>you</i> think of me there, among your own people?"</p> - -<p>Kirk turned her around with rough and angry hands. "I'm ashamed of you. -If you could even think a thing like that—" He shook her. "Listen to -me. Earth is no more to me than it is to you. It's a name, a place -where my grandfather five times removed happened to be born. I've as -much blood of other worlds in me as Earth blood. And as for you—"</p> - -<p>Her eyes had tears in the corners of them, now. Her mouth was soft and -uncertain, like a child's. He said, in a different tone, "No matter -where we go, you'll be Lyllin. And I'll love you."</p> - -<p>She came close in the circle of his arms, and she kissed him with a -wild possessiveness. And her lips were bitter with those sudden tears.</p> - -<p>But Kirk felt that she was not convinced. She had the Vegan pride, and -if they treated her at Earth like a freak, an alien....</p> - -<p>In the depth of his soul, he cursed Solleremos and his ambitious -schemes. For the worry that was in him had deepened. The danger that -the Fifth was going into, the danger that would explode if that -unscrupulous grab for the old planet was attempted, was not the only -one. He felt now that beside that there was another, subtler danger -waiting for Lyllin and himself at Earth.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="ph1">CHAPTER IV</p> - - -<p>The squadron was out of overdrive, cruising at normal approach -velocity. There was a sun ahead in space. Compared to the blazing -giants of deep space, it was not much, merely a small yellow star -looking rather lonely in the midst of a great emptiness. Kirk studied -it. The Sun. Not just any sun, <i>the</i> Sun. How should he feel about -it? Like a child seeing its father for the first time, or like a man -returning to an ancient hearth that has long ago lost any meaning for -him? Kirk searched his heart, and nothing came. It was only another -star.</p> - -<p>Garstang touched his arm and pointed, to where far off a little green -planet swung to meet them.</p> - -<p>"Earth."</p> - -<p>The squadron rushed toward it, the cruisers and supply-ships and -transports, the men and women and children, strangers from the far -reaches of the galaxy. And yet not quite strangers either, for the -names that had come from this world were still among them, and the -traditions, and even some of the blood. Two hundred years ago, their -forefathers had left it. And now they were coming back.</p> - -<p>A quiet had settled on the bridge. Kirk supposed it was the same with -the whole squadron, everybody staring and thinking his or her own -thoughts. He wondered what Lyllin was thinking, and wished she were -with him instead of back there in one of the transports.</p> - -<p>Earth came closer. He could see clouds, and the white splash of a polar -cap. Closer still, and there were seas, and the outlines of continents. -Colors began to show more clearly, and the land became ridged with -mountain chains. Great lakes took form, and dark-green areas of forest, -and winding rivers. A nice world. A pretty world. Kirk hated it. Its -other name was Trouble.</p> - -<p>"Why did Ferdias have to pick <i>us</i> for this job?"</p> - -<p>Unconsciously he had spoken aloud, or loud enough for Garstang to hear. -"It's only for a visit," said Garstang. "Just a celebration. What's -wrong with that?" His tone was mild, without mockery.</p> - -<p>But Kirk looked at him sharply. He knew that Garstang and Larned and -all his other officers and men must have been talking and wondering. -Wondering why they'd been pulled out of their needful place for this -rather meaningless celebration.</p> - -<p>They came down past the shoreline of a blue-green ocean, past a city -that sprawled over islands and peninsulas and up inland river valleys, -and then beneath them was a big spaceport. The squadron roared in to -its appointed landing, bristling on its best behavior, every ship set -down with masterly precision, and there was a crowd assembled there to -meet it. Flags whipped in the wind. The brassy music of a band blared -out, immensely stirring with a solemn throb of drums beneath it.</p> - -<p>The men of the Fifth debarked and formed in marching order, every boot -polished and every uniform immaculate, a solid line of blue and silver -glittering in the soft blaze of this golden sun. Kirk felt the heat of -it in his face. His heels struck solidly on the ground, and the wind -touched him, balmily, laden with fragrances strange to him. And he -thought, "This is Earth." He looked around at it.</p> - -<p>He could see only the spaceport, and that was old and worn and poor. -The tarmac was cracked and blackened, the ancient buildings weathered. -Opposite the squadron were drawn up twelve cruisers with the old -insigne of the Galactic Navy on their bows, and with their crews -standing at attention in front of them. Those old, small ships—why, -they were Class Fourteens, obsolete for years! He supposed they were -all Earth had.</p> - -<p>Two men walked toward him. One was a middle-aged civilian, the other an -arrow-straight, elderly man in black uniform that also bore the old -Navy insigne. He stiffly returned Kirk's salute.</p> - -<p>"Nice landing, Commander," he said. "I'm First Admiral Laney, and I -welcome your squadron."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Incredulously, Kirk realized that the old admiral was keeping up the -pretense that the Fifth Squadron was still part of the Navy.</p> - -<p>It was so preposterous it was funny! Not for a century had the old -Galactic Navy had any real existence. Its staff never sent any orders -out to the squadrons of the five Governors, any more than Central -Council dared send orders to the Governors themselves. Yet this old -Earth officer was trying hard, in front of the crowd, to act as though -he really were Kirk's superior officer....</p> - -<p>Then, seeing the faintly desperate look in Laney's eyes, Kirk softened. -After all, what difference did it make—it was only a pretense and he -felt sorry for the old chap trying to play this part.</p> - -<p>He saluted again and said, "Fifth Squadron, Kirk commanding, reporting -for orders, sir!"</p> - -<p>A look of grateful relief crossed Laney's face. He said uncertainly, -"At ease, Commander. Let me present Council Chairman John Charteris."</p> - -<p>Charteris, a graying, eager, anxious man, shook hands warmly. He began -a little speech, into the tele-cameras close by. "We welcome back one -of the gallant squadrons of the Galactic Navy to take part in our -commemoration of—"</p> - -<p>When the speeches and handshaking and bandplaying were over, Kirk gave -an order, and his men broke ranks. Larned came up to him.</p> - -<p>"Shall we debark our people now?"</p> - -<p>The old admiral told Kirk, "Quarters are all ready for them."</p> - -<p>Charteris said, "But you and your wife, Commander, must be my guests."</p> - -<p>They walked back between the lofty, looming ships. The women and -children and babies of the men of the Fifth started coming out of the -transports, and efficient Earth officers began smoothly shuttling them -into cars to take them to their quarters. From around the fences, a big -crowd of Earth folk watched interestedly.</p> - -<p>Of a sudden, for the first time his men's families seemed a little -outlandish to Kirk. The women and children were of so many different -star-peoples, so many different ways of speech and dress. He looked -resentfully for amusement in the Earth faces, but could not detect any.</p> - -<p>At the transport he excused himself and went in to Lyllin's cabin. He -stopped short when he saw her. He had never seen her like this. She -wore an Earth-style dress of impeccable lines, was perfect in a smart, -sophisticated way. She still didn't look like an Earthwoman, not with -that skin and eyes and hair. But she looked stunning, and he said so.</p> - -<p>"I'm glad I look civilized enough for your people," Lyllin said sweetly.</p> - -<p>"My people?" Kirk drew back stiffly. "So you're still brooding on that? -That's fine. I'm not in a tough enough spot here, my wife has to get -super-sensitive and make it tougher."</p> - -<p>Lyllin's expression changed. "What kind of spot?" He was silent. She -looked at him steadily. "It's something dangerous, isn't it?"</p> - -<p>"I'd have told you if it were something I could tell you," he said. -"You know that. Will you forget it? And forget about these people being -<i>my</i> people!"</p> - -<p>He went out with her, and Lyllin went through the introductions, cool -and proud. Kirk told Larned aside, "Two-day leaves for all personnel -in regular rotation. Port facilities will take care of refitting and -fueling."</p> - -<p>Larned grunted. "I've seen better facilities on fifth-rate planets. -Plenty old! But we'll make out."</p> - -<p>Charteris' car swept them along a broad highway to New York. It had a -stiff, strange look to Kirk, its vertical towers huddled together bold -and black against the setting sun. He thought it a cramped and crowded -place, though Charteris' terrace apartment high above the myriad lights -was pleasant.</p> - -<p>There was a dinner there that night, and drinks, and more speeches, and -much talk about the Commemoration. Sector politics were unobtrusively -avoided. Kirk fretted and worried through it all. What was Solleremos -doing, where were his squadrons? Ferdias had said he'd get warning if -they moved, but would that warning come in time?</p> - -<p>In the morning, he found Charteris oddly changed. He looked at Kirk -with a queerly doubtful expression.</p> - -<p>Kirk said, "Before we make arrangements about the Commemoration, I—"</p> - -<p>"Oh, there's no hurry about that," Charteris said hastily. Then -suddenly he asked, "Do you know if Orion Sector will send a token -squadron too?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Alarm rang a bell in Kirk's brain instantly. What was behind the -question? Had Charteris heard something that he hadn't?</p> - -<p>He answered, "Why, no, I don't. But surely you would know—"</p> - -<p>Charteris continued to eye him with that dubious expression as he said, -"We sent an invitation to Governor Solleremos to take part, of course. -But doubtless we'll soon hear from him."</p> - -<p>Kirk thought swiftly, he <i>has</i> heard something—something that he -doesn't want me to know! But what? Was Orion already moving, were -Orionid forces coming to Earth on the excuse of the celebration, just -as he had?</p> - -<p>He'd get no information from Charteris. He'd better contact Ferdias, -as quickly as possible. He was only a naval commander, and he felt an -enormous desire for definite orders in this crisis. He could only get -such orders at the rendezvous Ferdias had told him to go to.</p> - -<p>Kirk said casually, "While I'm here on Earth I want to look up my -ancestors' old home here, and now would be a good time. It's in -a village not too far away, I understand. If we could borrow a -ground-car—"</p> - -<p>Charteris seemed glad to comply. "Of course. A sentimental pilgrimage, -in a way? Very understandable—"</p> - -<p>Kirk refused the offer of a driver. But by the time he and Lyllin got -out of New York and were rolling northward, he almost regretted that -decision. It seemed ridiculous for a man who could pilot a squadron -half across the galaxy in full overdrive, but the traffic frightened -him. He hadn't done much driving, and certainly none on highways like -this big northern boulevard. On this crowded Earth, people apparently -still used ground-cars in great numbers for short distances, and it was -not until they branched off on a subsidiary highway that Kirk felt easy.</p> - -<p>He said then, "I want to explain about this ancestral home business."</p> - -<p>Lyllin, looking straight ahead, said, "You don't have to explain. It's -perfectly natural that you should want to see where your people came -from."</p> - -<p>"Will you stop behaving like a woman and listen?" he said angrily. -"<i>My</i> people, again. What the devil would I care where my seventh -great-grandfather lived. I'm doing what Ferdias ordered." He added, "I -wasn't supposed to tell you even that, but I couldn't very well go off -on this supposed sentimental pilgrimage without you."</p> - -<p>Lyllin's expression changed. "Then there'll be someone from Ferdias to -meet you there secretly, is that it? And I'm not to know about what?"</p> - -<p>"That's it," he said. "Ferdias' orders were not to tell anyone."</p> - -<p>He thought that Lyllin looked somehow relieved. "I don't mind. I'm -worried, I wish I knew, but it's all right if you can't tell me."</p> - -<p>It came to him that she was relieved to learn he didn't really care -about his Earth ancestors, that that had only been an excuse.</p> - -<p>Kirk felt a sharp relief himself, to be on his way to Orville, to the -old house there where Ferdias' agent would be waiting to tell him what -to do. In this gathering crisis he couldn't act blindly! It was vital -to get directive information as soon as possible.</p> - -<p>They turned off the big boulevard onto quiet, tree-lined back roads. -These roads were old and rambling, accomodatingly twisting around hills -and ponds and even houses. Some of the houses were modern chromaloy -villas, but there were antique stone houses also, and once he and -Lyllin both exclaimed when they saw a very old house that was built all -of wood.</p> - -<p>Out here away from the city, everything looked ancient. Stone fences -that had the moss of centuries on them, a steepled church mantled thick -with ivy, worn fields that had been tilled for ages. In the fields, -driverless automatic tractors were lumbering about their work, but -there seemed little bustle or activity. Kirk thought that this was an -old, worn world....</p> - -<p>A brilliant bird flashed across the road and he and Lyllin argued what -it was. "A robin, I think," Kirk said doubtfully. "In school, when I -was little, we had an old Earth poem about Robin Redbreast. I didn't -know then what it was."</p> - -<p>"Not nearly so splendid as a flame-bird," Lyllin said. "But the red of -it, and the green trees, and the blue sky.... It's a pretty world, in -its way."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>They rolled finally down a little hill and over a bridged stream into -the town of Orville. It was only a village, with shops around a big -open square. There was a corroded statue of a soldier at the center of -the park, and benches on which old men sat in the sun.</p> - -<p>Kirk asked directions of a merchant standing in front of his shop, -a chubby man who stared open-mouthed at the two visitors. And Kirk -suddenly realized how strange indeed they must look in this sleepy -little Earth village—he in his blue-and-silver starman's uniform, his -face dark from foreign suns, and Lyllin whose beauty was a breath of -the alien.</p> - -<p>He was glad to drive on out of the village, on the designated road. It -was an even more rambling road, looping casually along the side of a -shallow valley whose neat farms and fields and woods lay silent in the -blaze of the soft golden sun. They met no other ground-cars, though -an occasional air-car hummed across the blue sky. Kirk kept counting -houses, and when he had counted five he turned in at a lane, and -stopped.</p> - -<p>The house was of field-stone, an ancient, brown dumpy structure that -had a faintly forlorn, deserted look. Under the big, stiff, dark-green -trees in its front yard—were they the trees called "pines?"—the grass -was high and ragged. The lane went on past the house, past an orchard -of gnarled trees heavy with green fruit, to a big old barn. There was -no one in sight, and no sign that anyone was here.</p> - -<p>"Are you sure it's the place?" asked Lyllin.</p> - -<p>He nodded, moving toward the porch. "It's the place. Ferdias had -his agent here buy it, weeks ago, so we'd have this quiet place for -contacts. There should be someone here."</p> - -<p>There was a bell-push at the door, but no one answered it. Kirk tried -the door. It swung open, and they went in.</p> - -<p>They went into a room such as they had never seen before. The walls -were of painted wood, instead of plastic. The furniture was wooden too, -and of archaic design. The room, the house, were very silent.</p> - -<p>"Look at this," said Lyllin, in tones of surprise.</p> - -<p>She was touching a chair, and the chair rocked back and forth on its -bottom. "I thought it was a child's toy but it's not made for a child."</p> - -<p>He shook his head. "Beyond me. And it's beyond me too why Ferdias' man -isn't here!"</p> - -<p>He called, but there was no answer. He went through all the rooms, and -there was no one.</p> - -<p>Kirk felt a mounting alarm. Had something gone wrong with Ferdias' -careful plans? Where was Ferdias' agent, where was the man who should -have met him in this secret rendezvous with the information and orders -he must have?</p> - -<p>Suppose that man didn't come—who then could give him warning of -Solleremos' strike, if Orion <i>did</i> strike?</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="ph1">CHAPTER V</p> - - -<p>Kirk stood, his dismay and anxiety increasing by the minute. What was -he going to do?</p> - -<p>He said, finally, "We'll have to wait. Ferdias' man is bound to be -along soon."</p> - -<p>"You mean—perhaps stay here all night?" said Lyllin. "But food, and -beds—"</p> - -<p>"We'd better look around," he said unhappily.</p> - -<p>They found fairly new blankets on the beds. And in the old kitchen -cupboards was food in the self-heating plastipacks.</p> - -<p>"We can make out," he said. "But it's a hell of a thing."</p> - -<p>While Lyllin prepared their supper, he went out and restlessly walked -around the place. The weedy yard ran into brushy fields and nearby -woods. The old barn was empty, and the outbuildings were shabby and -forlorn.</p> - -<p>He did not think much of Earth, if this was a sample. He went back -inside, and helped Lyllin solve the puzzle of an ancient sink. Even the -reddening sunset light pouring through the windows could not make the -old wooden walls and worn cupboards look less dingy.</p> - -<p>He said so, and Lyllin smiled. "It's not so bad. We'll eat out on that -back porch—it's less musty there."</p> - -<p>The porch was not screened, and friendly insects dropped in upon them -as they ate. The whole western sky was a flare of red, great bastions -of crimson cloud building ever higher. Under the sunset, beyond the -fields, the ragged woods brooded darkly.</p> - -<p>A small animal came soundlessly out of the high grass and stared at -them with greenish eyes.</p> - -<p>"What is it, Kirk—a wild creature?"</p> - -<p>He looked. "It's a cat, that's what it is. An Earthman in the -<i>Stardream</i> had one for a pet, kept it at Base. He called it Tom." He -tossed a bit of food onto the step. "Here, Tom."</p> - -<p>The cat stalked carefully forward, eyed them coldly, then bent to the -food. After a moment it turned its back on them and departed.</p> - -<p>Darkness fell. Kirk began to feel a little desperation. Ferdias' man -hadn't come. What if he didn't come at all? How long could they wait in -this forgotten backwater, not knowing what was going on out there in -deep space?</p> - -<p>Lyllin said, "Isn't it possible your man is waiting in Orville, that -village—and doesn't know you're here?"</p> - -<p>"It could be, I suppose." Kirk grasped at the straw. "I'll go down to -the village. If he's there, he'll see me. Mind waiting—just in case -someone does come here?"</p> - -<p>She said she didn't mind. But he took the compact shocker from his -coat-pocket and left it for her before he went out.</p> - -<p>Kirk drove rapidly down the lonely, dark road to the village. But the -little town looked dark and lonely too, when he got there. The shops -were almost all closed. He saw only a few people. It was very quiet. In -the shadows of the square, the old iron soldier stood stiffly.</p> - -<p>The lights of a tavern caught Kirk's eye, and he went toward it. It -seemed about the only place where his man might be, and he needed a -drink anyway. He shouldered in, and instantly a small buzz of talk -fell silent. Kirk went to the bar, and the men at the farther end of -it followed him with their eyes. The tavern-keeper, a bustling, skinny -man, hurried up and tried to act as though a deep-space naval Commander -was no unusual visitor at all.</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir, what'll it be?"</p> - -<p>Kirk's eyes searched the rack of unfamiliar bottles. He shook his head. -"You pick it. Something strong and short."</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir, some fine old whisky right here." Whisky—well, he'd heard -of that. He drank it, and didn't like it. He let his eyes rest on the -other man. Could one of them be Ferdias' agent?</p> - -<p>He didn't think so. Most of these men looked like farmers or -mechanics, hearty-looking, sunburned men, the younger ones tall -and gangling. One was a very old man with a straggling beard who -shamelessly stared at Kirk with bright, beady eyes. They weren't -unfriendly, but they were aloof. Kirk had an idea he'd get little out -of this insular bunch. He might as well go—none of these could be -Ferdias' man.</p> - -<p>But as he set his glass down, the bearded old man limped forward, -peering bright-eyed and inquisitive at him.</p> - -<p>"You're the fellow who was asking directions to the old Kirk place -today," he said, almost accusingly.</p> - -<p>Kirk nodded. "That's right."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The old Earthman was obviously waiting for an explanation. It occurred -to Kirk that he'd better give one, if he didn't want this whole -countryside wondering audibly why a starman had come here.</p> - -<p>He said, "Kirk's my name. My great-great something grandfather, a long -time ago, came from here. I'm just looking up the old place, that's -all."</p> - -<p>He turned to go then, feeling that he was wasting time here. But one of -the middle-aged Earthmen came forward to him with hand outstretched.</p> - -<p>"Why, if your folks came from here, that makes you sort of an Orville -boy, doesn't it? What do you know about that! Vinson's my name, -Captain."</p> - -<p>"Commander," Kirk corrected, as he shook hands. "Glad to know you. I -guess I'll be on my way."</p> - -<p>"Say, now, not without me buying you a drink," boomed Vinson. "Not -every day one of our own boys comes back from way out there."</p> - -<p>There was a chorus of agreement, and more outstretched hands, and -hearty introductions. Kirk stared at them in wonder. What in the -world—Then he got it.</p> - -<p>All over space, the pride of Earthmen was proverbial, and their -clannishness. He'd met it and he didn't like it. He was therefore all -the more astonished now, that they should suddenly accept him as one of -their own. Seven generations, and the whole width of the galaxy between -him and this place, yet they claimed him as "one of our own boys"!</p> - -<p>He wanted to get out now, he'd found no trace of Ferdias' agent here -and time was passing, but it wasn't easy to get out. More men kept -coming into the tavern, as word got around, to shake hands with and -buy a drink for the "Orville boy" from far-off space. Vinson, a -jovial master of ceremonies, rattled on with introductions Kirk only -half-heard—"Jim Barnes, whose farm's up beyond your folks' old place", -"here's old Pete Marly, he can remember when there were still Kirks -living there," on and on until in desperation, Kirk thanked them and -shouldered toward the door.</p> - -<p>"Have to go, my wife's waiting," he said, and a friendly chorus of -voices bade him good-night, "I'll ride with you far as my own house," -said Vinson.</p> - -<p>Kirk was sweating as he drove out of the village. A hell of a way to -conduct a secret job, with the whole village bawling his name! And it -had got him nowhere—</p> - -<p>Vinson's house was the second on the same road. As he got out of the -car, he said, "Sure does beat all, your coming back from so far. Shows -it's a small world."</p> - -<p>"It's a small galaxy," Kirk said, and Vinson nodded. "Sure is. Well, -I'll be seeing you. Drop over. Good-night."</p> - -<p>As Kirk drove on, he was faintly startled by an upgush of yellow light -that silhouetted the bending trees ahead. A great segment of silver -was rising in the sky. Then he realized—it was that moon that they'd -passed on their way in.</p> - -<p>The moon of Earth, the "Moon" of the old Earth poems people still read. -Not too impressive, but pretty. But how the threads of all you'd read -and heard kept subtly running back to this old planet! He supposed -some of these flowers whose fragrance he could smell on the warm night -air were "roses". Funny, how much you knew about Earth that you didn't -realize you knew.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The old road gleamed beneath the rising moon. He glanced up at the -star-pricked sky. Had the Kirk who was his seventh grandfather, all -those years ago, looked at the starry sky as he walked this same road? -He must have. He'd looked too long, and finally he'd gone out to that -sky and not come back.</p> - -<p>The house was dark when he turned in at the lane, but he saw Lyllin's -dim figure sitting on the front porch.</p> - -<p>"No. No one came," she said, as he sat down beside her.</p> - -<p>"And no sign of any agent of Ferdias in the village," Kirk said. "A -fine thing. We'll have to wait."</p> - -<p>They sat a while in the soft warm darkness. Kirk's thoughts were more -and more gloomy. They couldn't wait here forever, yet he had to make -contact as Ferdias had ordered—</p> - -<p>Strange, glowing little sparks of light drifted across his vision, and -now he became aware that the whole dark yard and woods were swarming -with such floating sparks. They winked on and off, in a fashion he had -never seen, dancing and whirling under the dark trees.</p> - -<p>"What are they?" asked Lyllin, fascinated.</p> - -<p>"Fireflies?" Kirk said doubtfully. "I remember that word, from -somewhere...."</p> - -<p>Then he suddenly started and exclaimed, "Hell, what—"</p> - -<p>A small sinuous body had suddenly plopped into his lap. Two green eyes -looked insolently up at him. It was the cat.</p> - -<p>"It's very tame," said Lyllin. "It must have been somebody's pet."</p> - -<p>"Probably belonged to the last people who lived here," Kirk said. "It's -tame, all right."</p> - -<p>He stroked its furry back. The cat half-closed its eyes and emitted a -rusty purring sound. "Like that, eh, Tom?"</p> - -<p>Tom settled down cozily, in answer. Lyllin reached to stroke its head.</p> - -<p>With startling swiftness, the cat recoiled from her and leaped off -Kirk's lap. It stared green-eyed back at them, then started across the -lawn.</p> - -<p>Kirk turned, laughing. "Crazy little critter—" He stopped suddenly. -"Lyllin, what's the matter?"</p> - -<p>She was crying and he had rarely seen her cry. "Did it scratch you?"</p> - -<p>"No. But it feared me, and hated me," she said. "Because it knew I'm -alien."</p> - -<p>Kirk said, "Oh, rot. The wretched beast is just afraid of strangers."</p> - -<p>"It wasn't afraid of you. It sensed that I'm different—"</p> - -<p>He put his arm around her, mentally cursing Tom. Then, as he wrathfully -looked after the cat, Kirk stiffened.</p> - -<p>Tom had started across the lawn toward the dark brush nearby. But the -cat had stopped. And, as Kirk looked, Tom suddenly emitted a hiss and -recoiled. It went away from the dark clumps, in long swift leaps.</p> - -<p>Kirk's thoughts raced. The cat had recoiled from that brush, exactly -as it had recoiled from Lyllin. For the same reason? Because someone -alien, not of Earth, was in those shadows? He thought he could hear a -slight sound, and his muscles suddenly strung tight. Ferdias' agent -wouldn't approach so secretly. Non-Earthmen skulking in those shadows -meant only one thing.</p> - -<p>He said, "Come on in the house and forget it, Lyllin. I could stand -another drink—"</p> - -<p>But instantly, when inside the house, Kirk made a lunge toward the -nearest bedroom and grabbed for the blankets there. He tossed one of -the blankets to Lyllin with frantic speed.</p> - -<p>"Wrap it around your head—<i>quick</i>!"</p> - -<p>She was intelligent. But she was not used to obeying orders instantly -and without question "Kirk, what—"</p> - -<p>He grabbed the blanket out of her hands and started wrapping it many -times around her head, speaking in a whisper as he did so.</p> - -<p>"Out there. Someone. If they want to be quiet about it, they're sure to -use a sonic knockout-beam. <i>Hurry</i>—"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He pulled her to the floor. The blanket swathed her head. He wrapped -the other one around his own head, fold after fold. They lay, tense, -waiting.</p> - -<p>Nothing happened.</p> - -<p>He thought how foolish they would look, lying on the floor with their -heads swathed, if nothing at all did happen.</p> - -<p>He still did not move. He waited.</p> - -<p>A series of small sounds began in the back of the house, just vaguely -audible through the blanket-folds. A chattering of windows, creaking -and rattling of beams, clink of dishes.</p> - -<p>The sounds came slowly through the house toward them. <i>Chatter, -rattle</i>—leisurely advancing. He knew then he'd guessed right. The -sonic beam itself was pitched too low to hear. But it was sweeping the -house.</p> - -<p>It hit them. Lyllin stirred suddenly with a small sound, and Kirk -gripped her arm, holding her down. He knew what she was feeling. He -felt it himself, the sudden shocking dizziness, the keening inside his -head. Even through the swathings of thick blanket, the beam made itself -felt. Without protection they'd already be unconscious.</p> - -<p>The shock passed. The beam was sweeping on to the front of the house. -Kirk remained on the floor, his hand still holding Lyllin's arm. He'd -used sonics himself. He had a pretty good idea of how this one would be -used.</p> - -<p>He was right. The small, half-audible sounds of the house and its -shuddering contents came walking back toward them.</p> - -<p><i>Chatter—clink. Rattle—clink—</i></p> - -<p>It hit him again, and he set his teeth and endured it. And again it -passed them, and once more the kitchen dishes started talking.</p> - -<p>Kirk suddenly thought of the unsuspecting Earth folk in the nearby -farms, sleeping peacefully in their old houses, without ever a dream -that in their quiet countryside, alien folk from the stars were pitted -in a secret struggle that had this whole ancient planet as its prize.</p> - -<p>The sounds shut off abruptly. Kirk unwrapped his head, and twitched at -Lyllin till she did the same. He made a warning motion to her, to keep -down, and he himself crawled forward to the old living-room. He had the -little shocker in his hand now.</p> - -<p>In a corner of the living-room, behind a grotesque old table, he -waited. There was no sound at all.</p> - -<p>Then there was one. Footsteps, on the porch outside—coming fast and -confidently to the door.</p> - -<p>A man came into the room. He wore a dark space-jacket and slacks, he -carried a shocker, and he walked like a dancing panther.</p> - -<p>Kirk knew him.</p> - -<p>His name was Tauncer.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="ph1">CHAPTER VI</p> - - -<p>Behind Tauncer came an older man, as gray and solid and rough at the -edges as an old brick. He could have been an Earthman, and probably -was. He was loaded down with a porto, and some other piece of equipment -in a carrying case slung over his shoulders.</p> - -<p>Taking no chances at all, but allowing himself to feel a deep and -vicious pleasure, Kirk fired from behind the table.</p> - -<p>Even so, warned by some faint sound or perhaps only by the instinct of -the hunter, Tauncer swung toward him in the instant before the burst of -energy hit. He did not quite have time to fire. The impetus of the turn -made him hurtle halfway across the room to hit the floor headlong.</p> - -<p>The brick-like man was slower. He had only managed to open his mouth -and lift his hand halfway toward his armpit when Kirk's second blast -dropped him quietly where he stood.</p> - -<p>Kirk got up. He found that he was shaking. He looked down at Tauncer, -thinking how easily a man could die, flexing his fingers in a hungry -way. Lyllin came into the open doorway, and he said angrily,</p> - -<p>"You were to stay back there."</p> - -<p>Her eyes did not leave his face. She murmured, "Yes. I did wrong." -Then, looking at the sprawled bodies, "Are they dead?"</p> - -<p>"We're not out on the Sector frontier," Kirk growled. "I wish we were. -But here on these old planets they take violence seriously. No, I just -used stunning bursts on them."</p> - -<p>He rummaged the house until he found wire, and bound the hands of the -two men very securely behind them. Then he searched them. He did not -find any documents, which was no surprise. He removed a shocker from -the brick-like man, and took it and the porto and the heavy carrying -case far out of reach.</p> - -<p>The carrying case contained a vera-ray projector with its tripod -collapsed. Possibly the same one Tauncer had tried to use on him in the -cluster world. Tauncer seemed extremely fond of the vera-ray. Probably, -in his business, he never traveled without one.</p> - -<p>He gave Lyllin the shocker that Tauncer had dropped. "Watch them. Back -in a moment."</p> - -<p>He went out and rapidly, carefully, searched the grounds of the old -farmhouse. He found the sonic device squatting heavily behind a bush. -He stood by it for some moments, perfectly still, listening, but there -was no sound except the faint stirring of the breeze. There did not -seem to be anyone else around. Tauncer and the Earthman must have -come alone. Kirk frowned. He picked up the sonic device and stood -for a second longer, uneasy but baffled. There was no sign of an -air-car. They must have landed far back in the woods to avoid betraying -themselves by the noise of the motors. But he could not search the -whole woods, not tonight.</p> - -<p>He went back to the house.</p> - -<p>"They're coming around," said Lyllin. She was sitting in a chair in -front of the two bound men, watching them. She rocked back and forth in -a rhythmic motion, making the old floorboards squeak. "Look," she said, -in a voice just a little too high, "I found out what this queer chair -is for. It's rather pleasant."</p> - -<p>"I don't find it so," said Tauncer suddenly. "The creaking irritates -me." He opened his eyes, and Kirk had the feeling that he had been -keeping them closed for some time, shamming, while he took stock of the -situation.</p> - -<p>"Well," he said to Kirk. "I'm an acknowledged expert with the -sono-beam. Would you mind telling me how you did it?"</p> - -<p>Kirk said, "We had warning—a friend of mine named Tom." He motioned -Lyllin to get up. "Go on in the other room, dear. I don't think you'd -enjoy this."</p> - -<p>She looked at him as though he was someone she had just met and was not -sure she liked.</p> - -<p>"Try to understand," he said. "I don't do this sort of thing every day. -It's hardly ever necessary."</p> - -<p>"Of course," she said. She went into the next room, and he shut the -door behind her. Then he sat down in the rocking chair, with the -shocker held ready in his hand.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Kirk looked at Tauncer. "I'm a peaceful man," he said, "visiting my -ancestral home. What did you want with me?"</p> - -<p>Tauncer smiled. There was something about him that made Kirk more and -more uneasy—a lack of concern, a deep-based confidence that didn't fit -a man in his position.</p> - -<p>Tauncer said gently, "You are the Commander of the Fifth Squadron, Lyra -Sector, awaiting orders from your Governor. You are wasting your time."</p> - -<p>Kirk's nerves tightened painfully, but he kept his face impassive. "Go -on," he said. "I'm listening."</p> - -<p>"Ferdias' agent was supposed to meet you here secretly with -certain—information." Tauncer spoke with deliberate clarity, as one -who explains some problem to a child. "He is not coming. We've known -who he is, for some time. And I got to him, before he ever left New -York." He nodded to the vera-ray projector across the room. "I used -that extremely useful invention on him, and of course he told me all -about this place and how he was supposed to meet you here. So I came -instead."</p> - -<p>Kirk looked at the vera-ray himself, but Tauncer shook his head. "It -wouldn't do you any good. The particular piece of information you -need—namely, when and where to move—is not known to me, and your -contact man had not received it yet either. When it does come through, -one of our men will get it—probably already have."</p> - -<p>Tauncer's eyes looked up brightly at Kirk, the eyes of the adroit and -wily man measuring the honest clod for another defeat.</p> - -<p>"You might just as well free me, Kirk. It was a good try, but your -cause is hopeless now."</p> - -<p>"Not as long as I'm on my feet," said Kirk, getting up. He was a very -angry man. "Not as long as the Fifth will follow me. If I don't get -orders, I'll make my own."</p> - -<p>"No," said a familiar voice behind him. "The Fifth isn't going -anywhere, Commander."</p> - -<p>Kirk whirled around.</p> - -<p>Joe Garstang was standing in the front door. He had a shocker in his -hand, pointing with rocklike steadiness at Kirk's breast.</p> - -<p>"Drop your weapon," said Garstang.</p> - -<p>A red haze swept over Kirk's vision. Through it he saw Garstang, -wavering and distorted. Blood hammered in his temples. "You," he said, -so choked with rage at this enormity that he could hardly form the -words. "My own captain. My friend. Traitor. Working for him—"</p> - -<p>Distant and strange in the red mist, Garstang's face became twisted as -though with pain.</p> - -<p>"I'm sorry," he said, and fired.</p> - -<p>Kirk fell onto the floor. Garstang must have pressed the stud back -to a light charge, because Kirk was still conscious and only partly -paralyzed. His own weapon dropped out of his nerveless fingers.</p> - -<p>Garstang came and kicked it away. Kirk flopped around like a gaffed -fish, trying to get his reflexes working again. He heard the inner door -open, and then Lyllin screamed, partly in fear but mostly in fury, -a purely animal sound. She went for Garstang, ignoring his shocker, -with a single-minded intent to kill. Her own hands were empty. She was -content with them.</p> - -<p>Garstang dropped his weapon in his pocket and caught her, holding her -hands away from his face and eyes.</p> - -<p>"Please," he said. "Please, Lyllin. He's not dead, he's not even hurt." -He turned to Kirk. "You should have dropped your shocker. I told you." -There was a fresh onslaught, and a red line sprang out on Garstang's -cheek. It began to drip slowly, small bright drops against the leathery -brown. "Kirk, for God's sake call her off," he said.</p> - -<p>Kirk managed to sit up. He mumbled, shook his head two or three times, -and finally the words were intelligible. "I'm all right. Come here, -Lyllin. Help me up."</p> - -<p>She relaxed then, dropping her hands. Garstang let her go. She hissed -at him in furious Vegan and then ran to Kirk. "I should have used that -weapon," she said. "I should have killed him. I forgot it. I'm sorry." -She began to struggle, trying to lift him.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Garstang went immediately into the next room. Through the open door -Kirk saw him look around and then pocket the shocker that Lyllin had -laid down and forgotten. Lyllin didn't notice, and he said nothing. -What was the use?</p> - -<p>"Push that chair over here," Kirk said. "Now don't worry, this'll wear -off. I'll be all right in just a few minutes. Yes. That's it."</p> - -<p>He sat in the rocker, rubbing his numb right arm with his left, trying -to stamp his foot, but he couldn't move it yet. He glared up at -Garstang, who had come and was standing near Tauncer, looking from him -to Kirk with a faint frown.</p> - -<p>Tauncer had not spoken, and he did not speak now. He sat where he was -and waited, and watched them.</p> - -<p>"Well," said Kirk, "what are you waiting for, Joe? Go ahead and untie -him."</p> - -<p>"No," said Garstang, shaking his head slowly. "No, I'm not going to -untie him."</p> - -<p>"Why not?" demanded Kirk bitterly. "Or have you decided to double-cross -him, too?"</p> - -<p>"I don't think you understand," said Garstang. "I'm not working with -Tauncer. I'm not working for Solleremos at all."</p> - -<p>Kirk stared, for a moment surprised out of his rage. "But then who—"</p> - -<p>"My loyalty," said Garstang, "is to Earth."</p> - -<p>"Oh, hell, that doesn't make sense," said Kirk. "You're no more -Earthman than I am—"</p> - -<p>"I am, Kirk. You never knew it, but I'm all Earthman. And I've been in -Earth Intelligence for fourteen years."</p> - -<p>Garstang went on slowly. "Earth may be old and partly helpless, but she -is not so blind as to let five powerful hungry Governors go unwatched. -We've seen this grab coming for a long time. The only thing we didn't -know, and couldn't find out, was which one of the five would try it -first. But now I think we know."</p> - -<p>"What do you think you know?" said Kirk.</p> - -<p>Garstang looked at him steadily. "Ferdias was the only Governor who -sent a squadron to Earth, for the Commemoration. Why?"</p> - -<p>Kirk cried, "To protect Earth from Solleremos! It's Orion who's going -to try the grab!"</p> - -<p>"I thought you'd say that, Kirk. Maybe you believe it. But ask -yourself—if that's so, why didn't Ferdias warn us openly? Why did he -have you sneak off to this undercover rendezvous?"</p> - -<p>Garstang shook his head. "No, Kirk. I think you're an honest man. And I -think you've been had. I think you've been had all the way."</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="ph1">CHAPTER VII</p> - - -<p>Kirk began to laugh. He laughed until tears of rage and desperation -stood in his eyes.</p> - -<p>"Christ," he said, "If Earth agents are all as bright as you are, Joe, -God help her."</p> - -<p>He pointed to Tauncer. "Allow me to introduce you. This is Tauncer, -Solleremos' right-hand man."</p> - -<p>Garstang nodded. "I know."</p> - -<p>"I've just fought him off, and now I have to fight you. A fine thing. -A damn fine thing. Listen, Joe. The Fifth was sent here by Ferdias to -protect Earth. Solleremos will attack—"</p> - -<p>"When?" asked Garstang.</p> - -<p>"I don't know. Ferdias' agent was supposed to meet me here and give me -final orders. Tauncer has taken care of that. Why do you suppose he did -that? Why do you suppose he came here and attacked me? He—"</p> - -<p>Garstang turned to Tauncer. "Yes," he said. "Why did you?"</p> - -<p>Tauncer said quietly, "You were perfectly right, Garstang. Ferdias -<i>has</i> been planning to grab Earth. We knew that, in Orion. We had -to know when and how Ferdias would do it—and it was my mission to -find out. I was trying, there in the cluster. I tried here, but the -Commander was too much on guard."</p> - -<p>"You're lying," said Kirk between his teeth. "Not two minutes ago you -were telling me I couldn't stop Solleremos from taking over Earth. -Lyllin, you heard it—"</p> - -<p>Lyllin whispered, "I am sorry—but you sent me away from the room. -Remember?"</p> - -<p>Tauncer turned to the Earthman. "Harper will tell you I'm not lying. -You heard every word, didn't you, Harper?"</p> - -<p>The Earthman wrinkled his seamy cheeks and said in a tone of ringing -honesty, "I sure did."</p> - -<p>Kirk was not yet able to stand up and kill him, or Tauncer, so he shut -his jaws tight and tried to think. I mustn't be drawn into a verbal -slanging match, he thought. That's what Tauncer wants. The more I yell -and swear the worse I look. What must I do? Something. Something....</p> - -<p>"—so we're going to act suddenly to disarm the Fifth Squadron," -Garstang was saying. "Charteris has been suspicious from the first, and -what I told him there last night made him more so. And—"</p> - -<p>"Disarm the squadron?" cried Kirk. "Are you insane?" He had a sudden -nightmare vision of the Orion ships sweeping in, of the cruisers and -transports of the Fifth disappearing in a storm of smoke and fire, the -men falling like dead leaves.</p> - -<p>"We can't take any chances," Garstang said, moving toward the phone. -"The Earth Navy—"</p> - -<p>"Ha!"</p> - -<p>"The Earth Navy," repeated Garstang, "is on full alert right now."</p> - -<p>"Solleremos will eat it up," said Kirk savagely. "Don't be a fool, -Garstang. I don't care how loyal you are to Earth, you've got to admit -her navy can't face Orion Squadrons for five minutes."</p> - -<p>Garstang hesitated. His face was grim and sad, and Kirk felt sorry for -him in spite of his anger. Garstang said, "We'll have to do what we -can. We'll fight enemies if they come, but we'll make sure first we -don't get stabbed in the back."</p> - -<p>He picked up the phone. A gleam of satisfaction crossed Tauncer's face. -Kirk saw it, and suddenly the inspiration came to him.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He exclaimed, "I've been an idiot! Listen, Joe—put that phone down. I -can prove what I said in three minutes. If I don't—then go ahead and -call."</p> - -<p>Garstang looked at him, frowning.</p> - -<p>Tauncer said, with the first edge of tension his voice had yet shown, -"Go ahead, Garstang, don't let him make a fool of you."</p> - -<p>Kirk said, "Shut up." He rose and hobbled over to the vera-ray -projector. "Help me set this up, Joe. Tauncer used it on Ferdias' -agent, and he was going to use it on me. Now let's see what it'll get -out of <i>him</i>."</p> - -<p>Garstang came over. "A vera-ray? Why didn't you mention it before?"</p> - -<p>"I was too damn mad to think straight," said Kirk.</p> - -<p>They set it up, and Tauncer watched them, not speaking, yet still the -look of apprehension in his eyes was tempered with some underlying -confidence. He seemed to be thinking, very hard.</p> - -<p>Garstang got the projector going. Harper, the seamy Earthman, winced -away from Tauncer as far as he could get. Behind the projector Kirk -could not feel anything, but Tauncer's face was briefly agonized, and -then it went slack and his eyes lost their keen brilliance, becoming -vague and unfocused.</p> - -<p>"Tauncer," said Garstang. "Can you hear me?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"Is Solleremos planning to take Earth into his Sector?"</p> - -<p>Some dim vestige of a censor barrier seemed still to survive in -Tauncer's mind, because there was a long delay and Garstang asked the -question again, more sharply. But when the answer came it was clear -enough.</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>Kirk looked at Garstang, and Garstang's cheeks reddened. Lyllin said -triumphantly, "You see?"</p> - -<p>"All right," said Garstang, and turned again to Tauncer.</p> - -<p>"How will he do it?"</p> - -<p>"Direct attack. The Earth naval forces are negligible. Lyra Squadron -will be caught on the ground, disorganized by absence of command."</p> - -<p>"Absence of command," said Kirk slowly. A sudden alarm came into his -face. "You were going to keep me from returning to the squadron."</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"But not here at this farm. Too many people knew where I was. -Charteris, folk in the town—"</p> - -<p>"Oh, no," said Tauncer, "not here. Fast scout. The ship that brought me -to Earth ahead of your squadron. It's been waiting out beyond radar -range. It will take us all off."</p> - -<p>Now, thought Kirk, I know why he's been so confident. He's been -planning for time. "You sent word to the scout-ship?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Tauncer. "On the porto, right after I beamed your house. I -was sure you'd be unconscious."</p> - -<p>Over Kirk's shoulder, Garstang said sharply, "When will it land?"</p> - -<p>Tauncer made a vague movement as though trying to get his arm around -where he could see his chrono. Garstang said, "It's exactly two minutes -after eleven, Earth time."</p> - -<p>Tauncer's lips moved. "Before midnight," he said. "Soon."</p> - -<p>He seemed, dazed as he was, to be smiling.</p> - -<p>Garstang said to Kirk, "You've got to get out of here, and fast!" He -started to turn hurriedly away, as though to hustle him and Lyllin out -of the house at once, but Kirk said, "No, wait, let me think."</p> - -<p>He spoke to Tauncer. "You don't know exactly where Solleremos' -squadrons are, or exactly when they'll strike."</p> - -<p>"No."</p> - -<p>"But there must be a signal, some word they're waiting for."</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Tauncer. "When the scout takes us off, that will be the -signal. Means we've got Commander. Means Lyra Squadron confused."</p> - -<p>Garstang tugged at Kirk. "Come on."</p> - -<p>"But," said Kirk to Tauncer, "suppose the scout doesn't find anybody -here."</p> - -<p>"All the same. They'll know I've failed, and plan may be known. So -order will be to strike like lightning before defensive measures taken."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Kirk shut off the projector. He bent over Tauncer. "Get up," he said. -"Joe! Give me a hand." They got Tauncer wobbling to his feet. "Put him -in the ground car and take him back to Charteris. Try and convince -Charteris to let the Fifth go on battle-alert. Every minute may -count—if we're caught on the ground, we're sunk."</p> - -<p>"Kirk—"</p> - -<p>"Don't argue. If anything happens to me, Larned is to take over and -cooperate fully with Admiral Laney. You—"</p> - -<p>"What do you mean, if anything happens, you're coming too."</p> - -<p>"No."</p> - -<p>They wrestled Tauncer down the front steps.</p> - -<p>"But the scout—"</p> - -<p>"That's just it. You heard what he said. The scout must <i>not</i> take off -again."</p> - -<p>"So what are you going to do?" asked Garstang. "Stand and hold it with -your bare hands? We can't possibly get any help from New York in time."</p> - -<p>"Yeah," said Kirk. "So I'm going to try to get help right here."</p> - -<p>"From these people?"</p> - -<p>"Haven't you heard?" said Kirk. "I'm a local boy."</p> - -<p>"So if you get it? A bunch of farmers. Even if they'll listen to you, -which they probably won't—"</p> - -<p>They shoved Tauncer into the car. "Better tie his feet too," said Kirk. -"Lyllin! Lyllin, you're going with Joe."</p> - -<p>"No," she said from the porch. "I am not."</p> - -<p>"But you can't stay here!"</p> - -<p>"If you are going to get yourself killed here, I stay!"</p> - -<p>She was determined to make a fight about it, and Kirk had no time right -then. "All right," he said. "I guess you'll be safe enough with the -Vinsons." He slammed the door after Garstang. "Get going."</p> - -<p>Garstang swore but he roared the ground car out in a cloud of dust and -gravel. Kirk ran back into the house. Most of the feeling had come -back in his side, and he could move pretty fast. The Earthman, Harper, -was squirming around the floor trying to get free. Kirk gave him one -ruthless blast with the sono-beam that would put him to sleep for a day -or so. He could be dealt with later, when more important things were -out of the way. Then he got on the phone and called Vinson.</p> - -<p>A sleepy voice answered. "I was just going to bed. What do you want?"</p> - -<p>"When you have an emergency around here," said Kirk, "what do you do to -get help in a hurry?"</p> - -<p>Vinson's voice waked up. "Why, I phone around fast. The boys turn out -quick for fire, flood or whatever. Hey, you got a fire, Commander?"</p> - -<p>"Worse," said Kirk. "Do your people have guns of some kind?"</p> - -<p>"Sure, nearly every farm has a hunting-shocker. But—"</p> - -<p>"Tell 'em to come armed, and come fast. Your place. My wife and I are -coming now."</p> - -<p>"Say Commander, is this a joke or what?"</p> - -<p>"It's the unfunniest joke ever to hit Earth," Kirk said grimly. "Call -them!"</p> - -<p>He slammed the phone down, grabbed Lyllin by the hand, and lit out, -full tilt down the path and into the moonlit road.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>By the time they reached Vinson's house, all the lights were on and -Vinson himself was standing in the road, waiting for them.</p> - -<p>"I hope you know what you're doing," he said to Kirk worriedly. "The -boys don't like getting hauled out for nothing. What's up?"</p> - -<p>Kirk told him, rapidly, between gasps, as he helped Lyllin up on the -porch. Mrs. Vinson, a pleasant-looking dark-haired woman in a pink -robe, cried out from the doorway and took Lyllin's hand to welcome her -in.</p> - -<p>"What on earth is going on?" she demanded. "Why, you poor thing, he's -run the legs off you! Come in, sit down—" Then she caught sight of -Vinson's face. "What is it?" she asked quietly. "Tell me, so I'll know -what to do."</p> - -<p>"There's going to be a fight," said Vinson, in a wondering, -half-incredulous tone. "There's a war going to start, and the first -fight is going to be right here, in Orville."</p> - -<p>"In the woods," said Kirk hastily, pointing. "You'll be quite safe -here. And if we can take them by surprise, there won't even be a -skirmish."</p> - -<p>"He says that the fate of Earth depends on us," said Vinson, still in -that wondering tone. "Well. I'm damned. What do you know!"</p> - -<p>A car roared up outside. Another followed it, and then others at -irregular intervals. Pretty soon Vinson's yard and porch were crowded -with men carrying hunting-shockers. They looked at Vinson, and at -Kirk, curious, doubtful, not exactly hostile but in no mood to be -hurried into anything they didn't understand. Kirk glanced up at the -sky and groaned. Then he spoke, as rapidly and forcefully as he could.</p> - -<p>"So that's the picture," he finished. "If that Orion scout takes off -again after it lands, your Earth may be a different place tomorrow. We -can stop it—if you will."</p> - -<p>He wailed. There was no reaction at all for a moment, the leathery -faces looking silently at him. Then one man said,</p> - -<p>"If people come bothering us, we'll bother them back—plenty. But we -don't need any stranger telling us what to do."</p> - -<p>Kirk's heart sank. The cursed Earth mulishness was going to defeat him, -after all.</p> - -<p>Vinson said loudly, "What do you mean, stranger! This is one of the old -Orville Kirks. <i>He's</i> no stranger. It's strangers that he wants us to -help slap down."</p> - -<p>They thought that over for a moment, and again Kirk looked up at the -sky. It must be very close now. In minutes, maybe, it would drop down, -and there would be nothing at all to stop it from going away again and -giving the signal. And these stolid farmers....</p> - -<p>The one who had spoken peered bleakly at Kirk, and said, "Well. Like I -said, we don't want strangers interfering with us. Do we, boys?"</p> - -<p>The men nodded assent, and stalked toward their cars. Kirk turned away, -defeated and furious. He'd have to try by himself—</p> - -<p>Motors roared to life, and the cars started to go by him. A big red -truck paused beside him, and Vinson reached down from it to haul him -aboard.</p> - -<p>"What are you standin' there for?" he cried to Kirk. "You said it might -come any minute!"</p> - -<p>Kirk, a little dazedly, scrambled up into the truck beside him. "You -mean they're going back with me—"</p> - -<p>"What did you think? Like Fred said, no blasted strangers from away -outside are going to come sneaking in here!"</p> - -<p>The truck roared away down the moonlit road, following the speeding -cars back the way Kirk had come, waking hurrying echoes, raising a -great cloud of dust to redden the moon.</p> - -<p>Kirk thought, "I'll never understand these damned Earthmen—never!"</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="ph1">CHAPTER VIII</p> - - -<p>At three minutes and fourteen seconds before midnight a small, fast -spacecraft with the insigne of the striding warrior on her bows dropped -down out of the sky and landed in the brush-grown meadow at the edge -of the Kirk woods. There was nothing anywhere in sight around it but -the dark quiet mass of the trees, the patches of bramble and pale white -blossoms of the Queen Anne's Lace. Across the meadow was the Kirk -house, with a single lamp burning in it.</p> - -<p>A hatch opened and a party of men came out, climbing down a collapsible -ladder. There were fifteen of them, armed. They stood still, looking -around and listening. Then they began to move toward the house, -scrambling and stumbling among the briars and the tufts of bunch-grass, -fanned out like skirmishers.</p> - -<p>Kirk, lying behind a hazel bush in the fringe of the woods, waved one -hand slowly in an outward arc, and there were several small rustlings -in the brush to his left. He waited, feeling tense and prickly all -over, sweating heavily, though the night was cooler now. He counted, -slowly and carefully, moving his lips. Held tight in the crook of his -arm was the heavy sono-beam device, snatched up from the house as they -came past it. Vinson was beside him, and among the trees nearby were -eight more men, waiting for Kirk's signal. Kirk could not see Vinson's -face in the dark, but he could hear his breathing, quick and excited. -He leaned his head close to the Earthman's, and whispered,</p> - -<p>"Remember, keep down out of the way until you see me go in."</p> - -<p>He raised up cautiously.</p> - -<p>"All right. Now."</p> - -<p>He began to creep rapidly toward the slash of light from the -scout-ship's open hatch. The others came behind him. He was not used to -this sort of stalking, and he made more noise than the other nine put -together. He hoped no one would hear it.</p> - -<p>From the direction of the house there came a sudden crackling of -shocker-beams. Kirk flung himself forward, over the last few feet. -Secrecy was a lost hope now, and all that mattered was getting the -sono-beam projector into the open hatchway. The bloody thing weighed -a ton when you carried it, but its heft was only relative. Against -armor-plate and the strong double-hull of a space-ship it would be no -more effective than a bullroarer.</p> - -<p>There was a guard of two in the hatchway. They sprang to the lip of -the opening, staring toward the house, their shockers lifted. Kirk -yelled, "Get 'em!" Vinson and a man on the other side of him fired -almost together. The guards came tumbling forward onto the ground. Kirk -dodged between them and set the sono-projector on the edge of the hatch -floor. He had to reach high to do it. The others, following his orders, -were hugging the curve of the hull on either side of the ladder. Kirk -slammed the stud full charge and wide open.</p> - -<p>"They're coming back this way!" yelled Vinson. He was looking toward -the house. Kirk craned his neck.</p> - -<p>The shocker-flashes flickered like heat-lightning in the night. They -moved back toward the ship—probably the fifteen men, or what was left -of them, were retreating from the Orville men whom Kirk had stationed -in the house and yard.</p> - -<p>He said desperately, "Stop them, damn it, can't you stop them?" The -sono-beam projector was sliding out of his hands, walking itself with -its own vibration across the smooth-worn metal. He had to turn to hold -it.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Inside the ship there was bedlam going on, a sound of things breaking -and men's voices raised in inarticulate cries. A tall gray-haired man -with a captain's stars on his shoulder-tabs came at a staggering run -into the passage and dropped, and lay still. His hands quivered with -the jarring of the floor.</p> - -<p>Kirk shut off the projector and threw it away. He went up the ladder, -and at the top he paused a second to look at what was happening in the -meadow. The Orville men who had gone in behind the invaders had risen -out of the brush. Their shockers flared in a line of ragged light amid -the brambles and the white flowers. Then there was darkness and a -sudden peace.</p> - -<p>"Come on!" Kirk shouted, his voice carrying far across the meadow. Then -he ran down the passage, with Vinson and the other eight pounding at -his heels. The gray-haired captain did not move as they went by.</p> - -<p>And it was almost easy. Seven, eight, nine, of the crew lay sprawled -in the main passage or in doorways opening from it, unconscious. -The communications man was still making vague pawing motions at his -dials, but the motions were only reflex and the equipment was jarred -to fragments of splintered glass and plastic. In the small, compact -bridge, best protected by intervening bulkheads, the two junior -officers and three crewmen were still conscious but too dazed to offer -resistance.</p> - -<p>"Well," said Vinson, breathing hard, his eyes shining. "We did all -right."</p> - -<p>"We did fine," said Kirk, grinning. The other eight grinned, too, -nodding their heads at each other and at him. They had fought together -and won together, and now they were all comrades, men of Orville, men -of Earth. It was a good feeling, Kirk discovered. A very good feeling.</p> - -<p>Some of the men came in from the meadow. The fifteen from the scout -were all taken. The Orville men had suffered some casualties in the way -of burns and shock, but no fatalities.</p> - -<p>"Good," said Kirk. He looked at the Orionids. "Where can we put 'em for -safekeeping?"</p> - -<p>Vinson said, "The local jail is pretty small, but I guess we could pack -them in."</p> - -<p>"It won't be for long," said Kirk. "The high brass will take them off -your hands in a hurry."</p> - -<p>"We'll see to it," said Vinson. "I guess you'll want to call New York. -And don't worry about the women, I'll stop by the house and let them -know we're okay."</p> - -<p>"Thanks," said Kirk. He went out across the meadow to the house, and -put in his call to Charteris.</p> - -<p>After that things happened with desperate speed. A fleet of air-cars -descended on Orville and the Kirk house. Charteris was with them. He -inspected the Orion scout, conferred briefly with his aides, and then -spoke to Kirk.</p> - -<p>"I suppose I should apologize, Commander," he said, rather stiffly, -"but I'm not going to. In our position we have no choice but to suspect -any force too strong for us to deal with easily."</p> - -<p>"I don't care about anything," said Kirk, "except to get my squadron -off the ground before Orion strikes."</p> - -<p>Charteris nodded. "Your squadron is being fitted for action now. I -suggest we return to New York at once to confer with Admiral Laney and -decide strategy."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The next few hours were hectic ones. Orders, preparations, -requisitions, arguments. And Kirk found himself up against a totally -unexpected stumbling-block—the stiff-necked, stubborn pride of Earth.</p> - -<p>"We recognize perfectly," Admiral Laney said frostily, "our position as -a fifth-rate naval power, but we have never yet run from battle and we -don't intend to start doing it now."</p> - -<p>"But against Orion Sector's two crack squadrons—"</p> - -<p>"We're grateful for the presence of the Fifth Lyra," said Laney, "but -our own ships will bear the brunt of the attack."</p> - -<p>"Sir," said Kirk, and he meant it, "I would be proud to fight under -you. But facts are facts. I think you understand that the Fifth Lyra -has a certain pride too. But we're not going to bear the brunt of any -attack where we know in advance we're outnumbered two to one. In short, -if you meet Solleremos head on, you meet him alone."</p> - -<p>"Now here," he went on, turning to the huge depth-chart of the Solar -System, "was my thought. We know from the vera-ray examination of the -captain of that Orion scout, that the scout's take-off was literally to -be the signal for the attack. They didn't dare risk a radio message, -even in code, that might be intercepted. So the course of take-off, -on the exact coordinates of the hidden fleet, was to serve as a -message. They could spot this by ultra-wave scanner, using relays at -previously-arranged points in deep space. So, we have the coordinates—"</p> - -<p>He wrote them down on the chart.</p> - -<p>"Carried to point of convergence, that would put the Orion fleet about -there—far off this chart, of course, but roughly south-east of the -star Saiph. They will presumably attack along this line—" He drew one, -bold and red, a dagger pointed at Earth's heart.</p> - -<p>"Roughly nadir-point zero six, from our viewpoint," said Laney. "Well?"</p> - -<p>"Here," said Kirk, "you seem to have a natural sort of -chevaux-de-frise, to borrow an ancient term."</p> - -<p>He pointed to a blurred and speckled area lying between Mars and -Jupiter.</p> - -<p>"The Asteroid Belt," said Laney. "Yes. We know our way around in it, -but anyone else would find it hard going." His eyes brightened. "Plenty -of places for ambush. Yes, I see what you're driving at. If we could -entangle their superior forces in the drift—"</p> - -<p>"Exactly. Bait them in there, harry them all you can. Now, then. -They'll be expecting to catch the Fifth Lyra on the ground. As far as -they know, Tauncer succeeded and all is well. So perhaps they won't be -too watchful. We'll be up here hiding above the Sun, screened by it -from their radar. When you have them hooked—"</p> - -<p>He made a downward slashing motion with his hand.</p> - -<p>"That suits me," said Laney. He shook hands with Kirk solemnly. Then he -turned to Charteris and the others who were gathered with anxious face? -in the conference room. "I think we may as well get started."</p> - -<p>Charteris sighed. He picked up the intercom and spoke into it briefly.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Northward, the fields around Orville were brightening with a new day. -In the meadow behind the Kirk house the briars and the Queen Anne's -Lace were beaten down by the passage of men and trucks. They were all -gone now except for one truck with massive electronic equipment, pulled -back to a safe distance from the Orion scout. The necessary changes -had been made in the ship's control system. Now the crew of the truck -waited for a signal from the house.</p> - -<p>It came.</p> - -<p>The truck crew went to work, activating the remote-control relays, -setting up a locked-in series of coordinates. Then the firing key was -pressed.</p> - -<p>With every semblance of life, the Orion scout took off on its destined -course—a Judas goat, empty and silent, with no living thing inside its -hull.</p> - -<p>Standing on the steps of the Vinson's house, Lyllin watched it rise and -vanish in the blue air. She had had one short call from Kirk. <i>Wait -there. I'll come back.</i> Now the small dying thunder of the scout-ship's -flight seemed like the receding footsteps of everything she had ever -loved, passing over the distant hills.</p> - -<p>She turned slowly and went back into the house.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="ph1">CHAPTER IX</p> - - -<p>The sky screamed light, beneath them. The Sun, its atoms ceaselessly -riven and then reborn, shrieked raving energy, magnetism, electricity, -light, radiant heat, a rage across the heavens, a cosmic storm flinging -up wild plumes and spindrift of violet calcium, of yellow sodium, of -blue and red and purple.</p> - -<p>Over it, as over a limitless fiery ocean, hung the shoal of silver -ships. Tossed and twitched by storms of radiation, wrenched by the -mighty claws of the titan magnetic field, scorched by the blaze of the -star, they fought to hold position. Their formation wavered, sagged, -re-formed and wavered again, and still they held together.</p> - -<p>On the bridge of the <i>Starsong</i>, clutching a stanchion as the deck -heeled and shuddered under him, Kirk stood with Garstang watching the -screens.</p> - -<p>"Not a sign!" said Garstang in his ear. "And we can't sit up here -forever!"</p> - -<p>The rim of the Asteroid Belt showed on one screen, a jagged wheeling -of rock fragments, dust and pebbles and little naked worlds, black -on their shadow-sides flashing like heliographs where they caught -the light. Beyond them was space, very deep, very dark, very empty, -looking toward Orion and his pendant sword.</p> - -<p>In that deep emptiness out there, five ships moved slowly. Earth ships, -behaving like a normal patrol. The remainder of Earth's fleet was -hidden among the asteroids. Even the searching rays that fed the screen -could not see them.</p> - -<p>Suddenly Garstang caught Kirk's shoulder. "There!" he said. He leaned -forward and pointed his blunt forefinger at the screen.</p> - -<p>Out of the depths toward the star Saiph came a swarm of tiny flecks -that might have been nothing more than bits of cosmic drift, except -that they moved together and very fast. They swept in toward the Solar -System with a gathering rush, growing, picking up the sunlight on their -polished sides. Two full squadrons of Solleremos' fleet, on planetary -approach.</p> - -<p>The five Earth ships out there wheeled in perfect formation and went on -out to meet them.</p> - -<p>Kirk's mouth was dry. Runnels of sweat crept down his temples, down his -body. The palms of his hands were clammy.</p> - -<p>"Screen's gone again," he said, and swore.</p> - -<p>The screens blazed useless white, even the powerful rays that served -them wrenched and cut by an outburst of solar electricity. Then they -cleared again.</p> - -<p>The Earth ships had not gone far out. Suddenly they wheeled again, -abandoning formation now. Spurts of light came from their launching -tubes in quick rotation, each ship firing as she bore on the target. -Then they cracked on speed and ran for the Belt.</p> - -<p>One of the Orionid cruisers burst into a great flame and was gone.</p> - -<p>Garstang shouted, and as though at a signal the screen went out again.</p> - -<p>Kirk ran his uniform sleeve over his face, and kept still. There were -so few of the Earth ships, and so many of the others, something more -than double the strength of his own squadron. Far below, Earth lay -naked, stripped, utterly without defense. Kirk thought of Lyllin, and -the Vinson house with the dusty road in front of it. He thought of the -woods and the meadow where they had fought in the night, and curiously -enough he thought of the cat. Insolent little beast....</p> - -<p>He waited for the screen to clear, and watched.</p> - -<p>A number of Orion ships detached themselves from the main fleet and -raced after the Earth ships. They were much faster. The long aim of -Solleremos was reaching swiftly now, and one of the Earth cruisers -winked out with a brave, brief burst of flame. The other four reached -the Belt.</p> - -<p>The Orionids plunged in after them.</p> - -<p>"Now," whispered Garstang. "Now, now—"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The eight Orionid cruisers, apparently detailed to mop up this patrol, -sped down a deceptively open "lead" through the asteroid drift. The -scanner beams swung to a better angle to follow them, and now the -screen showed a closer view of that stony wilderness. The Earth ships -had vanished. The lead pinched out in a cul-de-sac of wildly gyrating -rocks. The Orion cruisers did a fast-about, practically on each others' -heels, but before they were finished the four Earth ships and half a -dozen others appeared from nowhere, all around them.</p> - -<p>"Hit them," muttered Garstang. "Oh, hell, get onto it and <i>hit</i> them!"</p> - -<p>They hit them. There was a quick holocaust of light-bursts and the -Orionid cruisers in there were gone.</p> - -<p>"That hurt them," said Garstang. "They're hooked—"</p> - -<p>He turned and looked at Kirk. Kirk lifted his hand, his body bent -slightly forward, his eyes intent upon the screen.</p> - -<p>Out there in the Asteroid Belt, the trap was sprung. And now the -Orionids knew they had the whole Earth fleet, such as it was, to deal -with—a force too small to stop them, but too formidable to leave on -their flank and rear. The squadrons altered course, curving in a long -bow-shaped line toward the Earth ships that hovered, in apparent doubt, -above the fringes of the drift.</p> - -<p>Kirk brought his hand down in a slashing gesture. "<i>Now!</i>"</p> - -<p>The Fifth Lyra swooped out of the sun.</p> - -<p>Now.</p> - -<p>Now is the moment, the one right time, there will not be another. -Either you make it or you don't. Outnumbered, outmanned, and outgunned -the element of surprise is all you've got.</p> - -<p>The Sun falls behind, the edge of the Belt shifts and tilts and swings -as you cut the plane of the ecliptic. Out of the furnace into the fire, -at full drive.</p> - -<p>The long line of the Orion ships is very beautiful, strung against the -glittering emptiness of space.</p> - -<p>The <i>Starsong</i> groans and quivers like a living thing. You can hear the -beating of her heart, the pounding throb of power pushed to the limit, -and beyond. Garstang, in the captain's place, has a face of iron, dark -and still. Sweat shines on the edges of it. The men are quiet.</p> - -<p>The Commander is afraid.</p> - -<p>Ships, lives, men, a planet. Who would say <i>Now!</i> and not be afraid?</p> - -<p>The Orion fleet springs at the viewports. The ships grow large, the -intervals between them widen out. The <i>Starsong</i> flies at the point -of a wedge shaped like an axe-blade. Behind her, on either side, the -squadron follows in close formation.</p> - -<p>In a tight, flat voice, the Commander says, "Prepare to engage."</p> - -<p>The Fifth Lyra, the falling wedge, the axe-blade, hits the line of -cruisers from above and cuts it in two.</p> - -<p>Instantly the close-held wings fan out, driving the severed sections -apart, opening the gap so wide it can never be closed again. Shells -burst, little blinding suns, little fountains of hellfire, racking the -ships, burning them, destroying them. But the wings sweep on. Part of -the Orionid line is rolled up and driven into the drift of the Belt, -where the Earth ships strike and strike again, and the proud cruisers -with the polished sides become wreck and flotsam to join the cosmic -debris in its endless journey around the Sun. The other section is -driven outward into space, back toward Orion.</p> - -<p>And the <i>Starsong</i> hunts down the <i>Betelgeuse</i>, flagship of Solleremos' -fleet.</p> - -<p>Kirk says, If we can get her, I think the rest will all go home. Fire -One—</p> - -<p><i>Fire Two.</i></p> - -<p>The <i>Betelgeuse</i> answers, and space is drowned in a flaming cloud. The -<i>Starsong</i> staggers and men are thrown down on the reeling iron deck. -A red light flares on the telltale board. Somewhere deep in the ship's -vitals the bulkhead doors slam shut, sealing off. The <i>Starsong</i> has a -hole in her and some men have died, but she's still alive, still strong -to move and strike.</p> - -<p><i>Fire Three.</i></p> - -<p>The <i>Betelgeuse</i> dives clear and her own tubes spout hellfire, a double -flowering of death and destruction. The <i>Starsong</i> wrenches away, -desperate, shaken, and once more the ports are filled with fire and a -red light glimmers on the board.</p> - -<p><i>Fire Four.</i></p> - -<p>The <i>Betelgeuse</i> quivers strangely. With a dreamlike slowness two -pieces of her appear out of the brilliance and the flame, bow and stern -at odds with each other, going different ways. Then there is a white -blinding flash, and she is gone.</p> - -<p>And the Orion fleet, leaderless, surprised, mauled and clawed and -wounded, is pulling out. One by one, in pairs, in little groups, they -turn tail and streak for open space, and are gone.</p> - -<p>The Fifth Lyra and the ships of Earth follow them, but not far. Space -is empty, and in the ships there is a great silence, while the men -breathe softly and look at nothing and feel that they are still alive. -There is no light now but the light of the Sun and the distant stars. -The Belt wheels on its way, and bits of riven metal that once were -ships fall slowly toward it.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>After a time, on the bridge of the <i>Starsong</i>, Garstang turned to Kirk. -His face was sweating and wild, and his eyes had a dazed look. He said, -"What now?"</p> - -<p>"We wait and see what," said Kirk. "Maybe nothing."</p> - -<p>"Nothing?"</p> - -<p>"Solleremos has missed his spring. I've an idea he may prefer to make -like it all never happened, if we don't give any official news of this -fight. I think Charteris will see it that way."</p> - -<p>Charteris did. The battle couldn't be kept secret really, but Earth's -authorities pretended that it had never happened. There was no profit -in starting a full-fledged war, and there wouldn't be one if Solleremos -had learned his lesson.</p> - -<p>He had learned it, it seemed. From Orion there was a long silence. -Then came a routine congratulation on the Commemoration. The Governor -of Orion Sector, it appeared, was happy for Earth.</p> - -<p>"The so-and-so must be raging, but he won't try <i>that</i> again," said -Kirk.</p> - -<p>To him, and to the Squadron, had come another message, from Ferdias. -Well done. That was all. But from Ferdias, it was plenty.</p> - -<p>And the Commemoration blazed, on Earth. The lights, the bands, the -speeches, and then the fly-over—the battered mighty giants of the -Fifth roaring across the sky with the even more battered Earth cruisers -leading the way.</p> - -<p>From its museum they had brought the first of all the space-ships, and -everyone held their breath and kept fingers crossed while it lurched, -coughed and wobbled up into the sky, and labored bravely around the -planet, and by some miracle came down safe again.</p> - -<p>And the great day was over.</p> - -<p>Garstang, looking strange now in the black uniform of Earth, spoke -earnestly to Kirk the day before the Fifth was to leave.</p> - -<p>"You know you're pretty much a hero here now, Kirk. You'll be retiring -from service in not too many years. Why don't you come back to Earth to -live?"</p> - -<p>"Why does everyone say, come <i>back</i> to Earth," Kirk complained. "Just -because I had ancestors here I'm no Earthman!"</p> - -<p>He added, "And whatever you do, don't mention that bright idea to -Lyllin! I'm going up to Orville now to get her."</p> - -<p>Garstang only smiled at him, a queer sort of smile.</p> - -<p>Kirk drove up through the quiet roads, the green countryside. The -golden sun was soft upon his face. The breeze held a faint, smoky tang -of oncoming fall. Earth's fall—he'd heard about that.</p> - -<p>Peaceful, beautiful—but it was no world for him! Come "back" to Earth, -indeed! Why, he'd lived on many worlds and none of them had ever got -that kind of sentimental hold on him. Though he could understand why -people felt that way about this old place—</p> - -<p>Hell, he must be getting sentimental himself! He put a curb on such -thoughts and drove on. And when he drove into Orville, there were -frantic handwavings from every street-corner, his name was shouted by -the kids along the sidewalks.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Vinson came running out of his house to meet him when he pulled up.</p> - -<p>"Your wife's over at your house," Vinson explained. He shook hands. He -was vastly excited and proud. "You know what—the village is going to -put up a plaque. With all our names on it. Just saying, 'They fought -the Battle of Orville'. Nothing else, account of diplomacy."</p> - -<p>Kirk said, "It deserves the plaque, that fight. If you chaps hadn't -turned out that night—"</p> - -<p>"Hear you're leaving tomorrow," Vinson went on. "Thought I'd keep your -old place going better, while you're gone, by working the fields. I'll -keep an eye on your house, too."</p> - -<p>Kirk said, "What makes you think I'm coming back?"</p> - -<p>Vinson said, puzzledly, "Why, you are, aren't you? I mean—you're an -Orville boy—this is your real home—"</p> - -<p>Kirk suppressed the impatient words he'd been about to utter. No use -upsetting a nice guy. He said, "Oh, sure, I'll be back—"</p> - -<p>He drove on to the old house. Lyllin sat on the porch. He saw, to his -surprise, that on her lap there cozily reclined a large black cat.</p> - -<p>Lyllin smiled. "I think I've been accepted. By the people here—and by -Tom."</p> - -<p>Tom yawned and looked with insolent green eyes at Kirk. "His sides are -bulging," Kirk said. "You've been bribing the beggar with food."</p> - -<p>She laughed. "I don't know how he'll like space-travel. But we'll be -bringing him back some day."</p> - -<p>"Will we?" said Kirk.</p> - -<p>She looked up at him. "Joe Garstang was talking to me. You <i>will</i> be -retiring from active service in a few years. And I like it here now, -Kirk. I really do."</p> - -<p>He said, loudly, "Why in the world must everyone assume that I <i>want</i> -to come back to this place? Will you tell me that?"</p> - -<p>"Don't you?"</p> - -<p>He started to answer, then didn't. He looked out from the porch of the -old house, at the sunset light sweeping the green valley, at the old -trees beyond the fields, at everything that had somehow got a queer -grip on him without his knowing it.</p> - -<p>He said, "Well, I don't know. Maybe."</p> - -<p>Lyllin smiled.</p> - -<p>That night the Fifth went skyward in a great thundering that rolled -louder and louder across the cities and the countryside. Great black -bulks flying up fast across the glittering sky, roaring, bellowing, -shouting a gigantic farewell down to the watching millions as they -rushed out toward the stars.</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BATTLE FOR THE STARS ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -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™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ -concept and trademark. 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