The Other Side of Nowhere
- Автор: Лейнстер Мюррей
- Год: 1964
- Язык: английский
- Год: Berkley Medallion
- Жанр: Научная фантастика
Электронная книга - «The Other Side of Nowhere». Краткое содержание книги:
For centuries space travelers had dreaded a place they called the Other Side of Nowhere — a place in the universe where up was down, where right was wrong, and where all direction was lost...
To save the RIM STAR Braden had to bring the ship to the place of nightmare, the Other Side of Nowhere...
"I told you, Mr. Braden," Fortescue said wryly, "that I'm excitement-prone. Exciting things happen all around me. And I'd been looking forward to the sort of quiet life one has in jail!"
"Maybe," said Braden, "we can still arrange it."
But he didn't expect to. He left the passengers. He passed the steward in the corridor, part way up toward the bow, heading for the passengers' section with meals for five persons on a rolling cart. The steward gave him a cordial smile and went on.
Braden went to his cabin. In.substance, the skipper's order to get out of the control-room meant that he was to stay out of it until his time on-watch arrived. But once the ship was in overdrive there should be nothing to do but watch the instruments. Their readings were automatically recorded on the log-tape every so often. In between, any registration even fractionally off normal would set off a signal that would wake a man dozing in the control- room. If that went unheeded, there'd be a general alarm audible all over the ship. A vessel the size of the Rim Star actually required no larger crew than the smallest of yachts. The minimum crew for any size of spacecraft was the smallest number of men who could endure uneventfulness and each other's society for a long time.
Braden surveyed his own cabin. He still had a blaster in his pocket, after partly arming the passengers. He wasn't welcome in the control-room. He'd done all that could be done for the moment about the crew and the intentions of its members. Now he had nothing to do.
He unpacked his ship-bag and put its contents in the lockers and cupboards provided for the purpose. He could, of course, take a nap. Ability to sleep is useful in space; it passes the time. Reading is also valuable. But Braden was in no mood for either.
It occurred to him that since the skipper's quarters should more than probably be considered to be wired for eavesdropping, and since the control-room might be, it was conceivable that even the mate's cabin might be bugged. At least it would be useful to know.
He began to search. His action was out of all reason. Ships aren't wired for bugging. There's no sense in it, there can be no purpose to it. But the skipper's private quarters almost certainly were bugged. So, though it was irrational, Braden continued his search.
He found thread-thin wires coming out of the corner of a shoe-locker near the floor. They were almost invisible, for they had been painted over. Actually he saw less than an inch of paired unpainted wires in the locker at floor-level. But once he'd found those, it was possible to trace them.
He had the miniature microphone in his hand when the door of his cabin opened. He jerked his head toward it. The skipper stood there, frowning portentously. But when he saw the thing in Braden's hand, he opened his mouth to speak, then closed it, his eyes fixed on the tiny object.
Braden held it so he could see it clearly. Braden's own expression was ironic. The skipper made a preliminary rumbling noise and then stopped. He gestured; Braden shrugged and turned his eyes back to what he'd found.
He examined it in detail while the skipper stood absolutely silent, watching. In a matter of minutes Braden had made the microphone inoperative. He did not cut the wires; hence any test of the circuit would show it was working. But the microphone would no longer transmit any sounds from the cabin. Anyone listening in would guess, most likely, either that the cabin was empty or that something was accidently pressing on the microphone and keeping it from transmitting.
The skipper nodded and waited until Braden had put everything back as before. Then he spoke, after the usual rumble.
"Very smart, Mr. Braden! Very smart! If you'd asked me, I'd have advised exactly that! You mentioned that I was overheard in my own quarters, which I knew, and you may have guessed at the control-room. If so, you were right. I was about to ask you to take a walk with me, for a confidential talk. But now we can talk here."
Braden got up from the floor where he'd disabled the microphone.
"Glad to have you, sir. Will you take a chair?"
The skipper grimaced. He sat down gingerly, like a man who has learned that not all chairs are to be entrusted with his weight.
"It won't take long, Mr. Braden. I begin to think well of you. I have written out an order which is completely useless, for you to carry out in case of emergency."
"Yes, sir," said Braden.
With an effort, the skipper removed from a pocket a bit of paper that had been folded many times. He handed it to Braden.
"You will be careful, Mr. Braden, not to let anyone know about this order. Keep it carefully - not that it will do any good. The substance of it is that if I should die or be disabled in any way that would remove me from active control of the ship, you are immediately to get the passengers into a spaceboat, smash all controls in the other boats and the ship - if possible, of course - and abandon ship."
Braden stiffened. An officer's first duty being to his ship, he should not abandon it except in the most extreme disaster - which it was his responsibility to prevent.
"That," the skipper rumbled sardonically, "is charity on my part. I am taking a great risk in giving it - and I do not like to take risks. So I will explain the situation aboard the Rim Star."
He looked at the door. Braden went to it, stepped out, and examined the corridor outside. It was empty. He did not like this order. It ran counter to every instinct and every rule and to all the traditions of space. He stepped back into the cabin.
"Very good!" said the skipper. "It is more important than you may dream, Mr. Braden, that I should not be overheard. I take this risk for your sake and that of the passengers - whom I have not seen, and whom I fervently hope I will not see! The reason is that it is almost inconceivable that the Rim Star will ever reach Handel's Planet. I have arranged matters that way for good and sufficient reason."
Braden stiffened. This violated everything he believed in as a merchant-space officer. It was unbelievable that a ship captain would do such a thing. But there'd been enough of the extraordinary on the Rim Star already, to make it believable if it explained what had happened up to now.
"This ship," said the skipper sardonically, "belongs to my son-in-law. He has suffered losses, and the Rim Star is nearly all he has left. But she is insured. If she is lost, so long as I am lost with her he will really lose very little - and I will be dead if the ship is lost! He will have money to reestablish himself with, instead of owning only a white elephant like this... You have to understand this to understand the rest. I would not willingly injure my daughter, and my son-in-law does not know what I plan."
Braden nodded, not to indicate understanding or agreement, but for the skipper to go on.
"My purpose," said the skipper flatly, "is to destroy the crew. Not the ship. If I can, I will complete the voyage - I hope with your assistance, Mr. Braden! But I shall destroy the crew!... Have you ever heard of the Melpomene, Mr. Braden?"
Braden thought hard for a moment, then shook his head. He was deeply suspicious. He was enraged at being involved in what might prove to be wrecking a ship for the insurance.
"She vanished in space five years ago, Mr. Braden," said the skipper evenly. "There were the usual rumors that she had blundered into the Other Side of Nowhere - which does not exist. The fact is that she was the victim of her crew, of pirates." He paused. "I have a married daughter now. But I did have another daughter. She and my wife were passengers on the Melpomene when the ship was taken by pirates."
Braden went to the door again, found the corridor still empty, and came back.