Rogue Ship

39

The battle to recover the ship began about an hour later.

On one side were eighteen men armed with blasters, revolvers, and several shotguns. Opposing them were principally the scientists and technicians. They had blasters, revolvers, a number of gas guns, and equipment from their laboratories.

Gourdy kept believing that his opponents were cowards because once before they had allowed themselves to be imprisoned without trying to defend themselves. Hewitt knew that there was little truth to it. A new factor had been added. The old ship people now had the courage required of them by the system of which they had become a part during the past few weeks.

Hewitt had no doubt that these men were still profoundly prejudiced in connection with their women, and that they retained other narrow attitudes. But for each man, the prospect of once more being in the control of Gourdy and his gang was unthinkable.

Once that decision was made – and apparently it had been made instantly by many persons – there was no problem. Instinctively, they had turned to Hewitt. And when he requested them to come up with some ideas for the attack, the physics, chemistry, and engineering experts produced:

...A development of laser, where the light beam carried an electrical charge -

...An energy field affecting the nervous system, cramping certain muscles -

...A little round ball that rolled into the engine room, attached itself to one of the drives, sucked energy from it, and began to radiate heat. When the temperature in the engine room was 180 degrees Fahrenheit, the small group of Gourdy's men who were inside sent Miller out to ask if they could surrender.

Hewitt ordered that they be permitted to do so.

From the prisoners they learned for the first time of Lesbee's murder. Hewitt listened to the description the man gave of how everything had seemed to stand still while they were leaving the prison and of how this had also happened at certain other times. He recognized the similarity to his own experience when he originally came aboard the ship.

He became very excited. It seemed to him that a controlled method of mechanically altering time ratios would solve their entire space-time confusion.

But presently he realized that Gourdy's men would be no help. They had never grasped the meaning of what was happening to them.

A young scientist named Roscoe had a sudden bright thought: If Lesbee had returned to the ship, then Tellier must be back also. Hewitt dispatched the young man with a patrol to search the lifeboats. And there, indeed, was Tellier.

But he could only weep when told of Lesbee's death. His knowledge of Lesbee's ideas was sketchy, almost valueless.

In strict meaning, what the scientists did now was not new. None of the devices that were mobilized for battle was an original invention of anyone aboard the Hope of Man. Each was a known process. However, it took an expert to utilize it.

For the scientists, the struggle was like a game. They had scores of devices and processes -

Gourdy's man on the bridge was requested to surrender. He refused to do so. Whereupon, a speaker inside the bridge control board began to give forth a sound. It was an all-range speaker. And so the sound presently became so intense that it threatened to rupture the eardrums of the man.

By the time he surrendered, the two men in the auxiliary control room were being subjected to flames that broke right out of the walls. It was actually a laser phenomenon, whereby a mixture of many light waves – including a few in the heat band – were evoked from metal crystals in the walls. The flame-like tongues of flickering light reached out ten and twenty feet, randomly, without warning. They were far from being as hot as fire, but there was heat from them, and this created the psychological effect of fire. After a few minutes, Gourdy's henchmen came rushing out to surrender.

The man who reported this particular success to Hewitt, added in disgust: 'What gripes me is, we could have fought that gang with this stuff the first time they took over -'

Hewitt stared at the man, who was almost as big a fellow as Harcourt, but older, and for a moment he was minded to let the remark pass.

But his mind flashed back to the similar situation on Earth. There, also, tens of thousands of scientists were the only people who as a group understood and could utilize the forces of nature. Yet, even under a dictatorship, it had been observed that this vast group of knowledgeable people had no system by which they could emerge from their laboratories and utilize their training for any other purpose than what was dictated to them from above.

Remembering this, Hewitt shook his head at the scientist, whose name was William Lawrence. 'I disagree,' he said. 'For a hundred years, you people were not politically minded. The successive rulers of the ship saw to that. Now you are.' He smiled, tight-lipped. 'Feels different, doesn't it?'

The end of the designated sleep period drew near. Large groups of men had gradually taken up positions at all approaches to the captain's cabin. And the question of what the nature of the attack should be was essentially limited only by consideration for the captain's wives.

Led by Lawrence, a group of scientists came to Hewitt. Their spokesman said earnestly, 'I'm afraid we're going to have to sacrifice those women. Otherwise, it may be a case of a direct physical assault. We may lose thirty or forty men.'

The possibility had already been weighing on Hewitt. Now, he broached the subject of persuading Gourdy to surrender with a promise of no punishment.

'After all those people he's killed!' Several voices uttered similar sentiments in tones that were loud with outrage.

Hewitt felt a sharp anger. Because if a compromise were justified at all, it should include saving everyone, if possible. He said, 'Gourdy killed those men for personal political reasons.'

'It was murder!' said Lawrence harshly.

Holding his irritation, Hewitt explained that on some level the charge was true. Killing was killing. But until comparatively recent times, the system accepted by the masses of the people, held political leaders in a special category. And real change on that point was probably still a long way off. This was a truth which people emerging into a new system were not clearly aware of.

Hewitt said, 'We could almost determine the nature of a society by the kind of killing it permits and justifies. And when we look at who in that society is responsible for the administration of death and other penalties, we see that the killers have the sanction of the political leaders who, in turn, have broad mass support for their actions.'

He continued, 'Here on the ship you've had a somewhat telescoped version of all this. And now that you're in a transition from one system to another, you can't bring yourself to tolerate the particular violence that was a part of the old system. If there's anyone here who actively opposed the old system, I'll be glad to hear what he has to say.'

There was a long silence, and then former First Officer Miller raised his hand. 'I opposed the old system,' he said.

One of the scientists made a spluttering sound, and then said in a tone of muffled anger, 'Mr. Miller, I cannot accept that statement without evidence.'

'I hated this guy Gourdy's guts from the moment I saw him,' said Miller indignantly.

'What about your blankety-blank guts when you were Browne's lackey?' said the scientist in a thick voice.

Miller looked surprised. 'Mr. Browne was the lawful captain of this ship!' he protested.

Hewitt waved the two men to silence. Then, smiling faintly, he faced the group. 'You see what I mean,' he said.

The young scientist, Roscoe, muttered, 'I don't really get it. But I have a feeling it's there. All right, so you promise him immunity. What are you going to do with the so-and-so after that?'

'Fit him into the new system,' said Hewitt frankly.

'Suppose he won't fit?'

'I'm willing to take the chance,' said Hewitt. 'Now, is it all right if I try to deal with him?'

Several men shifted their gazes when he looked directly at them but there was no vocal opposition.

Gourdy laughed uproariously when Hewitt called him. 'Look,' he said, 'we're down to the stuff that separates the men from the boys. And you've got the boys and I've got the men. With the supplies we have in the connecting storerooms, we can hold out for years.'

Hewitt suggested that the scientific potentialities available to the attackers would be decisive. He finished, 'So I can only assume that you don't trust my offer. Is that it?'

'Sure, I trust it.'

'Then what is it?' Hewitt persisted. 'If you don't accept this offer, it's the end of the road, Gourdy.'

'I still think I'm going to win,' Gourdy replied. 'That scientific stuff – you know damn well the previous captains made sure that none of that could affect the captain's cabin.'

Hewitt explained: 'They made sure of it by having the scientific people on their side.'

The image of Gourdy in the viewplate merely shrugged scornfully.

But he was shaken, in spite of himself.

At some depth of his being, he believed that this was the end. Yet he could not bring himself to acknowledge it. Something might still happen. What? He had no idea. But surrender remained unthinkable.

Hewitt said in a steady voice, 'You can surrender on my offer at any time before the first shots are fired!' With that he broke the connection.

Several scientists had stood by during Hewitt's interchange with Gourdy. Now, one of them said, 'From the look on your face, you don't seem quite so objective.'

'Gourdy is getting harder to like,' Hewitt confessed. 'But I assume he's under tension, too.'

But he grew calmer as he had his tank wheeled out and explained what he had in mind. When he had been sealed into it, he gave the signal for action. Whereupon he guided his suit toward the corridor that led to the captain's cabin.

The first bullet struck the ultra-hard plastic directly in front of his eyes! It distorted, then normalized. Hewitt pulled back, a tremor shaking his body.

But he recovered, and continued to guide his machine forward.

A line of sparks the size of marbles seemed to run down the full frontal length of the suit – a blaster! The effect was so eerie that he was more fascinated than startled.

A blast from a shotgun also struck him head on. The noise of it was momentarily stunning.

But it was an undamaged Hewitt that drove forward. As he came within yards of the entrance, he heard Gourdy's voice from beyond the door: 'Damn you, Hewitt, what do you want?'

'I want to talk.'

'You can talk on the intercom.'

'Face to face is better.'

There was a pause. 'All right, come on in!'

Once more, Hewitt moved forward, keenly aware that his advisers and he had analyzed that Gourdy's strong-arm men would try to tip the tank suit the moment he drove it into the room. It would not be easy to do. The suit itself weighed nearly 450 pounds at one g, and he himself added 190 to that. Yet three or four men could undoubtedly knock it over.

So he stopped in the doorway, where they would not be able to get at him. And because he had the simple purpose of saving the women, he ignored the men and his gaze flashed toward the bedroom doors.

Miraculously, after a moment, the door of one bedroom opened slightly. Through the slit, a bright eye peered at him. Who it was he could not make out.

Hewitt didn't wait to find out any more. He started forward with a jerk. At its top speed of ten miles an hour, his vehicle moved across the room. He was vaguely aware of men jumping at him with reaching hands. Their yells of dismay as they touched the suit's electrical field was not an unpleasant sound in his ears.

As he approached the door of the bedroom, Hewitt spoke through his speaker: 'Ladies, get out of the way!'

Moments later, the nose of the vehicle struck the door with enough impact to have smashed it if it had been closed. But it was ajar. And so the door bounced open with a bang. Hewitt rolled through. The instant he was inside, he saw that all four women were there.

He felt greatly relieved, for he had two signals for this moment.

He spoke into his mike: 'Fire!'

That was the word that indicated that he was in a position to protect all the women.

The response from the scientists was immediate. Jagged lightning arced from a concentration point in the wall, struck the suit, and discharged from its rear into the main room behind him.

From that room came a screaming of men in agony. Then Hewitt heard the thud of one body after another falling to the floor like deadweights.