Rogue Ship

6

Lesbee put on his suit, and climbed up to the bridge. The sparks were dancing like mad on the outside of the plastiglass, and it was a pleasure to sit down at the bridge directive board and watch the screen that had been rigged up two days before by the physics department. The screen was fed frames by the high-speed scanners, but an electronic device eliminated every picture that had a spark on it. The speed of the pictures made the scene appear continuous and uninterrupted.

He was sitting there when, abruptly, there was a flash of brightness at the lower end of the screen – about ten miles away.

A ship!

It was instantly a matter for speculation, as to how it had got within range so quickly. One second, the surrounding space was empty; the next second, a gigantic spaceship had hove to.

Captain Lesbee's voice came quietly from the speaker: 'Apparently these beings have discovered a drive principle, and have inertia-defeating techniques, that enable them to dispense with gradual starts and stops. They must be able to attain interstellar maximum velocities within minutes of leaving their atmosphere.'

Lesbee II scarcely heard. He was watching the alien vessel. He did remember thinking that it took the Hope of Man many months to accelerate and decelerate, but that thought quickly blanked out; the comparison was too unfavorable.

With a start he saw that the ship was larger. Closer.

Sharply, the commander's voice came: 'Torpedo crews, load! But take warning! Any officer firing without orders will be punished. These people may be friendly.'

Silence reigned on the bridge while the two vessels approached within two miles of each other. Both were now in the same orbit, the alien slightly behind the Earth ship but evidently using power, for it was coming closer still. A mile, then half a mile. Lesbee licked dry lips. Distractedly, he glanced at First Officer Carson and saw that he was rigid in his chair, glaring into the screen. The man's bearded face showed that same stiff tension.

Again, Captain Lesbee's voice came on the speaker behind them: 'I want all weapons officers to listen carefully. The following order applies only to Torpedo Chamber A, under the command of Technical Gunnery Mate Doud. Doud, I want you to ease out a disarmed torpedo. Understand me! Kick it out with compressed air.'

Lesbee II saw the torpedo emerge, and heard his father's voice give more directions: 'Ease it out several hundred yards, so they can't miss seeing it. Then keep it under radio control cruising around in a narrow area of about two hundred feet.'

The commander explained quietly to his unseen audience: 'My hope is that this action will apprise the other ship that we have weapons but are not using them in aggressive action. Their response may indicate whether or not their quiet approach was a friendly or a cunning one. It might also give us some information that we desire, but I won't develop on that at this moment. Do not be alarmed. All our screens are up. These consist of various types of repulsion energy fields. They represent Earth's mightiest science.'

That was briefly reassuring. But the empty feeling came back to Lesbee II, as a hard, tense voice sounded on the speaker: 'This is Gunnery Mate Doud. Somebody's trying to take the radio control of the torpedo away from me.'

'Let them have it!' That was Captain Lesbee, quickly. 'They've obviously discovered it is harmless.'

Lesbee watched as the Earth torpedo was drawn toward the hull of the bigger ship. A door opened in the vessel's side, and the torpedo floated into it.

A minute passed; two; and then the torpedo emerged and slowly approached the Hope of Man.

Lesbee waited, but he didn't actually needs words now. It was not the first time in these past days that something of the enormity of this meeting of the civilizations of different suns struck him. For some weeks now, the trip had had a new meaning for him, and there was also the wonder of his being on the scene. Of the multibillions of Earth-born men, he was here on the frontier of man's universe participating in the greatest event in the history of the human race. Suddenly, it seemed to him that he understood the pride his father took in this voyage.

For a moment, sitting there, his fear gone, Lesbee shared that pride, and felt a joy beyond any emotion he had ever known.

The feeling ended, as Captain Lesbee's voice came curtly: 'I am limiting this call to officers and to the science department. I want, first, Doud, to try to take control of the torpedo. See if they'll let it go. Immediately.'

There was a pause; then: 'Got it, sir.'

'Good.' Captain Lesbee's voice sounded relieved. 'How about the telemetry readout?'

'Loud and clear, both channels.'

'Check the arm/disarm position monitors.'

'Yes, sir. Negative all around. Disarmed.'

'They hardly had time to rig those.' The captain was still cautious. 'Any abnormal readings? Excess radiation?'

'Negative. Radiometers normal.'