Rogue Ship

He stood, scowling, considering. Tellier wanted to know what was bothering him.

Lesbee realized he couldn't explain to any other person the difficulty of dealing with Gourdy. Haltingly, he tried to describe the paranoic suspiciousness of the man. He said, 'He knows enough about the controls to know when they're in operation. Teaching him was my only method of preventing him from having someone check on the engines. If I go to him-' He stopped again, picturing the possibilities, then said, 'It's so vital I can't take the chance that he won't do it now.'

'So?' Tellier wanted to know.

It seemed to Lesbee that he must inform Captain Gourdy that the engines were not functioning properly and get permission to cut off the drives before the ship attained light-speed. He argued the point earnestly. 'But I'll program it so that if he gets suspicious and bars me from upstairs, then, in due course, the engines will start again and take us across the light-speed barrier, and since it will look as if I had predicted trouble, Gourdy will trust me again.'

He grew aware that Tellier was gazing at him admiringly. 'You really do have a mind for intrigue, don't you?' He added anxiously, 'But if he's not suspicious, you'll keep us on this side of light?'

'Of course. Do you think I'm crazy! As an emergency precaution, believe it or not, I've already activated the old sensor equipment for zeroing in, first on the solar system, then on Earth.'

The conversation ended with an agreement as to which airlock they would use for their escape and under what circumstances they would rendezvous there.

Later that afternoon, Lesbee programmed for the additional patterned acceleration, using electromagnetic controls exclusively. It had occurred to him that it would be unwise to trust any mere mechanical device at near light-speed.

The action taken, he went to Gourdy and brazenly made his statement about the drives, that he would have to shut them off to see what was wrong.

Gourdy was instantly anxious. 'But we'll keep coasting along while you're checking them?' he asked.

'Of course,' said Lesbee. 'We'd come to this condition presently anyway, where we have to shut off the engines to conserve fuel, and coast. But that's still months away.'

Lesbee had once toyed with the idea of using that natural sequence. But it had seemed to him that the longer he remained at the mercy of Gourdy, the more impossible his plan would be. Even now, at the stepped-up rate that he had used, simply coasting would require a disconcertingly high number of years to make the journey. It was unfortunate but only within light yards and light feet per second of light-speed were the enormous relative speeds attainable.

They were standing on the bridge. Against the backdrop of unending, star-dotted night. Gourdy's eyes were narrowed. He was evidently having those second thoughts of his. Lesbee felt the tension mounting in his stomach.

Gourdy said, 'Does this trouble have an emergency look?'

'Captain, the sooner I check on what's wrong, the better. But it could wait till the sleep period.'

'Well– ' Gourdy seemed to be coming to a decision. 'I guess it's all right. What about the gravity?'

'It'll have to go off,' Lesbee lied.

'Then wait till after di

'A couple of days.'

Gourdy was silent, frowning. He said at last: 'It'll be a nuisance, though I guess we'll do it. But wait, like I said. O.K.?'

'O.K.'

Lesbee dared not say one extra word. He went down the steps, heart in mouth, and he was greatly relieved, while he was in the commissary, to hear Gourdy a

Unfortunately for Lesbee's peace of mind, as Gourdy turned away from the microphone, he found himself remembering that Lesbee had been trained as a technician and not as an engineer. He doubted if Lesbee were really qualified to repair or evaluate the need for repair of the atomic drive.

The question did not include any suspicion of Lesbee's motives. He simply asked himself: Was it wise to trust a technician with something so vital to the future of the ship?

After these thoughts had matured for a few minutes, Gourdy ordered the late Captain Browne's former first officer, Miller, to be brought to the auxiliary control room.

He said to Miller quite simply, 'I have reason to believe the engines are not operating properly. Would you check and give me your opinion?'

For Miller it was a moment of dilemma. He had been an officer his enure adult Lifetime. He despised Gourdy and he disliked Lesbee but, most of all, he hated living on the lower decks. During the incident with the robot at Alta, he had been unconscious while Lesbee and Browne had had their discussion about the speed of light. Accordingly, he had not understood those later snatches of conversation in which those two angry men had referred to the Lorentz-Fitzgerald theory. At no time, then or since, had he been aware that the ship was traveling faster than its best previous speed.

And this was his first time near the controls since Lesbee's take-over. He studied the dials on the big board with genuine interest. It did not take him long to decide that the engines were operating perfectly. In fact, remembering some old manuals that showed theoretical optimums, he had the feeling that on the whole, for a reason that was not clear, the drive was working more smoothly than at any previous time that he had seen it.

Realizing this, he deduced with the contempt of the engineer for the technician that Lesbee had somehow misread the data. His dilemma was: how could he utilize his superior knowledge to get back into a position of greater importance? Should he back Lesbee and get in on the u

He decided on the struggle. 'After all,' he thought, 'this is every man for himself.',

At the precise moment that he made this decision, his roving glance lighted on the velocity indicators, which were on a separate instrument board to one side. The needles showed an extreme configuration that he had never seen before. Frowning, Miller walked over, mentally calculating a rough approximation of what the figures meant. His puffy face quivered. He turned.

'Captain Gourdy,' he said, 'a lot of things are suddenly begi

Afterward, when he had explained to Gourdy what he meant, and after he had finally been returned below, Miller sought out the unsuspecting Lesbee, and said cockily, 'Captain Gourdy just had me look at the engines.'

Lesbee silently absorbed the terrible shock of that and, being acutely conscious of being spied on, said in a steady voice, 'I was thinking of asking the captain to have you verify my findings.'

Miller's response was rough-toned. 'O.K., if you want to pretend. Let me tell you, all kinds of things fell into place when I saw those velocity indicators. I never did understand, when Browne was killed.' He smiled knowingly. 'Pretty smart, getting almost up to the speed of light, never letting on.'

It seemed to Lesbee that his face must be the color of lead. He could have hit the other man, standing there with his round brown eyes full of foolish triumph. He stepped close to Miller, said in a low, vicious voice. 'You stupid fool! Don't you realize that Gourdy can't go to Earth? We're all dead men!'

There was brief satisfaction, then, in seeing the expression of horrible awareness take form on Miller's face. Lesbee turned away, sick at heart. And he was not surprised a few minutes later when he received a call to report to the captain's cabin.