Rogue Ship

Gourdy riffled through the photographs with impatient fingers. He was about to put them down when an oddity about one of the pictures struck him. He drew it out of the pack and stared at it with a frown.

The camera had taken a picture angling across a part of the curved outer hull of the Hope of Man. In the distance, this starry scene was of a portion of the sky. It was bright and beautiful with points of lights – thousands of distant suns. On the back of the picture, Josephs had written in co

That part was understandable, obvious.

But there was a whitish blotch across the lower part of the photograph. At that point, the curving surface of the ship was already falling away. The blotch seemed to be an extension of a condition that came up from the ship, below the range of the camera.

About this phenomenon, Josephs had noted on the back, 'I have no idea what the semicircular shape is. It looks like too much light got onto the film. In view of our unusual matter-state, I decided not to make the automatic assumption that it was merely a defect.'

Gourdy couldn't make anything out of it either. So he shrugged presently and put it aside. He felt incompetent in the face of so many unusual conditions to make any kind of a scientific judgment. But he was as convinced as ever that he was the logical person to supervise the research that would have to be done. As he saw it, the scientists would have to report to him. He would decide what to do, and when.

He said to Harcourt, who had brought the photos, 'We got plenty of scientific brains to take care of our scientific problems.'

Thus, lightly, he dismissed a situation that had no parallel in human experience.

He saw now, clearly, that this condition was the opportunity he had been seeking.

'Call everybody up to the main assembly room,' he commanded. 'See that the boys are armed, and tell 'em to act and look as if they can take care of anything and anybody.'

'You want everybody?' Harcourt asked, incredulous. 'All those guys from downstairs, too!'

'Everybody. Meeting right after di

At the meeting, Gourdy had the projectionist show the photos, and he had Clyde Josephs explain what they meant.

When that was done, Gourdy stepped forward. 'Now, folks,' he said, 'what this really means is that we won't be landing till we solve the problem. I promise this. The best scientific and engineering brains aboard will be assigned to the task and' -he indicated Hewitt, who sat in the front row below him – 'I'm sure Mr. Hewitt will contribute what he can from his overall knowledge of the ship.'

He beckoned Hewitt. 'Will you come up here, sir?' he asked graciously.

Hewitt climbed onto the stage grimly. He was disturbed by the skill with which Gourdy was manipulating the meeting in his own favor. He glanced questioningly at Gourdy.

Gourdy said courteously, 'Mr. Hewitt, will you tell all of these people how and under what conditions you came aboard?'

When Hewitt had done so, Gourdy said, 'In your opinion, is there any chance of using your method in reverse to get these people to Earth?'

Even if there was, it was the last thing that Hewitt – with his purposes – would have admitted.

Aloud he said, 'Since we don't even know exactly what happened, the answer has to be that it's impossible. I've tried to imagine the time-space condition that existed when I came aboard the Hope of Man – what, for example, was the relationship in terms of physics and chemistry between me and the ship? I ca

Gourdy stepped forward beside Hewitt. He was smiling, but alarm bells were ringing inside him. Although he could see no harm in the actual suggestion, he suddenly suspected a conspiracy. The fact that Josephs and Hewitt had made the same recommendation seemed significant and sinister. He had a feeling that the scientists understood something that he didn't.

At the moment, he saw that he had no alternative but to accept it. He said loudly, 'I hereby authorize Mr. Hewitt and Mr. Miller to accelerate this ship to match velocities with the solar system.'

He turned to Hewitt, and with apparent ope

Hewitt had already examined the engines and recognized the repair for what it was. He said smoothly, 'Only the instrument panels have been removed so far, and we should be able to replace them by the time the sleep period begins.'

'Then act!' said Gourdy in the decisive tone that he considered necessary to reassure the people of the ship at this special meeting.

Thus the assembly came to its end.

Back in his cabin, Gourdy settled into his chair with savage satisfaction and gazed up at Harcourt. 'And now,' he said, 'we've got to get rid of Hewitt. What he did there did him no good, but it was a try.'

The quick, earlier suspicion had become a solid certainty in his mind.

He added, 'Hewitt is our only danger now, since Lesbee took off.'

Thought of Lesbee made him shake his head in wonderment. 'That guy Lesbee really had a head on his shoulders. He had me figured, all right. But I'm kinda glad he got away – if he did; maybe he's lost out there in that spi

Ilsa had been pouring wine while he talked. He ignored her as one might a servant. He was unaware that his attitude toward the women was changing. More and more, he treated them as if they were total nonentities.

Paying no attention to Ilsa, he said, 'Killing Hewitt should be made to look like an accident. But don't waste any time. Do it just before morning. Best thing I can think of is, make it look as if his machine short-circuited in some way and exploded.'

'That'll be pretty hard for me to put over.' Harcourt spoke doubtfully.

Gourdy was contemptuous. 'Don't be a nut. It doesn't matter how something is done, just so's you leave yourself a loophole. Something that confuses these poor dopes is all you need. And then you make it damned dangerous for anyone to be suspicious.'

There was what seemed to be a continuing resisting expression on Harcourt's face. Gourdy scowled at his henchman.

'Look– ' he said flatly, 'we've got to do it. Don't give me any argument!'

Harcourt protested, 'I'm not arguing, boss. I'm just thinking how to do it. Since you didn't take any of that stuff away from him, who knows what he's got in that space capsule. My idea is I'll just blow it up, but I'll have to see how to do it.'

Gourdy said, 'I let him keep it because I didn't want him to have any suspicion that I was going to move against him. So now we use it against him.'

'The way I've got it,' said Harcourt, more confident now, 'I'll brief some of the guys. Then I'll go down to the engine room when Miller and Hewitt start the acceleration. And I'll stick with Hewitt from that time on. I'll follow him to his room. I'll wait in the hallway outside until the other guys join me. My idea is, we'll go in some time during the last half of the sleep period and catch him in bed. O.K.?'

'Sounds perfect,' said Gourdy.

It was at that point that the woman slipped out of the room. Although she went quietly, her departure brought her to Gourdy's awareness.

He said, 'As soon as Hewitt is out of the way, I'm taking over these women. I've already had Lesbee's wife brought back. Since she didn't want to go in the first place, I decided to return her to the status of captain's wife. If that makes her happy, I can't complain.'

He gazed up at the big man cynically. 'Now listen, I'm giving each of you fellows permission to take on a second woman. I warn you, though. Don't just grab one. Tell the men to look over a few and then come to me. We'll decide between us which one. We can't monkey with the wives of men we need, and there'd be trouble if somebody took one of the young girls. But we'll figure it out and keep it damn secret for a while.'