Starman's Quest Read online

  _Chapter Nineteen_

  It was not difficult for Alan to get the route of the _Valhalla_, whichhad been recorded at Central Routing Registration. Every starship wasrequired by law to register a detailed route-chart before leaving, andthese charts were filed at the central bureau. The reason was simple: astarship with a crippled drive was a deadly object. In case a starship'sdrive conked out, it would keep drifting along toward its destination,utterly helpless to turn, maneuver, or control its motion. And if anyplanets or suns happened to lie in its direct path----

  The only way a ship could alter its trajectory was to cut speedcompletely, and with the drive dead there would be no way of picking itup again. The ship would continue to drift slowly out to the stars,while its crew died of old age.

  So the routes were registered, and in the event of drive trouble it wasthus possible for a rescue ship to locate the imperilled starship. Spaceis immense, and only with a carefully registered route could a ship befound.

  Starship routes were restricted information. But Alan had influence; hewas easily able to persuade the Routing Registration people that hisintentions were honorable, that he planned to overtake the _Valhalla_ ifthey would only let him have the coordinates. A bit of minor legaljugglery was all that was needed to give him access to the data.

  It seemed there was an ancient regulation that said any member of astarship's crew was entitled by law to examine his ship's registeredroute, if he wanted to. The rule was intended to apply to starmen whodistrusted their captains and were fearful of being shipped off to someimpossibly distant point; it said nothing at all about starmen who hadbeen left behind and were planning to overtake their ships. But nothingprohibited Alan from getting the coordinates, and so they gave them tohim.

  The _Cavour_ was ready for the departure. Alan elbowed his way throughthe crowd of curious onlookers and clambered into the redesigned controlchamber.

  He paused a moment, running his fingers over the shiny instrument panelwith its new dials, strange levers, unfamiliar instruments. OverdriveCompensator. Fuel Transmuter. Distortion Guide. Bender Index. Strangenew names, but Alan realized they would be part of the vocabulary of allfuture spacemen.

  He began to work with the new controls, plotting his coordinates withextreme care and checking them through six or seven times. At last hewas satisfied; he had computed a hyperdrive course that would loop himthrough space and bring him out in only a few days' time in the generalvicinity of the _Valhalla_, which was buzzing serenely along at near thespeed of light.

  That was practically a snail's pace, compared with hyperdrive.

  The time for the test had come. He spoke briefly with his friends andassistants in the control tower; then he checked his figures through onelast time and requested blastoff clearance.

  A moment later the count-down began, and he began setting up fordeparture.

  A tremor of anticipation shot through him as he prepared to blast off onthe first hyperdrive voyage ever made. He was stepping out into theunknown, making the first use ever of a strange, perhaps dangerous meansof travel. The drive would loop him out of the space-time continuum,into--_where?_--and back again.

  He hoped.

  He punched down the keys, and sat back to wait for the automatic pilotto carry him out from Earth.

  Somewhere past the orbit of the moon, a gong told him that the Cavourdrive was about to come into play. He held his breath. He felt atwisting sensation. He stared at the viewscreen.

  The stars had vanished. Earth, with all its memories of the last nineyears, was gone, taking with it Hawkes, Jesperson, York City, theEnclaves--everything.

  He floated in a featureless dull gray void, without stars, withoutworlds. _So this is hyperspace_, he thought. He felt tired, and he felttense. He had reached hyperspace; that was half the struggle. Itremained to see whether he would come out where he expected to come out,or whether he would come out at all.

  * * * * *

  Four days of boredom. Four days of wishing that the time would come toleave hyperspace. And then the automatic pilot came to life; the Cavourgenerator thrummed and signalled that it had done its work and wasshutting down. Alan held his breath.

  He felt the twisting sensation. The _Cavour_ was leaving hyperdrive.

  Stars burst suddenly against the blackness of space; the viewscreenbrightened. Alan shut his eyes a moment as he readjusted from the sightof the gray void to that of the starry reaches of normal space. He hadreturned.

  And, below him, making its leisurely journey to Procyon, was the greatgolden-hulled bulk of the _Valhalla_, gleaming faintly in the blacknight of space.

  He reached for the controls of his ship radio. Minutes later, he heard afamiliar voice--that of Chip Collier, the _Valhalla's_ Chief SignalOfficer.

  "Starship _Valhalla_ picking up. We read you. Who is calling, please?"

  Alan smiled. "This is Alan Donnell, Chip. How goes everything?"

  For a moment nothing came through the phones but astonished sputtering.Finally Collier said thickly, "_Alan?_ What sort of gag is this? Whereare you?"

  "Believe it or not, I'm hovering right above you in a small ship.Suppose you get my father on the wire, and we can discuss how I'll goabout boarding you."

  Fifteen minutes later the _Cavour_ was grappled securely to the skin ofthe _Valhalla_ like a flea riding an elephant, and Alan was climbing inthrough the main airlock. It felt good to be aboard the big ship onceagain, after all these years.

  He shucked his spacesuit and stepped into the corridor. His father wasstanding there waiting for him.

  "Hello, Dad."

  Captain Donnell shook his head uncomprehendingly. "Alan--how did you--Imean--and you're so much older, too! I----"

  "The Cavour Drive, Dad. I've had plenty of time to develop it. Nine goodlong years, back on Earth. And for you it's only a couple of monthssince you blasted off!"

  Another figure appeared in the corridor. Steve. He looked good; the lastfew months aboard the _Valhalla_ had done their work. The unhealthy fathe had been carrying was gone; his eyes were bright and clear, hisshoulders square. It was like looking into a mirror to see him, Alanthought. It hadn't been this way for a long time.

  "Alan? How did you----"

  Quickly Alan explained. "So I couldn't reverse time," he finished. "Icouldn't make you as young as I was--so I took the opposite tack andmade myself as old as you were." He looked at his father. "The universeis going to change, now. Earth won't be so overcrowded. And it means theend of the Enclave system, and the Fitzgerald Contraction."

  "We'll have to convert the _Valhalla_ to the new drive," Captain Donnellsaid. He looked still stunned by Alan's sudden appearance. "Otherwisewe'll never be able to meet the competition of the new ships. There willbe new ships, won't there?"

  "As soon as I return to Earth and tell them I've been successful. My menare ready to go into immediate production of hyperspace vessels. Theuniverse is going to be full of them even before your ship reachesProcyon!" He sensed now the full importance of what he had done. "Nowthat there's practical transportation between stars, the Galaxy willgrow close together--as close as the Solar System is now!"

  Captain Donnell nodded. "And what are you planning to do, now thatyou've dug up the Cavour drive?"

  "Me?" Alan took a deep breath. "I've got my own ship, Dad. And out thereare Rigel and Deneb and Fomalhaut and a lot of other places I want tosee." He was speaking quietly, calmly, but with an undercurrent of innerexcitement. He had dreamed of this day for nine years.

  "I'm going to take a grand tour of the universe, Dad. Everywhere. Thehyperdrive can take me. But there's just one thing----"

  "What's that?" Steve and the Captain said virtually in the same moment.

  "I've been practically alone for the last nine years. I don't want tomake this trip by myself. I'm looking for a companion. A fellowexplorer."

  He stared squarely at Steve.

  A slow grin spread over his brother's face. "You devil," Steve sai
d."You've planned this too well. How could I possibly turn you down?"

  "Do you want to?" Alan asked.

  Steve chuckled. "Do you think I do?"

  Alan felt something twitching at his cuff. He looked down and saw abluish-purple ball of fur sitting next to his shoe, studying him with awry expression.

  "Rat!"

  "Of course. Is there room for a third passenger on this jaunt of yours?"

  "Application accepted," Alan said. Warmth spread over him. The longquest was over. He was back among the people he loved, and the galaxywas opening wide before him. A sky full of bright stars, growingbrighter and closer by the moment, was beckoning to him.

  He saw the Crewmen coming from their posts now; the rumor had flittedrapidly around the ship, it seemed. They were all there, Art Kandin andDan Kelleher and a gaping Judy Collier and Roger Bond and all the restof them.

  "You won't be leaving right away, will you?" the Captain asked. "You canstay with us a while, just to see if you remember the place?"

  "Of course I will, Dad. There's no hurry now. But I'll have to go backto Earth first and let them know I've succeeded, so they can startproduction. And then----"

  "Deneb first," Steve said. "From there out to Spica, and Altair----"

  Grinning, Alan said, "More worlds are waiting than we can see in tenlifetimes, Steve. But we'll give it a good try. We'll get out there."

  A multitude of stars thronged the sky. He and Steve and Rat, together atlast--plunging from star to star, going everywhere, seeing everything.The little craft grappled to the _Valhalla_ would be the magic wand thatput the universe in their hands.

  In this moment of happiness he frowned an instant, thinking of a lean,pleasantly ugly man who had befriended him and who had died nine yearsago. This had been Max Hawkes' ambition, to see the stars. But Max hadnever had the chance.

  _We'll do it for you, Max. Steve and I._

  He looked at Steve. He and his brother had so much to talk about. Theywould have to get to know each other all over again, after the yearsthat had gone by.

  "You know," Steve said, "When I woke up aboard the _Valhalla_ and foundout you'd shanghaied me, I was madder than a hornet. I wanted to breakyou apart. But you were too far away."

  "You've got your chance now," Alan said.

  "Yeah. But now I don't want to," Steve laughed.

  Alan punched him goodnaturedly. He felt good about life. He had foundSteve again, and he had given the universe the faster-than-light drive.It didn't take much more than that to make a man happy.

  And now a new and longer quest was beginning for Alan and his brother. Aquest that could have no end, a quest that would send them searchingfrom world to world, out among the bright infinity of suns that laywaiting for them.