Part 5 (1/2)

When she regained consciousness and saw her rescuers, she screamed.

”That'll give us some idea of how the people back on Earth will receive us,” said Gene. ”If we get there, that is.”

Later, in the control room, Maher and MacNamara gave their report.

”We can make it,” said MacNamara, ”but we'll come in limping like a wounded moose. If any of the Company s.h.i.+ps sight us, we'll be a sitting duck. But maybe it will be better that way. This is like war, and some of us must die....” His voice trailed off in a mumble.

”Some of us _are_ dying,” said Maher. ”But he's right, Gene; we can make it, with luck. We'll not be able to come in fast, nor land in the city, but we'll make it to Earth.”

”That's enough,” decided Gene. ”If we can land near Chicago, I think I can manage the rest.”

They turned to the controls, and MacNamara went back to his pile room.

Once more the s.h.i.+p limped on, this time directly toward the ball of Earth, looming a scant twenty million miles away.

It took eight days to come within a million miles of their goal. Then tragedy struck again. The cabin on the pa.s.senger deck from which they had removed the sole survivor blew its door, and the air on the deck above rushed out through the hole they had burned into the cabin. It had been forgotten, and it meant the lives of three more crew members.

Then, as they prepared to bring the s.h.i.+p into the atmosphere, Maher, peering through the telescope, let out a shout. ”Company s.h.i.+p, coming up fast! They're after us!”

Gene leaped to the telescope and peered through. Far to the left, a glowing silver streak in the sky, was the familiar shape of a s.p.a.ce s.h.i.+p, growing larger by the minute. Studying it, Gene saw that it was an armed cruiser.

”They've got wise,” said Maher. ”I thought they would, when we didn't check in at Io. Probably radioed back to be on the lookout for us.”

”Call MacNamara,” said Gene. ”We've got to see if he can set us down faster. Maybe there's some way to step up that pile.”

Maher rushed off, and Ann came in. ”What's up?” she asked.

”Cruiser after us,” said Gene, his face grim. ”Looks like we won't get to Chicago unless MacNamara has something up that old sleeve of his.”

Ann went white, and together they waited for the old Engineer.

When he came in, Gene gestured to the telescope. ”Take a look.”

MacNamara squinted through the eyepiece with his double popeyes. ”Don't see a thing,” he grumbled.

”Well, it's a Company Cruiser, gunned to the limit. She's going to be near enough to shoot us down in about three hours.”

”Three hours, you say?” MacNamara scratched his head. ”How near we to Earth?”

”Half a million miles.”

”You could make it in the lifeboat.”

Gene snorted. ”That Cruiser'd shoot down the lifeboat as easy as it will the s.h.i.+p--a lot easier.”

”If they can catch you,” said MacNamara. ”Some of us must die, that the rest may live.”

”Don't start that again, Mac,” said Maher impatiently. ”What we want to know is whether you can soup up that pile so we can beat that Cruiser down to Earth?”

”Not a thing I can do,” said the Chief Engineer. ”We've only one set of tubes. Full power would shoot us all over the sky. But I _can_ do something as good.”