Part 2 (1/2)
”Somebody was in my cabin, and slugged me over the head with a black-jack when I came in. Look at the wall-cabinet, will you, professor, and see if any of the papers are missing?”
The professor stepped over to one side of the room, and bent to examine the compartment set in the solid metal of the wall.
”Holden,” he cried, ”the intruder tried to open the cabinet, but was unable to do so, or else you came back sooner than he had expected.
There are tool marks all around the lock.”
”That means,” exclaimed Captain Linet, ”that the man either has tools in his cabin, or has access to the machine shop here on board.”
Scarcely had he spoken when the floor leaped beneath their feet, a deafening roar sounded from the bow, and the lights went out. Sounds of running feet came from the corridor. The three men picked themselves up from the positions into which they had been thrown by the force of the shock, and rushed to the door.
The emergency lights had been switched on, and they could see fairly well by the dim illumination. They hurried into the pilot house at the bow. Edwards was struggling with the controls, pale but determined.
”There's something wrong with the steering apparatus we've run into a group of tiny meteorites, but, thank G.o.d, they didn't hit hard enough to penetrate the sh.e.l.l. The other s.h.i.+ps seem to be in good shape; they're standing by a few hundred miles away, for I've signaled them not to get themselves tangled up with this shower.”
At that moment a breathless tube-man came running in.
”Report for you, sir, from the tube-room. Someone tampered with the timing device that controls the feeding of the charges. We can have it repaired in a few hours.”
”Good,” snapped Edwards. ”Give me all the power you can from the emergency tubes, and keep the main stern tubes going full.” Turning to Holden, he continued, ”I'll try to steer out of this shower by means of the deceleration tubes, but I don't dare use up too much of their power, and they can't be recharged until after we land.”
”Captain Linet,” Holden ordered, ”start a search of the s.h.i.+p. Go over every man's room first, and pay especial attention to their baggage.
Read all the private papers you can find, and see if you can't get some clue as to why all this is being done. By the way, do we have any arms on board?”
Linet smiled. ”While your orders didn't cover that matter, sir, I took the liberty to bring with me a very complete a.r.s.enal of small arms, and three of the newly developed rapid-fire disintegrators, using your _hexoxen_ as the material for the bullets. Very effective, I may add.”
”Fine. As soon as a man is searched, and has been entirely cleared of all shadow of suspicion, arm him.”
Erickson departed with Captain Linet, and Holden remained in the pilot room, helping Edwards work the s.h.i.+p onward. After about an hour and a half, they had reached an area free from meteorites of dangerous size.
”I think I can handle her myself, now. Thanks very much,” Edwards said, and Holden departed to do a little investigating on his own.
In the tube-room at the stern, he found Linet. The doughty Captain had evidently been giving the men a thorough raking over, for they were all looking slightly sheepish, as men do when they have had to reveal the most intimate details of their lives.
”All in shape here,” Linet reported. ”Five of the men I know best are searching the living quarters, under command of Professor Erickson. If you will come with me now, we will go to the observation room, where the rest of the men are loafing while off duty.”
As they pa.s.sed down the central hall in the section where the cabins were located, a man ran out from a side pa.s.sage, saw them, and turned at full speed for the bow.
”Stop him,” came a shout. Holden recognized the voice as Erickson's. The man heard it, too, for he whirled in his tracks, whipped an old-fas.h.i.+oned automatic pistol from his pocket, leveled it at Holden, and took careful aim. The fraction of a second during which his eye rested along the sights was his undoing.
Captain Linet's hand, hidden under the loose jacket he was wearing, pressed the release on his short-range ray pistol, a light bluish streak touched the man's breast, and he fell forward, his heart literally shattered by the energy of the ray.
Holden reached him first, and rolled him over. His face was faintly familiar, and doubt changed to recognition as Captain Linet exclaimed, ”It's Chambers, a former petty officer on my airliner.”
It was the man who had come up to the Captain while Holden and Erickson were conversing with him on the bridge.
”What on earth could the man have been up to? He must have been mad to attack me on this s.h.i.+p, with no chance of escape,” exclaimed Holden. ”Do you know anything of his record, Captain?”