The Greatest Works of E. E. Smith. E. E. Smith

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      “Do you want my DeLameter?”

      “No, keep it. You won’t use it on me. Anybody else?”

      One guard joined the pilot, standing aside; the other four wavered.

      “Time’s up!” Kinnison snapped. “Now, you four fellows, either go for your DeLameters or turn your backs, and do it right now!”

      They elected to turn their backs and Kinnison collected their weapons, one by one. Having disarmed them, he again rolled back the partition and ordered them to join the wondering throng in the auditorium. He then addressed the assemblage, telling them what he had done and what he had it in mind to do.

      “A good many of you must be fed up on this lawless game of piracy and anxious to resume association with decent men, if you can do so without incurring too great a punishment,” he concluded. “I feel quite certain that those of us who man the hospital ship in order to return these nurses to the Patrol will get light sentences, at most. Miss MacDougall is a head nurse—a commissioned officer of the Patrol. We will ask her what she thinks.”

      “I can say more than that,” she replied clearly. “I am not ‘quite certain,’ either—I am absolutely sure that whatever men Mr. Blakeslee selects for his crew will not be given any sentences at all. They will be pardoned, and will be given whatever jobs they can do best.”

      “How do you know, Miss?” asked one. “We’re a black lot.”

      “I know you are.” The head nurse’s voice was serenely positive. “I won’t say how I know, but you can take my word for it that I do know.”

      “Those of you who want to take a chance with us line up over here,” Kinnison directed, and walked rapidly down the line, reading the mind of each man in turn. Many of them he waved back into the main group, as he found thoughts of treachery or signs of inherent criminality. Those he selected were those who were really sincere in their desire to quit forever the ranks of Boskone, those who were in those ranks because of some press of circumstance rather than because of a mental taint. As each man passed inspection he armed himself from the cabinet and stood at ease before the group of women.

      Having selected his crew, the Lensman operated the controls that opened the exit nearest the hospital ship, blasted away the panel, so that that exit could not be closed, unlocked a door, and turned to the pirates.

      “Vice-Commander Krimsky, as senior officer, you are now in command of this base,” he remarked. “While I am in no sense giving you orders, there are a few matters about which you should be informed. First, I set no definite time as to when you may leave this room—I merely state that you will find it decidedly unhealthy to follow us at all closely as we go from here to the hospital ship. Second, you haven’t a ship fit to take the ether; your main injector toggles have all been broken off at the pivots. If your mechanics work at top speed, new ones can be put on in exactly two hours. Third, there is going to be a severe earthquake in precisely two hours and thirty minutes, one which should make this base merely a memory.”

      “An earthquake! Don’t bluff, Blakeslee—you couldn’t do that!”

      “Well, perhaps not a regular earthquake, but something that will do just as well. If you think I’m bluffing, wait and find out. But common sense should give you the answer to that—I know exactly what Helmuth is doing now, whether you do or not. At first I intended to wipe you all out without warning, but I changed my mind. I decided to leave you alive, so that you could report to Helmuth exactly what happened. I wish I could be watching him when he finds out how easily one man took him, and how far from foolproof his system is—but we can’t have everything. Let’s go!”

      As the group hurried away, Mac loitered until she was near Blakeslee, who was bringing up the rear.

      “Where are you, Kim?” she whispered urgently.

      “I’ll join up at the next corridor. Keep farther ahead, and get ready to run when we do!”

      As they passed that corridor a figure in gray leather, carrying an extremely heavy object, stepped out of it. Kinnison himself set his burden down, yanked a lever, and ran—and as he ran fountains of intolerable heat erupted and cascaded from the mechanism he had left upon the floor. Just ahead of him, but at some distance behind the others, ran Blakeslee and the girl.

      “Gosh, I’m glad to see you, Kim!” she panted as the Lensman caught up with them and all three slowed down. “What is that thing back there?”

      “Nothing much—just a KJ4Z hot-shot. Won’t do any real damage—just melt this tunnel down so they can’t interfere with our get-away.”

      “Then you were bluffing about the earthquake?” she asked, a shade of disappointment in her tone.

      “Hardly,” he reproved her. “That isn’t due for two hours and a half yet, but it’ll happen on scheduled time.”

      “How?”

      “You remember about the curious cat, don’t you? However, no particular secret about it, I guess—three lithium-hydride bombs placed where they’ll do the most good and timed for exactly simultaneous detonation. Here we are—don’t tell anybody I’m here.”

      Aboard the vessel, Kinnison disappeared into a stateroom while Blakeslee continued in charge. Men were divided into watches, duties were assigned, inspections were made, and the ship shot into the air. There was a brief halt to pick up Kinnison’s speedster; then, again on the way, Blakeslee turned the board over to Crandall, the pilot, and went into Kinnison’s room.

      There the Lensman withdrew his control, leaving intact the memory of everything that had happened. For minutes Blakeslee was almost in a daze, but struggled through it and held out his hand.

      “Mighty glad to meet you, Lensman. Thanks. All I can say is that after I got sucked in I couldn’t .”

      “Sure, I know all about it—that was one of the reasons I picked you out. Your subconscious didn’t fight back a bit, at any time. You’re to be in charge, from here to Tellus. Please go and chase everybody out of the control room except Crandall.”

      “Say, I just thought of something!” exclaimed Blakeslee when Kinnison joined the two officers at the board. “You must be that particular Lensman who has been getting in Helmuth’s hair so much lately!”

      “Probably—that’s my chief aim in life.”

      “I’d like to see Halmuth’s face when he gets the report of this. I’ve said that before, haven’t I? But I mean it now, even more than I did before.”

      “I’m thinking of Helmuth, too, but not that way.” The pilot had been scowling at his plate, and now turned to Blakeslee and the Lensman, glancing curiously from one to the other. “Oh I say . A Lensman, what? A bit of good old light begins to dawn; but that can wait. Helmuth is after us, foot, horse, and marines. Look at that plate!”

      “Four of ’em already!” exclaimed Blakeslee. “And there’s another! And we haven’t got a beam hot enough to light a cigarette, nor a screen strong enough to stop a firecracker. We’ve got legs, but not as many as they’ve got. You knew all about that, though, before we started; and from what you’ve pulled off so far you’ve got something left on the hooks. What is it? What’s the answer?”

      “For СКАЧАТЬ