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The Med Ship Esclipus Twenty rode in overdrive while her ship's company drank coffee. Calhoun sipped at a full cup of strong brew, while Murgatroyd the tormal drank from the tiny mug suited to his small, furry paws. The astrogation unit showed the percentage of this overdrive hop covered up to now, and the needle was almost around to the stop pin.
We're leaving for Kandar now." He nodded to the young man at the control board. He noted with approval that he'd kept the Liberty's aim exact while Bors talked to Morgan. "Proceed," Bors ordered. The young man said, "Five, four, three, two, one " There was the familiar dizzying sensation of going into overdrive. The Liberty wrapped stressed space about itself and went hurtling into invisibility.
During the development of overdrive, it had been the effort of every technician to get the fastest possible drive. It was known that with a given mass and a given field-strength, one could get an effective speed of an unbelievable figure. Men had spent their lives trying to increase that figure.
It wouldn't surprise me if they'd seeded Orede with their plague, and this ship came from there to give us warning!" "There's no evidence for anything of the sort," protested Calhoun. "A ship simply came out of overdrive and didn't signal further. That's all!" "We'll see," said the chief executive ominously. "We'll go to the spaceport.
So they want to use your ship it's faster in overdrive and so on. And they'll go to Weald in this ship and they say they'll give Weald something to keep it busy without bothering us!" Calhoun said drily; "This pays me off for being too sympathetic with blueskins!
It reached the spaceport, where enormous metal girders formed a monster frame of metal lace against a star-filled sky. The chief executive strode magnificently into the spaceport offices. There was no news; the situation remained unchanged. A ship from Orede had come out of overdrive and lay dead in emptiness. It did not answer calls. It did not move in space.
"I found the values to correct it, then I found the source. It's in your overdrive speed." Bors blinked. Speed in overdrive could not be computed exactly. The approximation was very close within a fraction of a tenth of one per cent but when the distance traveled was light-years the uncertainty piled up.
The man Morgan had come to him to tell him that. If he'd come for some other reason, and merely made a guess, it could be coincidence. But he'd come only to tell Bors that he could be useful! And it was impossible, at a destination-port, to know when a ship would break out of overdrive!
"I'll check, sir," said Baird. "We picked up no tuned radiation from outer space, sir, but it could be that they picked us up when we came out of overdrive and stopped all their transmissions until they had us in a trap." "Find out how many there are!" barked the skipper. "Make it quick! Report additional data instantly!" His screen clicked off.
It wouldn't surprise me if they'd seeded Orede with their plague, and this ship came from there to give us warning!" "There's no evidence for anything of the sort," protested Calhoun. "A ship simply came out of overdrive and didn't signal further. That's all." "We'll see," said the chief executive ominously. "We'll go directly to the spaceport."
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