Have you ever thought about what fiction is? Probably, such a question may seem surprising: and so everything is clear. Every person throughout his life has to repeatedly create the works he needs for specific purposes - statements, autobiographies, dictations - using not gypsum or clay, not musical notes, not paints, but just a word. At the same time, almost every person will be very surprised if he is told that he thereby created a work of fiction, which is very different from visual art, music and sculpture making. However, everyone understands that a student's essay or dictation is fundamentally different from novels, short stories, news that are created by professional writers. In the works of professionals there is the most important difference - excogitation. But, oddly enough, in a school literature course, you don’t realize the full power of fiction. So using our website in your free time discover fiction for yourself. Rip Foster Rides the Gray Planet by Harold L. Goodwin (best beach reads txt) 📖
- Author: Harold L. Goodwin
Book online «Rip Foster Rides the Gray Planet by Harold L. Goodwin (best beach reads txt) 📖». Author Harold L. Goodwin
The Scorpius had returned!
"The Connie saw it," Rip said worriedly, "but didn't blast away. That means he's intending to ambush the Scorpius. Koa, if he does, that means war."
The big Hawaiian shook his head. "Sir, the Connie has guided missiles with atomic warheads just like our ship does. If he can launch one from ambush and hit our ship, that's the end of it. The Scorpius will be nothing but space junk. Commander O'Brine will never have time to get off a message, because he'll be dead before he knows there is danger."
The logic of it sent chill fear down Rip's spine. The Connie could get the Scorpius with one nuclear blast and then clean up the asteroid at leisure. The Federation would suspect, but it would be unable to prove anything, because there would be no witnesses. If the Connie took time to tow the remains of the Scorpius deep into the asteroid belt, it likely would never be found, no matter how the Federation[pg 143] searched.
They had to warn the ship. But how? Their helmet communicators wouldn't reach it until it was right at the asteroid, and that would be too late. They had no other radio. If only the radios in the snapper-boats were on a Federation frequency ... hey! They could take one of the boats and intercept the cruiser!
He was hurrying toward them before Koa understood what he was saying. He tried to make his legs go faster, but they were unsteady. He knew he was losing blood. He had lost plenty. He gritted his teeth and kept going.
The snapper-boats seemed miles away to Rip, but he plugged ahead until his belt light picked them up. He took a long look, then turned away, heartsick. The Connie's exhaust had charred them into wreckage.
"Now what?" he asked.
"I don't know, sir," Koa answered somberly.
They went back to the cave, not hurrying because Rip no longer had the strength to hurry. Weakness and a deep desire to sleep almost overcame him, and he knew that he was finished anyway. His wound must be too deep to clot, which meant it would bleed until he bled to death. Whether he warned the Scorpius or not, his end was the same.
Back in the cave, he leaned against the wall and asked tiredly, "How is Dominico?"
[pg 144]"I am fine, sir. My wound stopped bleeding."
"How is the Connie I got?"
"Unconscious, sir," Santos replied. "He must be bleeding badly, but we can't tell. The one you landed on is all right now, but he may have a broken rib or two."
Because his voice was weak, Rip had to turn up the volume on his communicator to tell the Planeteers about the Scorpius. They were silent when he finished, then Dowst spoke up.
"Looks like they have us, sir. But we'll take plenty of them with us before we're finished."
"That's the spirit," Rip approved. He told them, "I won't last much longer. When I get too weak, Koa will take over. Meanwhile, I want to get outside. Bring the rocket launcher outside, too. Who's the gunner? Santos? Stand by, then. We'll need you in case the Connie decides to send a few snappers before it goes after the Scorpius."
The cruiser's glow was plain above the horizon, now. It was so close they could make out its form against the background of stars. O'Brine was decelerating and Rip was certain he was watching his screens for a sign of the enemy. He would see nothing, because the enemy was in the shadow of the asteroid. He would think the coast was clear, and come to a stop near by while he asked why Rip had called for help. Failing to get a reply, since the landing boat was wrecked, he would send a landing party,[pg 145] and the Connie would attack while he was launching boats, off guard.
Rip watched the prediction come true. The nuclear cruiser slowed gradually, its great bulk nearing the asteroid. O'Brine was operating as expected.
Rip was having trouble keeping his vision from blurring. He leaned against the rocket launcher and his glove caressed one of the sharp noses in the rack.
He heard his own voice before the idea had even taken full form. "Santos! Do you hear me? Santos! Get the Scorpius! Fire before it comes to a stop. And don't miss!"
Santos started to protest, but Koa bellowed, "Do it. The lieutenant's right. It's the only chance we've got to warn the ship. Get that scorpion, Santos. Dead amidships!"
The Filipino corporal swung into action. His space gloves flew as he cranked the launcher around, turned on the illuminated sight and bent low over it. Rip stood behind the corporal. He saw the cruiser's shape stand out in the glow of the sight, saw the sighting rings move as Santos corrected for its speed.
The corporal fired. Fire flared back past his shoulder. The rocket flashed away, its trail dwindling as it sped toward the great bulk above. It reached brennschluss and there was darkness. Rip held his breath for long seconds, then he gave a weak cry of victory.
A blossom of orange fire marked a perfect hit.
The Scorpius could have taken direct hits with little or no major damage from a hundred rockets of the kind Rip had used, but Commander O'Brine took no chances. When the alarm bell signaled that the outer hull had been hit, the commander acted instantly with a bellowed order.
The Planeteers on the asteroid blinked with the speed of the cruiser's getaway. Fire flamed from the stern tubes for an instant and then there was nothing but a fading glow where the Scorpius had been.
Rip had a mental image of everything movable in the ship crashing against bulkheads with the terrific acceleration.
And in the same moment, the Consops cruiser reacted. The Connie commander was ready to fire guided missiles, when his target suddenly, mysteriously blasted into space at optimum acceleration. There was only one reason the Connie could imagine: his cruiser had been spotted. The ambush had failed. It was one thing for the Connie to lie in ambush for a single, deadly surprise blast at the Federation cruiser. It was quite another to face the nuclear drive ship with its missile ports cleared for[pg 147] action. The Connie knew he had lost.
Rip and the Planeteers saw the Consops ship suddenly flame away, then turn and dive for low space below the asteroid belt in a direction opposite the one the Scorpius had taken. The helmet communicators rang with their cheers.
The young officer clapped Santos on the shoulder and exclaimed weakly, "Good shooting!"
The corporal turned anxiously to Koa. "The lieutenant's pretty weak. Can't we do something?"
"Forget it," Rip said. There was nothing anyone could do. He was trapped inside his space suit. There was nothing anyone could do for his wound until he got into air.
Koa untied his safety line and moved to Rip's side. "Sir, this is dangerous, but there's just as much danger without. I'm going to tie off that arm."
Rip knew what Koa meant. He stood quietly as the big sergeant-major put the line around his arm above the wound, then put his massive strength into the task of pulling the line tight. The heavy fabric of the suit was stiff, and the air pressure gave further resistance that had to be overcome. Rip let most of the air out of the suit, then fought for breath until the pain in his arm told him that Koa had succeeded. He inflated the suit again and thanked the sergeant-major weakly.
The tight line stopped the bleeding, but it also cut off the air circulation. Without the air, the heating[pg 148] system couldn't operate efficiently. It was only a matter of time before the arm froze.
"Stand easy," Rip told his men. "Nothing to do now but wait. The Scorpius will be back." He set an example by leaning against the thorium crystal in which the cave was located. It was a natural but meaningless gesture. With no gravity pulling at them they could remain standing indefinitely, sleeping upright.
Rip closed his eyes and relaxed. The pain in his arm was less now, and he knew the cold was setting in. He was getting light-headed, and most of all he wanted to sleep. Well, why not? He slumped a little inside the suit.
He awoke with Koa shaking him violently. Rip stood upright and shook his head to clear his vision. "What is it?"
"Sir, the Scorpius has returned."
Rip blinked as he stared out into space to where Koa was pointing. He had trouble focusing his eyes at first, and then he saw the glow of the cruiser.
"Good," he said. "They'll send a landing boat first thing."
"I hope so," Koa replied.
Rip wanted to ask why the big Planeteer doubted, but he was too tired to phrase the question. He contented himself with watching the cruiser.
In a short time the Scorpius was balanced with nose tubes counteracting the thrust of stern tubes,[pg 149] ready to flash into space again at a second's notice.
Rip watched, puzzled. The cruiser was miles away. Why didn't it come any closer? Then, suddenly, it erupted a dozen fiery streaks.
"Snapper-boats," someone gasped.
Rip jerked fully awake. In the ruddy glow of the fighting rockets' tubes he had seen that the cruiser's missile ports were yawning wide, ready to spew forth deadly nuclear charges.
The snapper-boats flashed toward the asteroid in a group, sheered off, and broke formation. They came back in pairs, streaking space with the sparks of their exhausts.
"Into the cave," Koa shouted.
The Planeteers obeyed instantly. Koa took Rip's arm, to lead him inside, but the young officer shook him off. "No, Koa. I'll take my chances out here. I want to see what they're up to."
"Great Cosmos, sir! They'll go over this rock like Martian beetles. You'll get it for sure."
"Get inside," Rip ordered. He gathered strength enough to make his voice firm. "I'm staying here until I figure out some way to call them off. We can't just stand here and let them blast us. They're our own men."
"Then I'm staying, too," Koa stated.
A pair of snapper-boats flashed overhead, and vanished below the horizon. Two more swept past from another direction.
[pg 150]Rip watched, curious. What were they up to? Another pair quartered past them at high speed, then two more. The dozen boats seemed to be criss-crossing the asteroid in a definite pattern. Why?
A pair streaked past, and something sped downward from one of them, trailing yellow flame. It exploded in a ball of
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