THE BATTLE OF THE VIDEO
Oddly enough, in of the which must have him, Rip them in with a perfect four fin-point landing—one which, under the circumstances, must win him the respect of master star-star from the Rim. Though Dane if they lost, that skill would Shannon anything but a long term in the moon mines. The of their landing was mostly by the of their seats and they were on their feet, to move almost at once.
The next operation had been planned. Dane gave a at the screen. Ringed now about the Queen were the of Terraport. Yes, any attempt to attack the ship would too much of the permanent of the itself. Rip had them down—not on the landing space—but on the the Assignment Center and the tower—a to the of officials' ground scooters. He as to any of the had been to metal by the of the Queen's descent.
Like the team they had come to be the four active members of the into action. Ali and Weeks were waiting by an hatch, Medic Hovan with them. The Engineer-apprentice was in a space suit, and two more of the waited him for Rip and Dane. With which were to act like thumbs they were sealed into what would provide some protection against any or sleep ray. Then with Hovan, no such armor, they into one of the ship's crawlers.
Weeks the and the lines the small vehicle out of the Queen, it to the blast scored apron.
"Make for the tower—" Rip's voice was thin in the coms.
Dane at the of the on as Ali off the lines which them to the spacer.
Through the he see the activity in the port. An hill into which some had a and it a turn or two was nothing with Terraport after the of the Solar Queen.
"Patrol in on vector," Ali calmly. "Looks like she a portable on her nose—"
"So." Dane direction, him a check point, aware as he ground by that stand, of a line of at its ports. Evasive action—and he'd have to the top speed from the crawler.
"Police 'copter over us—" that was Rip reporting.
Well, they couldn't very well avoid that. But at the same time Dane was sure that its attack would not be an one—not with the unarmed, Hovan in their midst.
But there he was too sanguine. A from Rip him at the Medic him. Just in time to see Hovan forward, about to from the when Shannon him from behind. Dane was too familiar with the results of sleep to have any as to what had happened.
The P-copter had them with its most weapon. Only the suits, to the best of their makers' ability against most of the of space, and anticipated, had the three Traders from being overcome as well. Dane that his own were a sluggish, that while he had not to that attack, he had been slowed. But with Rip the Medic in his seat, Thorson to the for the tower and its promise of a wide for their appeal.
"There's a P-mobile in ahead—"
Dane was by that from Rip. He had already that black and ground car himself. And he was only too of the threat of the on its hood, now pointed at the oncoming, too Traders' crawler. Then he saw what he would be their only chance—to play once more the same type of as Rip had used to earth them safely.
"Get Hovan under cover," he ordered. "I'm going to crash the tower door!"
Hasty movements answered that as the Medic's was under the offered by the upper of the crawler. Luckily the machine had been for on worlds where were unknown. Dane was sure he up the power and speed necessary to take them into the of the tower—no if its door was now against them.
Whether his the P-mobile, or they off from an all out attack of Hovan, Dane not guess. But he was for a minutes of as he the engine of the machine to its last and effort. The of the on the steps leading up to the entrance of the tower. There was a second or two and then the driver's into place as the machine its nose up and for the portal.
They the closed doors with a which almost them from their seats. But that had not been to a head-on from a off-world vehicle and the them into the wide beyond.
"Take Hovan and make for the riser!" For the second time it was Dane who gave the orders. "I have a job to do here." He every second to the of a police along his body—could a space protect him now?
At the end of the were the and visitors, in the building, who had in an attempt to safety at the entrance of the crawler. These themselves at the of the two space-suited Traders who supported the Medic them, using the low-powered anti-grav on their belts to take most of his weight so each had one hand free to a sleep rod. And they did not to use those weapons—spraying the of the tower until all unmoving.
Having that Ali and Rip appeared to have the in hand, Dane to his own self-appointed job. He the machine on reverse, it with an learned by on the of Limbo, until the gate doors were pushed again. Then he the machine around so that its would an to keep the door locked for some very moments to come. Short of using a full power to cut their way in, no one was going to an entrance now.
He out of the machine, to discover, when he turned, that the from the Queen had disappeared—leaving all possible opposition asleep on the floor. Dane on to join them, in their most to public opinion—an in which was one of the from the hold—the proof of their plague-free which they Hovan to present, the telecast, to the whole system.
Dane the of the riser—to the gone. Would either Rip or Ali have presence of mind to send it to him on automatic?
"Rip—return the riser," he spoke urgently into the of his com.
"Keep your straight," Ali's voice was in his earphones, "It's on its way down. Did you to Exhibit A?"
Dane did not answer. For he was very much with another problem. On the doors he had been at such pains to seal there had come into being a circle of red which was into a incandescence. They had a to bear! It would be a very time now the Police come through. That riser—
Afraid of in the Dane did not to up into the shaft. But, as his a pitch, the and he took two steps into temporary safety, still the cage. At the try the thick of his hand from the and he it again, than he intended, so that he himself being with a speed which did not agree with a stomach, one long to space flight. And he almost his when it came to a stop many above.
But he had not his wits. Before he from the he set the on a point which would the to the top of the and it there. That might the Traders on the floor, but it would also them time the of the law them.
Dane the of his party in the of the section. He a he had thousands of times the who the news-casts. In one Rip, his off, was over the still of the Medic. While Ali, a set to his mouth, was with a man who the of a Com-tech.
"All set?" Rip looked up from his ministrations.
Dane put the and the of his own covering. "They were through the doors of the entrance when I took off."
"You're not going to away with this—" that was the Com-tech.
Ali wearily, a of in which there was little or no mirth. "Listen, my friend. Since I started to I've been told I wasn't going to away with this or that. Why not be more original? Use what is those ears of yours. We our way in here—we at Terraport against orders—we're Patrol Posted. Do you think that one man, one man, is going to keep us now from doing what we came to do? And don't look around for any reinforcements. We those rooms. You can the hook-up and you're going to. We're Free Traders—Ha," the man had some of his as he from one to another, "I see you to what that means. Out on the Rim we play rough, and we play for keeps. I know a hundred to set you in three minutes and at least ten of them will not a mark on your skin! Now do we Service—or don't we?"
"You'll go to the Chamber for this—!" the tech.
"All right. But we broadcast. Then maybe a ship that's into luck'll have a than we've had. You on your post. And we'll have the play on—remember that. If you don't give us a clear we'll know it. How about it, Rip—how's Hovan?"
Rip's was a of worry. "He must have had a full dose. I can't him around."
Was this the end of their bid? Let each or all of them go the screen to their case, let them the pest. But without the professional of the Medic, the weight of an expert opinion on their side, they were licked. Well, sometimes luck did not a man's all the way in.
But some Dane to let him that they had lost. He over to the Medic in a chair. To all Hovan was asleep, in the semi-coma the sleep produced. And the thing was that the man himself have the to his condition, them the how to him around. How many hours away was a natural awaking? Long that their on the station would be broken—they would be in the of either Police or Patrol.
"He's sunk—" Dane the which put an end to their hopes. But Ali did not concerned.
Kamil was with their captive, an odd on his as if he were to some memory. When he spoke it was to the Com-tech. "You have an HD OS here?"
The other registered surprise. "I think so—"
Ali an gesture. "Make sure," he ordered, the man into another room. Dane looked to Rip for enlightenment.
"What in the Great Nebula is an HD OS?"
"I'm no engineer. It may be some to us out of here—"
"Such as a pair of wings?" Dane was to be sarcastic. The memory of that circle on the door some twenty with him. Tempers of Police and Patrol were not going to be by their way around or over the the Traders had to them. If they up to the the had their for an hearing, the result was not going to be a happy one as as the Queen's men were concerned.
Ali appeared in the doorway. "Bring Hovan in here." Together Rip and Dane the Medic into a smaller where they Ali and the a small, chair to a machine which, to their eyes, had the of a of bars. Obeying they seated Hovan in that chair, him in, while the Medic to peacefully. Uncomprehendingly Rip and Dane while, under Ali's eye, the Com-tech and some switch.
Dane that he not watch too closely what followed. Inured as he he was to the of Hyperspace, to and anti-gravity, the of that seat, the of the half-recumbent figure, did to his and to his of which in the extreme. But when the through the of Ali's machine, all of them that the Engineer-apprentice had the answer to their problem, that Hovan was waking.
The Medic was bleary-eyed and to when they him. And for minutes he unable to either his or the train of events which had him there.
Long since the Police must have into the entrance below. Perhaps they had by now a which would them up. Ali had the Com-tech to the which was designed to seal off from the world the entire unit in which they now were. But that device would continue to now, none of the three were certain. Time was out fast.
Supporting the Hovan, they into the room and under Ali's the Com-tech took his place at the board. Dane put the with the well to the on the table of the and waited for Rip to take his place there with the Medic. When Shannon did not move Dane up in surprise—this was no time to hesitate. But he that the attention of his was now on him. Rip pointed to the seat.
"You're the talk merchant, aren't you?" the acting of the Queen asked crisply. "Now's the time to the Lingo—"
They couldn't mean—! But it was very that they did. Of course, a Cargo-master was to be the of a ship. But that was in of trade. And how he there and argue the case for the Queen? He was the joined, the of her crew. Already his mouth was and his nerves tense. But Dane didn't know that none of that was by his or manner. The which had his since his days at the Pool him now. And the others noted the with which he approached the announcer's place.
Dane had seated himself, one hand on the of the pest, Ali two in the which the Com-tech to duty. Far above them there was a of which the opening of the play-back. They would be able to check on the was going out or not. Although Dane see nothing of the wide audience which he faced, he that the room and those in it were now visible on every tuned-in set. Instead of the cast, the were about to be to a which was as wild as their romances. It only needed the break-in of the Patrol to complete the of action-fiction—crime variety.
A second moved in his direction and Dane forward. He only the of a wide curtain, but he must keep in mind that in truth there was a sea of him, the of those he and Hovan, together, must if he were to save the Queen and her crew.
He his voice and it was and even, he might have been some problem for Van Rycke's approval.
"People of Terra—"
Martian, Venusian, Asteroid colonist—inwardly they were still all Terran and on that point he would rest. He was a Terran to his own kind.
"People of Terra, we come you to ask justice—" from the came easily, from his to center on a of light ahead. And that "justice" with a of reassurance.