As the hand-jets carried us in retreat from Nowhere and the star-frosted spatial night, back to the faint red glow of the instruments and the drifting bulk of old Habibula, I felt more than ever troubled by the riddle of our visitors.
Though I was finding new facts, they fitted no pattern that I could understand.
“We’ve heard rumors about this anomaly,” Lilith was saying.
“It seems to be a dreadful thing—”
“I ain’t afraid of it,” old Habibula puffed.
“Not since I’ve seen all these fine machines. You can trust my judgment.
I’ve a sense for danger, that has cost me mortal dear. And I ain’t afraid of Nowhere.” We were on our way back to the ring.
Leaving the fan-jets in the rack, we caught D-grips on a moving cable.
It lifted us through a cavernous hollow. It swung us above the dim-lit tanks and tangled pipes of the catalytic plant that converted the frozen gases of the asteroid into fuel for nuclear rockets and drinking water for us. It carried us flying above the massive metal bulge of the control drum, toward the main elevator.
“Far and away, I’m the oldest veteran of the Legion,” old Habibula boasted.
“In the bad old times, I’ve seen wicked perils that would blind your blessed eyes.
I fought the mortal Medusae and the evil Cometeers and the monstrous Basilisk.
But precious peace has come to the human system now.
My trusty sense of danger finds no feel of peril here.
I’ll put my faith in these machines—”
The penetrating whine of my lapel intercom interrupted him.
“Captain Ulnar!”
Hoarse excitement rasped in Ketzler’s voice.
“We’ve just got another fragmentary call from that ship in distress.
The Quasar Quest.
Commander Ken Star.
And listen to this, sir!”
Old Habibula and Lilith were flying ahead of me, clinging to the D-grips.
When Ketzler paused, I heard the girl catch her breath, heard the old soldier’s wailing exclamation.
“They’re under attack, sir!”
Raw fear rasped hi Ketzler’s voice.
“Something has followed them out of the anomaly.
Some kind of enemy machine.
A hundred tunes as big as the ship.
Star says he’s disabled.
He says the thing is gaining on him.
“The last few words were interrupted, sir. But I interpret them to mean that Star has been forced to abandon ship.”
Ketzler’s voice lifted toward the jagged brink of panic.
“I thought you’d want to know at once, sir.
What shall we do, sir?
“What shall we do?”
5 The Impossible Rocks
For a moment I was busy with Ketzler.
My first impulse was to reprimand him for that indiscreet intercom broadcast, which surely would damage station morale.
Considering his extreme agitation, however, I let that wait.
“Perhaps the message is a hoax.”
I spoke with more conviction than I felt.
“In any case, our duty is to carry on.
Keep monitoring everything.
Keep our guns manned.
Keep me informed.”
“Yes, sir.”
His voice sounded very lonely.
“We’ll carry on, sir.”
Lilith Adams was flying upward two yards ahead of me through that shadowy space inside the ice asteroid.