Despot in Space

by Donald S. Rowland

  The two guards were watching him intently, and when he approached them, one demanded where he was going.

  ‘You two had better remain in the background and just do your duty,’ he replied firmly. ‘Ah! There’s the Colonel coming back now!’ He glanced past them into Ethne’s office, and the guards turned instantly, staring towards the entrance.

  Condor dropped the papers and levelled the gun. The guards failing to see their superior in the office, swung back to look at him, and when they saw the weapon in his hands they froze and stood shocked.

  Ethne appeared then, hurrying forward to relieve both guards of their weapons. Condor heaved a sigh of relief and motioned for the guards to move into the Lab.

  ‘What are you going to do with us?’ one of them demanded.

  ‘You’re going to a place called Crana,’ Condor said. ‘You’ll be out of the way there for a few hours.’ He caught Ethne’s swift glance, and smiled thinly. ‘It’s the only thing we can do with them,’ he said apologetically. Take them down to the base and make them stand on it. Warn them not to tamper with the force field on Crana, and give them a little of the background information that we picked up. We’ll bring them back later.’

  Ethne cowed the two guards with one of their own weapons, and Condor went to the Celertron and set it into action. The two men disappeared, and Condor switched off the machine. He went back to his calculations, grim with the knowledge that they were now working against time. It seemed an insurmountable task to correlate declination, ascension, radial velocity and trajectory, and the computers were working flat out as they fed information into them.

  From time to time Ethne checked the outside of the building with the aid of the scanner, and she reported that Colonel Rith was supervising the use of an atom-smasher once more. Condor asked the girl to check the temperature of the inside of the main entrance and to maintain a temperature watch. But he knew they had a few hours in hand.

  Erie came back with the data Condor needed. They fed it into the computer. Retarc was due to pass overhead in thirty-five minutes, and Condor wanted to use the coordinates he was working out to test their accuracy with a signal that should bounce off Retarc in passing if their calculations were correct.

  Ethne set up the radio equipment, working steadily, only her face showing the great strain that was upon her. Condor could feel the tug of emotion inside him, but he was too busy to let it have full sway. He had worked for years to arrive at this moment, and now it was here he was too busy to spare anything more than a passing thought to it. His whole concentration was centred upon his work.

  ‘The temperature of the main door is rising drastically, Professor,’ Ethne retorted some time later. ‘Are they using something other than the atom-smasher?’

  ‘There was a new type of destructor invented by Professor Anstrum which is coming into use,’ Erie said, looking up at Condor. ‘It could be that they’ve brought one here after the delay they had breaking down the previous door yesterday.’

  ‘Then we’d better set up a force screen at the entrance,’ Condor said without hesitation. ‘Ethne, you can handle that. I think you’d better use the one we brought in on the Lothar tests. That should hold them up indefinitely.’

  The girl hurried to obey, and Condor returned to his work. He handed Erie another set of calculations to be fed into the computer, and for a moment they paused and looked one another in the eyes.

  ‘It’s going to be close,’ Erie said softly.

  ‘We cannot bluff each other,’ Condor replied, nodding. ‘But I think we shall be ready. How long have we got now before Retarc comes into our range?’

  ‘Fifteen minutes. But when we use the signal to test the accuracy of our computations won’t Retarc’s scanners pick up the impact?’

  ‘They will, but we’ll use a distortion that will baffle them, and they’ll be around on their next orbit before they can decide what it is. Then we’ll be ready to use the Celertron.’

  Erie nodded and hurried across to the computer banks. Condor watched him for a moment, his eyes narrowed in speculation, but the future didn’t bear thinking about and he returned to his figures.

  ‘Professor, the main door is reaching disintegration stage,’ Ethne reported soon after.

  ‘Switch on the force field,’ he replied without looking up. ‘Keep a close watch on what happens when the door goes, Ethne. You’d better stand by with the laser in case they smash the force field. We’re getting close to it now.’

  The girl was white-faced as she went for the laser, and she came back to stand at Condor’s side for a moment, gripping the weapon tightly.

  ‘If they do get through to us then what happens?’ she demanded. ‘Do we allow them to capture us?’

  ‘No! ’ He stared up into her face, his lips compressed, his face hard and calculating. ‘If we have no hope beyond capture then we shall get out of this by going through the Celertron. I’d rather take my chances on Crana than face Aubin’s retribution.’

  ‘I was hoping you’d say that,’ she said, smiling faintly. ‘So long as we’re together, Rez!’

  He nodded slowly and held his breath for a moment, summoning up his mental reserves. He glanced towards Erie, who was turning away from the computers. Erie caught his eyes, glanced at his watch and nodded.

  ‘Retarc will be above the horizon in five minutes,’ he reported.

  ‘I’m just about through.’ Condor sighed and looked down once more, and there was anticipation beginning to flow through him.

  Erie moved to a set of scanners and switched them on. Condor glanced up, and saw a bright light moving steadily across the right hand screen. He knew it was Retarc on its ceaseless flight around the Earth, and it was fast approaching their horizon.

  Ethne gave a cry from her office, and almost simultaneously there was a muffled explosion. Erie ran across to the Lab door and peered into the outer office. Condor sat frozen until his fellow scientist returned.

  ‘The main door has gone,’ Erie said. ‘But the force field is holding them.’

  ‘Until they bring up a counter to it,’ Condor said. ‘I don’t think we can test our calculations, Erie. We can’t afford to miss this chance. It’s our one opportunity. There won’t be enough time to await Retarc’s next orbit. You’ll have to operate the Celertron now and send me up to Retarc. Start the computers and get a fix on Retarc as soon as it appears above the horizon.’

  ‘Won’t there be enough time to test the calculations, then set up Celertron to translate you?’ Erie queried.

  ‘I’m afraid not.’ Condor’s voice was tense and dry.

  ‘Then you’d better let me go in your place. I’ve told you before that we cannot risk your life, Professor.’

  ‘I know Retarc,’ Condor rapped impatiently. ‘Do as I say, Erie. We don’t have much time as it is.’

  Erie shook his head slowly and turned away, hurrying back to the computers, and Condor returned to his figures. He had finished his calculations, and was checking the sets. Then he hurried across to the computers and fed the figures into the banks. He waited tensely for confirmation to their accuracy, and when it came through he turned away thankfully.

  Ethne appeared in the doorway and called to Condor. He went to her side. Her face was showing grave concern.

  ‘It looks to me as if they’ve expected a force field,’ she said. ‘They’ve got a Ballenstite projector out there.’

  ‘Feed in all the power you can muster,’ Condor said. ‘I’ve got to get into a space suit.’

  ‘What are you going to do?’ she demanded, clutching at his arm.

  ‘There’s no real necessity to test our calculations with a ranging beam,’ he retorted, trying to keep his tones matter of fact. ‘I’m going up as soon as Retarc appears over the horizon. I’ll have about twenty minutes to get Aubin, and return.’

  She opened her mouth to argue, but saw by his expression that she would be wasting her breath. She sighed heavily.

  ‘I wish you’d let me go w
ith you,’ she told him. ‘If you have made a miscalculation anywhere then you’ll be whirled off into deep space and be lost forever.’

  ‘If that happens then you and Erie had better go through Celertron and quit Earth for good,’ he retorted. ‘If I fail, Ethne, then everything here is finished.’

  ‘That’s why I’d rather take my chances with you,’ she said slowly. ‘I’d rather die with you than live without you, Rez.’

  ‘Erie will need help here, and we mustn’t set off on this venture fearing failure or it will be an open invitation for something to go wrong. I want the reverse process set up on Retarc the instant I get aboard and left on continuously. There won’t be time to await time intervals.’

  ‘You do know exactly where to put yourself aboard, don’t you?’

  ‘Of course. At this time of the day Aubin will be in his private suite, like a kernel inside a nutshell. All around him are force fields and molecular screens. But inside that small living area he’s free to move around, and that’s where I plan to drop in on him.’

  ‘I’ll get out your space suit,’ she said quietly. ‘What weapon will you take with you?’

  ‘A hand-stunner. Inside the living quarters there will be no neutralizers, but even if there were I could use my bare hands.’

  She shuddered and hurried away, and Condor went back to Erie, who was checking the Celertron.

  ‘You’d better be ready to transmit your success signal, Erie,’ Condor said. He gave the man instructions for operating Celertron insisting that the reverse process be switched on as soon as he had reached Retarc.

  ‘And if you don’t make it?’ Erie asked steadily.

  ‘I’ve given Ethne orders concerning that eventuality,’ Condor replied. ‘You and she will have to quit Earth via the Celertron. If it comes to that I’m sure you’ll be able to settle down on Crana. It will support life as we know it, although there would be a few problems to solve!’

  ‘Heaven forbid! ’ Erie retorted.

  Ethne returned. Her face was set in harsh lines, her eyes showing her emotions. ‘I’ve laid out what you need on the base,’ she reported. ‘I’ll check the scanners again.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Condor spoke huskily although he tried to keep his tones natural. He held out his hands to the girl, and she clasped them.

  ‘Good luck,’ she whispered, then turned and almost ran into the outer office.

  ‘They’re going to tap the energy supply at Zan Tuce’s rocket station in an attempt to smash the force field we’re operating,’ Condor remarked as he started towards the base where the space suit and weapon lay. ‘I don’t think we’re going to have much time to play with, Erie, but if I don’t return before they start getting through then you abandon this project and get Ethne out of here.’

  ‘If you’re prepared to die for this then we can do no less,’ Erie retorted. ‘I’ll give you five seconds to get clear of the landing point before I switch Celertron to reverse.’

  Condor began to dress in his space suit. He glanced towards the scanners on the wall, and saw the blip that was Retarc now speeding across the centre screen. He realized that he had about fifteen minutes before the satellite disappeared beyond the opposite horizon. He felt a sense of urgency take hold of him.

  ‘Erie, you’ll have to be standing by on this base with a weapon, just in case trouble comes down from Retarc,’ he said.

  ‘I’ll take care of it,’ the scientist replied. ‘I’ll stun anyone who shows up. You realize that with the reverse process in operation while the Celertron is locked on to Retarc we are likely to pick up half the crew from the satellite?’

  ‘I’m counting on it,’ Condor retorted. ‘If an alarm is raised while I’m aboard I don’t want any interference from Aubin’s guards.’

  Erie smiled and nodded. ‘I’ll get a gun. If you are ready now then you’d better be on your way.’

  Condor closed the visor of his space helmet and took the hand-stunner that Erie held out to him. He stepped on to the base and settled himself. He hardly dared to think of what would happen to him if there was a miscalculation of mathematics. But now it was too late to worry about it.

  He saw Ethne come into the Lab, and the girl paused when she saw him ready to depart. She lifted her right hand in a tentative farewell motion, and Condor smiled grimly and acknowledged. Erie started back towards the Celertron, and Condor signalled for Ethne to come to him. He opened the visor.

  ‘Ethne, I need a sonic key to get through the doorways aboard Retarc,’ he said crisply.

  The girl gasped and turned to hurry away. She fetched the triangular key from a cabinet and hurried back to him, slipping it into a thigh pocket of his space suit. Condor closed the visor, tightened his grip upon the hand-stunner, and lifted a hand to the watching Erie to signify that he was ready. He kept his eyes upon Ethne as the Celertron was switched on…

  The tingling sensation hit him hard, and then his sight blurred. Condor lost his fear as the effects of the beam distortion struck through him. When his breathing stopped he gave himself up for dead, and then he was topsy-turvy and in the centre of the strange subatomic energy vortex that lifted him, twisted him, and translated him through space.

  He wondered if he would ever get used to the strange nausea that gripped him while he disintegrated and then came back together again in a different place. As soon as the pressures relaxed and his sight returned he opened his eyes, wondering where he would find himself. He looked around wildly, relieved at being on Retarc, which he realized instantly, and he lifted the hand-stunner when he saw two guards standing before a door in a metal bulkhead. He was in the corridor in Aubin’s private quarters, exactly at the spot he had calculated, and he shot the two guards with a low emission force that would put them out of action for an hour at least. He moved his feet quickly, pushing away from the landing point before the reverse process caught him and returned him whence he came.

  Using the triangular key, he approached the door and held the stunner ready. The door opened noiselessly, and Condor entered a small lounge that was filled with orange light. The lounge was deserted and he crossed to the door in the far wall, his memory guiding his feet. He knew the layout of Retarc intimately, and opened the second door, finding himself in a larger lounge, and there was a general of the security guard sitting on a chair by another door.

  Condor used the stunner without giving the general time to see him. Then he went forward, knowing that what lay beyond this next door was Abelard Aubin’s inner sanctum. The door opened to his sonic key, and Condor peered into the room. He saw a desk in the centre of the room, and the walls were banked with controls and computers. Aubin did not trust any of his supporters. From this room he could control everything on the satellite. Condor entered and went to the control panels. He cut the power to the support systems, knowing that when the drives failed the satellite would start to fall from orbit, and it would burn up in the atmosphere as it crashed to Earth.

  But that would take time, and he could not afford to wait. He locked the controls in the position he’d set them, then moved on to the door of Aubin’s bedroom. He was grimly purposeful now, and there was no trace of fear inside him.

  The bedroom door opened at his command of the key, and Condor saw the World Master asleep in his bed. Knowing that he had very little time before guards came to check upon the failure of power, Condor moved to the side of the bed and shook the shoulder of the small, middle-aged man who had ruled the Earth so despotically. Aubin stirred and muttered in his sleep, then came slowly awake.

  At that moment a red light started flickering on a wall panel over Aubin’s head, and a buzzer bleeped insistently. The World Master pushed himself up and stared at Condor, his face showing shocked concern. ‘Professor Condor, how did you get here? Where are my guards?’

  He saw the stunner in Condor’s hand then, and fell silent, his dark eyes showing fear.

  ‘I’m afraid your rule has very nearly come to an end, Aubin,’ Condor said. ‘If you’ll get
out of bed and precede me we’ll leave here before Retarc falls out of orbit and burns up.’

  Aubin glanced at the indicator board, and was galvanized into action. He sprang out of the bed and started past Condor, his face showing fear.

  ‘What has gone wrong?’ he kept demanding, and Condor had to hurry to stay within reach as the World Master left the room and went to the sanctum.

  Condor watched the man looking at the panels, and when Aubin tried to alter some of the levers and failed he turned and looked into Condor’s face.

  ‘You’ve done this,’ he accused. ‘You’ve wrecked Retarc.’

  ‘That is so. You’ve come to the end of your rule. Millions will rejoice when news of it gets out.’

  ‘How did you get aboard? Where are my guards? What happened to my defences?’

  ‘If you’ll go through to the corridor you’ll get the answer,’ Condor rapped. ‘I must warn you that time is getting very short.’

  Aubin went through the doorway into the lounge, where the general lay unconscious, and before Condor was aware of what was happening the diminutive World Master had slammed the door at his back before Condor could reach it. Condor leaped forward, dragging the door open, and saw Aubin jerking a hand stunner from the unconscious guard’s belt. Taken by surprise, Condor was unable to act before Aubin turned on him with the stunner lifting quickly.

  Hurling himself aside from the doorway, Condor was aware of the shock of the energy flash from the hand gun. The doorway was shattered, and the blast sent Condor reeling off balance. He dropped his stunner as he fell heavily to the floor, and for a few fleeting moments he was not aware of his surroundings. If Aubin had followed up his attack he would have found Condor completely at his mercy.

  But Condor regained his senses and grabbed for his gun. He pushed himself upright and made for the lounge, peering around the shattered doorpost for sight of the World Master. His face set in bitter lines when he found the lounge deserted except for the unconscious general.