Read Online A Call to Arms by Robert Sheckley - Free Book Online

cruiser, crater-ridden and dead, rolled slowly in the darkness of space.
    Drake got out of the captain’s chair and went to the acquisition console. Sheridan slid into the captain’s seat.
    “You may fire when ready,” Garibaldi said.
    From the console, Drake called out, “Weapons control, level two, ready to fire. Target bearing nine by six by twenty-three.”
    “Nine by six by twenty-three,” control repeated. “Aye, sir. Target locked, ready to fire.”
    Sheridan glanced up at the target. It had changed. Instead of the blank surface of an asteroid, he was looking at the blue and white face of Earth. He blinked, trying to make the image go away.
    “Ready to fire, sir,” Drake said, his voice expressionless, his facial expression as good as saying this was a bad idea.
    “ No , “ Sheridan said. “We can’t... How did we---“
    “How did we what, sir?” Drake asked.
    “That’s the Earth out there,” Sheridan said.
    “What?” Garibaldi said.
    “I said that’s the---”
    Sheridan stopped in midsentence. Looking through the port again, there was no sign of Earth. Only the asteroid ‘s dead face.
    “Sir?” Drake said.
    “Nothing,” Sheridan said. He stared again at the asteroid, his lips tightly compressed. Damn it, was he hallucinating now? Dreams were one thing, but when he was awake, on duty... Maybe he was getting too old for this.
    With an effort, he pulled himself together. “Nothing. Prepare to fire.”
    “Standing by,” control said.
    “Fire,” Sheridan said.
     
    The lights began to dim. Outside, there was a power buildup at the tips of the Excalibur’s left, right, and top structures. There was an audible crackling sound, and suddenly power surged from those points to the front of the ship in a manner reminiscent of Vorlon weapons. The shock was delivered to the asteroid with near instantaneity. The little world was engulfed in a fury of flames. It took less than a second to bring about its complete destruction. Fragments of it formed a confetti-like display before the shock wave dispelled them.
    On the bridge, the lights continued to dim. Some of the instruments were registering near-failure levels. And a chill was entering the room, as though the heaters had gone down, too.
    Although he had warned them that something like this was going to happen, Drake felt strangely apologetic, as if the power loss had been his fault.
    “As I said, it drains nearly all of our energy, leaving barely enough for gravity control. We can’t navigate or fire again for at least a minute.”
    “Which leaves the ship vulnerable,” Sheridan said.
    “Yes, sir,” Drake said. “For one minute.”
    “A lot can happen in a minute,” Sheridan said.
     
    When it happened again, Sheridan was ready for it. Or as ready as he could be when the unexpected stepped in and suddenly took control. He thought he was getting used to it, learning to anticipate it, to recognize the warning signs, like the faint thrilling at his fingertips that told him something strange and unprecedented was taking place. It was like a cross between an adrenaline rush and a panic attack. Crazy or not, I could almost learn to enjoy this , Sheridan thought to himself. I hope that doesn’t prove that I’m losing it.
    Regardless, the sights around him were growing dim. He knew it was happening again. He could barely make out Garibaldi and Drake.
    And then they were gone entirely.
    It was strange, but there on the almost-dark bridge, Sheridan could feel first a breeze, then a wind that came up suddenly from out of nowhere and began tearing at him. But that was impossible. You can feel a lot of things in a starship, but wind isn’t one of them.
    Sheridan turned, trying to figure out where the wind was coming from. He saw at once that he wasn’t on the bridge any longer, not on Excalibur . He was outside, on a dark plain that extended in front of him as far as he could see. There was a small wood fire burning on the ground nearby. There were