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Authors: William R. Forstchen
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think the Chancellor is most likely the head of the Provincial Department of Educational Services by now."
They fell silent for a moment.
"Yeah, his glory, our lives," Richard muttered.
"It might be a little more complex than that," Shelley responded. "After all, he had a number of reasons for putting you three out here. You were all known to be an opposition to him in the faculty, and as part of the pro motion process, you people would be able to evaluate him. I think, however, that there might be more to it than that."
Suddenly their conversation was drowned out by the electronic wail of the ship's alarm. Ian could feel his heart flutter on the edge of a palpitation. Ellen assumed her classic "oh, my, I'm so flustered" pose. Richard attempted to gently pull on his cigar and exhale with a display of panache, but the sudden tremble of his hand gave it away. Only Shelley and Stasz broke the tableau and, pushing away from the table, they ran forward to the control cen ter. The ship suddenly lurched and there was a momentary sensation of falling away as the vessel performed a radical shift in its course and the dampening system overloaded in an attempt to compensate.
"Debris or asteroid," Richard muttered.
"Holy shit!" It was Stasz's voice echoing down the corridor.
"Dr. Lacklin , come quickly!" Shelley cried.
Ian got up from the table and, with a show of bravado, he looked at Ellen and smiled.
"Would you mind clearing the dishes, Ellen, while I attend to the problem up forward. "
"Shove the damn dishes," Ellen snapped, "let our fat medico scrub them." Pushing Ian aside, she started for ward, with Ian at her heels.
Entering the forward cabin, they climbed to the command and control center, where Stasz was already strapped into his couch with Shelley in the nav -com position beside him. The vessel lurched again, nearly knocking Ian off his feet. Climbing up the ladder, he finally came up along side of Ellen, who was peering over Stasz's shoulder at a display board that was all but incomprehensible to him.
"How bad is it?" Ian whispered.
"Bad? It's fantastic," Shelley exulted. "We might have something."
"What!"
"Hang on a minute, Doc," Stasz muttered as his fingers raced across the control panel. Hooking on his mike, he watched the display for a moment then started calling up more data.
"Confirm, configuration, ship relative 21.34.45.01 hours R.A., 00 ,02 Dec."
Within seconds the data design snapped across the largest of the monitors on the display board.
"Jesus, it's a thousand K across," Stasz murmured. "I think we've definitely got something here."
"What is?" Ellen asked.
"That's why the alarm went off. I programmed ship's nav to sound an alarm and automatically home onto any largely metallic, object we encountered. Well, here we are."
Stasz looked over his shoulder and smiled at Ian.
"You're in luck, Doc, I think we've just found your first colony."
"But a thousand K across? They never built anything that big," Ian muttered.
"Yes they did," Shelley said meekly, fearful at cor recting her mentor. "Solar sails."
"But out here, why keep them deployed? The solar wind is negligible. There isn't any evidence of a laser drive base behind them."
"We'll soon find out why," Stasz interjected. "Our ship has already locked on and is three days out with only a mild deviation from our original course."
He scanned the display board again, called for a re confirm, then looked back at Ian with a puzzled expres sion.
"Curious."
"What's that?"
"They're heading inbound toward Earth at point zero one two L.S. I thought you said all these guys were trying to get away. This one is hanging sails to the wind where there is no wind and running inbound."
Ian looked at the display showing him that soon he would come face to face with a world out of the past.
He felt the cold stir of fear.
Chapter 5
Colonial Unit 181
First Completion Date: 2031
Primary Function: Standard Japanese Colonial/Manufac turing Unit
Evacuation
They fell silent for a moment.
"Yeah, his glory, our lives," Richard muttered.
"It might be a little more complex than that," Shelley responded. "After all, he had a number of reasons for putting you three out here. You were all known to be an opposition to him in the faculty, and as part of the pro motion process, you people would be able to evaluate him. I think, however, that there might be more to it than that."
Suddenly their conversation was drowned out by the electronic wail of the ship's alarm. Ian could feel his heart flutter on the edge of a palpitation. Ellen assumed her classic "oh, my, I'm so flustered" pose. Richard attempted to gently pull on his cigar and exhale with a display of panache, but the sudden tremble of his hand gave it away. Only Shelley and Stasz broke the tableau and, pushing away from the table, they ran forward to the control cen ter. The ship suddenly lurched and there was a momentary sensation of falling away as the vessel performed a radical shift in its course and the dampening system overloaded in an attempt to compensate.
"Debris or asteroid," Richard muttered.
"Holy shit!" It was Stasz's voice echoing down the corridor.
"Dr. Lacklin , come quickly!" Shelley cried.
Ian got up from the table and, with a show of bravado, he looked at Ellen and smiled.
"Would you mind clearing the dishes, Ellen, while I attend to the problem up forward. "
"Shove the damn dishes," Ellen snapped, "let our fat medico scrub them." Pushing Ian aside, she started for ward, with Ian at her heels.
Entering the forward cabin, they climbed to the command and control center, where Stasz was already strapped into his couch with Shelley in the nav -com position beside him. The vessel lurched again, nearly knocking Ian off his feet. Climbing up the ladder, he finally came up along side of Ellen, who was peering over Stasz's shoulder at a display board that was all but incomprehensible to him.
"How bad is it?" Ian whispered.
"Bad? It's fantastic," Shelley exulted. "We might have something."
"What!"
"Hang on a minute, Doc," Stasz muttered as his fingers raced across the control panel. Hooking on his mike, he watched the display for a moment then started calling up more data.
"Confirm, configuration, ship relative 21.34.45.01 hours R.A., 00 ,02 Dec."
Within seconds the data design snapped across the largest of the monitors on the display board.
"Jesus, it's a thousand K across," Stasz murmured. "I think we've definitely got something here."
"What is?" Ellen asked.
"That's why the alarm went off. I programmed ship's nav to sound an alarm and automatically home onto any largely metallic, object we encountered. Well, here we are."
Stasz looked over his shoulder and smiled at Ian.
"You're in luck, Doc, I think we've just found your first colony."
"But a thousand K across? They never built anything that big," Ian muttered.
"Yes they did," Shelley said meekly, fearful at cor recting her mentor. "Solar sails."
"But out here, why keep them deployed? The solar wind is negligible. There isn't any evidence of a laser drive base behind them."
"We'll soon find out why," Stasz interjected. "Our ship has already locked on and is three days out with only a mild deviation from our original course."
He scanned the display board again, called for a re confirm, then looked back at Ian with a puzzled expres sion.
"Curious."
"What's that?"
"They're heading inbound toward Earth at point zero one two L.S. I thought you said all these guys were trying to get away. This one is hanging sails to the wind where there is no wind and running inbound."
Ian looked at the display showing him that soon he would come face to face with a world out of the past.
He felt the cold stir of fear.
Chapter 5
Colonial Unit 181
First Completion Date: 2031
Primary Function: Standard Japanese Colonial/Manufac turing Unit
Evacuation
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