Read Online The Old Man of the Stars by John Burke - Free Book Online Page A

insane grab at the control panel. Matthew grabbed his arm and pulled him away. Clifford, rolling over on his side, reached for the man’s ankles, and brought him down with a heavy thud on the hard floor.
    â€œThat’ll be all!” said Matthew harshly.
    Breathing painfully, the two men stood sheepishly against the wall. The madness had been knocked out of them, but they were not prepared to give up their argument.
    The taller of the two, his lip twitching, said:
    â€œYou can’t go on holding us all forever, you know. Sooner or later everyone on board will be in here, insisting that you turn round and go back.”
    Matthew gave a snort of exasperation. “It’s not a question of going back. We’re not just coasting down a straight road. We can’t turn round and start travelling in the opposite direction. We’re geared to a sequence of force fields—we pushed off from Elysium and we’ve got to keep jumping, following the sequence that was calculated in advance. When you jump from a trapeze you don’t try to turn round in mid-air and get back.”
    Mention of a trapeze meant nothing to them, but they grudgingly accepted the truth of what he had said.
    â€œBut when we get to this planet that we’re visiting on the way? Couldn’t we start back from there?”
    â€œYes,” said Matthew bluntly. “We could set up new co-ordinates and push ourselves off in the direction of Elysium. But for what purpose? It will take five years to get from Elysium to the first world we’re going to visit, and then if yon turned back it would take another five years. Ten years wasted. Why not go on now that you’ve started?”
    â€œWhy shouldn’t we settle down on this world we’re going to reach? If it’s habitable, and if there’s already a colony there, or if the natives are friendly, why shouldn’t we stay there?”
    Clifford said: “You can do that, if you want to. When we reach this planet, we’ll discuss it. Those who want to stay can stay.”
    For the time being the rebellious malcontents had to be satisfied with that. When they had left the cabin, Matthew said to Clifford:
    â€œThat was a rash promise. We’d made no arrangement about people stopping off on the way.”
    â€œIt’s the best thing to tell them. We can cut the crew to half and still operate the ship, if necessary. And it’s better to leave the faint-hearted behind than to risk a mutiny. You’ll find that there won’t be many who’ll stay—and those who do stay will be replaced in due course by the children who grow up during the voyage. Dr. Richard’s boy will be a young man by the time we reach Earth.”
    Matthew nodded his agreement.
    He noticed during the days that followed that Clifford made several references to this question of children being born and growing to maturity aboard the space ship. In a little while he guessed the reason.
    Halfway between Elysium and the first planet they were to visit, Alida presented her husband with a daughter.
    Once more the women of the ship were delighted. And the arrival of this daughter had a very good effect on Alida herself. The sadness that she had never been able to shake off when they said goodbye to Elysium was now less noticeable. She was fully occupied with Eve, as the girl was called. The pallor of her fine high cheeks, inevitable in the living conditions of the space ship, seemed less marked: there was at least a flush of happiness to give a touch of colour to her face.
    Matthew was glad for her sake and Clifford’s, but at the same time he had to admit that he himself felt lonelier than he had done before. He and Clifford shared duties as before, but now he felt somehow remoter from his young friend. Clifford and Alida and their child belonged to another world. Whatever troubles they might have, they would never know anything like Matthew’s loneliness.
    The