Smith, E E 'Doc' - William B. Ellern - New Lensman

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(Back Blurb)

NEW LENSMAN...

Many thousands of readers were introduced to science fiction through E. E. Doc Smith's classic

LENSMAN series: for all of them the world seemed sadder when they realised that there were no more

stories to come.

William B. Ellern decided that nostalgia was not enough: submitting material to the old master he

asked permission to continue the series. The result is NEW LENSMAN, a novel which recreates and

leads the reader back into the universe of the Lensman, that extravagant, unforgettable universe

of intergalactic conquest and intrigue.

Dedicated to Edward E Smith, PhD

E Everett Evans

P Schuyler Miller

John W Campbell, Jr.

Ron Ellik and

Forrest J Ackerman who encouraged me, and made it possible for you to read about a NEW LENSMAN

William B Ellern

New Lensman

Futura Publications Limited

An Orbit Book

First published in Great Britain in 1976 by Futura Publications Limited

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be

lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise, circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any

form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition

including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

ISBN: 0 8600 7923 6

Printed in. Great Britain by Richard Clay (The Chaucer Press), Ltd., Bungay, Suffolk

Futura Publications Limited

110 Warner Road, Camberwell

London SE5 9HQ

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE - THE BLACK SPACESHIP

CHAPTER TWO - A CHANGED MAN

CHAPTER THREE - KIDNAPPED

CHAPTER FOUR - IN THE SANCTUARY

CHAPTER FIVE - LAST CHANCE

CHAPTER SIX - A 'CLUB' WORTH JOINING

CHAPTER SEVEN - EMERGENCY!

CHAPTER EIGHT - MOON PROSPECTOR

CHAPTER NINE - SURVEILLANCE

CHAPTER TEN - WHERE THERE'S SMOKE THERE'S ...

CHAPTER ELEVEN - ... A CRISIS

CHAPTER TWELVE - MISSION: SOLARIAN PATROL DESTRUCT

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - 'A LENSMAN IS BORN'

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CHAPTER FOURTEEN - OF MASKS AND MEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN - FIRST LENSMAN - EVIL MONSTER?

CHAPTER SIXTEEN - THE LAST SPY

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - THE GALACTIC PATROL VS. THE BLACK FLEET

In his monumental work The History of Civilization, Dr. E. B. Smith traces the consequential and

salient events of the war between two diametrically opposed philosophies, that of Boskone and that

of Civilization. To that work, complete and thorough, nothing need be added. It stands, and will

continue to stand, as the single most complete effort of its kind ever attempted and successfully

executed.

On numerous occasions Dr. Smith has been urged to add to this work a series of minor incidents

illuminating and filling certain gaps in his chronicle made necessary by the lack of space to

include them. The bulk of material far exceeds any hope of its exhaustion by a single author.

Certainly the lives and efforts of men such as Wentworth, Dronvire and Mc Queen should not be

forgotten. Each played a significant part in the development, indeed in one instance in the

continued existence, of Civilization.

This then is one story played out against the background of a greater struggle. Minor only in the

context of the other events depending upon it.

CHAPTER ONE

THE BLACK SPACESHIP

The wall slid slowly back revealing an executive conference room with its heavy wall drapery,

upholstered furniture and simulated wood table. A tall, slender man in the uniform of the Solarian

Patrol stood at the far end of the room, waiting. The group of men entered, obviously curious at

the presence of the patrolman but not commenting on it. They quietly found their places at the

conference table and sat down.

'Gentleman,' Ron Love, the Mayor of Copernicus, began the meeting. The Mayor of Copernicus was a

man of ordinary height but quite stocky of build. His bright eyes penetrated each man of the group

as he spoke, as though trying to perceive their thoughts. 'The material to be discussed in this

meeting is classified Top Secret. Consequently, I must insist that all of you who are using

recording devices, turn them off.'

There was a short pause as several men removed cases from their pockets and turned them off, while

others merely touched various places on their person.

'Gentlemen,' the Mayor began, when it was apparent that he again had the attention of the group.

'This is Lt. Larry McQueen of the Solarian Patrol. The Lieutenant is a special courier from the

Solarian Patrol Grand Fleet Headquarters in The Hill on Tellus. His message to the Board of

Directors is the reason for this meeting being classified. If the material presented here seems

extra-ordinary, so will be our response to it!'

'Lieutenant, these men are the Board of Directors of Copernicus.' Mayor Love introduced Lt.

McQueen around the conference table. Larry was already familiar with each of their backgrounds,

having read their Service dossiers. When the social amenities were over he began.

'For at least the last two years our solar system has been under surveillance by some unknown,

outside agency. In formation about this has not been made public because of the limited amount of

data available. Until recently each contact with this agency had been made visually by a Solarian

Patrol spaceship while, for various reasons, it was not radiating energy. When our spaceship

revealed its presence by using a tracer, or spy-ray, directed toward the other spaceship, it

disappeared! After several such accidental encounters, a concerted effort was made to detect this

agency.'

'Approximately a year ago the Solarian Patrol started Project Light Post!" The announced purpose

of this project was to englobe the Solar System, at the radius of Saturn, with a series of twelve

unmanned, automatic navigation aids; beacons for interstellar flight. In addition to the

publicized automatic positioning and communications equipment, there were special recorders on

board the Light Post beacons using the light-field lenses developed by Dr. Kelvin here at your

Moorpark Research Center. I have brought with me a special set of these recordings to show you.'

The room darkened and on the wall behind Larry a picture of the planet Saturn with its rings

appeared.

'The light sensors of Light Post No.7 picked up a glint of light here,' Larry continued, pointing

to a little sparkle of light a few inches past the edge of Saturn. 'A light-field recorder

immediately focused on the area.'

The picture zoomed in on the spot of light. As it grew larger, it changed into a black, teardrop-

shaped spaceship.

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'As you can see from the shape, this spaceship is unlike any thing thus so far built in the Solar

System. Having found it, we followed it as it drifted inertialess into our system. It did not

radiate, and its course implied an accurate knowledge of the location of charted detectors in our

tracking network, as well as our manned stations and spacecraft. This in turn indicated that there

is some continuous, covert contact between the entities operating this spaceship and our

civilization.'

Time-lapse pictures followed the spaceship into the Solar System.

'In the asteroid belt the spaceship used tractor beams to alter its course. Using the asteroids as

a screen, it rapidly moved part way round the system. It also radiated for a short time as it

recharged its accumulators from its generators.

'At this point the tracking of the spaceship was switched to Lamp Post No. 3,' Larry said, and the

view of the spaceship changed. 'Here the spaceship apparently felt safe to leave the plane of the

ecliptic. It approached an asteroid known as Icarus. Icarus is unique in that it is one of the few

asteroids to cross the orbit of Tellus. The spaceship went inert. Note that the intrinsic velocity

of the spaceship so closely matched that of the asteroid that it was able to land on tractor beams

alone. A day later it again radiated for about an hour. The spaceship sat on Icarus for a week.

Then it went free and lifted off using pressors. when it got back to the asteroid belt, it

switched to atomics and disappeared at light speeds.' The pictures on the wall used time-lapse

photography to follow Larry's words. The lights came back on.

'In the intervening months since this first spaceship was found, we have kept a watch on Icarus.

During this time three space craft have landed there. As far as could be determined, each followed

the same pattern. The last one we attempted to intercept, as is shown in the following sequence.'

The lights dimmed.

'You see here the spaceship lifting off from Icarus,' Larry said. 'Four cruiser class patrol ships

were waiting for it about a detet* away, with all radiating equipment off. They followed it

visually, and when it got within range, the patrol ships went into action.'

On the wall the group of men saw four tractor beams clamp onto the black spaceship. A blast of

incandescent gas appeared at the black spaceship's side as simultaneously activated planes of

force attempted to sheer the tractor beams - unsuccessfully. These were not light tracers! They

were hard-driven tractors clamped on with the full power of a patrol cruiser behind them!

'At the first touch of a tractor the black spaceship's screens went up. The atomic power system

activated the Bergenholm and jets drove the spaceship sideways. In previous instances only the

obvious line of flight had been searched when the spaceships vanished. This is why they seemed to

disappear.'

The four patrol cruisers closed in and linked together to form a tetrahedron about the black

spaceship. The captive spaceship lashed out with its macro beams against the spaceships holding

it. The screens of the patrol cruisers flared a little but took it with ease. Then, with careful

deliberation, the patrol attacked. The outer screen of the black spaceship went down as beams from

the four cruisers overloaded it. The second one went down a minute later. The third screen was

carefully brought up to a violet radiance, just short of being burned out by the opposing

spacecraft.

'An estimate was made of the black spaceship's generating system based on the amount of radiation

given off when they recharged their accumulators. It was estimated that it would require about

four hours of intense overload on the screens before the generators of the black spaceship would

burn out,' Larry said. 'At the end of five hours the third screen went down. Before the wall

shield could be loaded, an atomic explosion completely destroyed the black spaceship. It was

deliberate suicide.'

The group watched as the black spaceship disappeared in an intense flare of light. The room lights

came up.

'The expected response of an alien spaceship, when discovered in this manner and captured by

overwhelming forces, is to surrender. In return, our response would be to give the inhabitants a

tour of our system, escort them out of it and release them with the admonishment to "go and spy no

more",' Larry explained, and then smiled slowly. 'This attitude may seem a little idealistic but

the other party may claim sovereignty. If we damaged their subjects, or their property, they could

demand reparations, if they didn't declare war. The only obvious conclusion to be reached by this

'rather die than be captured' attitude is that this unknown agency has serious intentions of

aggression, the details of which we might discover by capturing them. Accordingly, we are alerting

all the patrol bases and the major spaceports in the Solar System to prepare for an armed

conflict. It may never come but we must be prepared. I have given Mayor Love a general outline of

the preparations which the Patrol would like to have made here at Copernicus and those additional

tasks which a full scale effort will entail. He is in charge of all local activity,' Lt Larry

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McQueen concluded. 'Are there any questions?'

'Yes,' Linn Potter, Director of Services said. 'Is the alert only in our solar system?'

'Yes, until signs of similar activity are discovered elsewhere,' Larry answered. 'Mr. Johnstone?'

'You mentioned that they seemed to have a knowledge of the location of our manned stations and

spacecraft,' the Director of Copernicus Control said. 'Do you have any idea yet of the source of

that information?'

'None. Mr. Turner?'

'How much time do we have to prepare for this enemy?'

'We have no concrete proof that these entities are "enemies",' Larry answered. 'We can only guess,

based on what we have seen. This is one of the reasons why this information not been released to

either the press or the general public. Yes, they are watching us. Yes, they have been acting like

they are considering a fight. BUT, until they perform some aggressive act, they are not enemies.

We must also be careful not to accuse the next group of aliens who happen to venture into our

solar system in a black, tear-drop shaped spaceship, of being spies or enemies or potential

aggressors.'

'As to how much time we have to prepare,' Larry continued, 'I don't know. Maybe days. Maybe years.

Mr. Sneary?'

'During the Jovian Wars several attempts were made to drop meteoroids on Copernicus. Is any

protection available for a similar type of attack?'

'Yes, the new Rodebush-Bergenholm field,' Larry answered. 'Rodebush-Bergenholm field generators

will be available shortly. I'm not at liberty to say anything else at this time. Mr. Gold?'

'Will we act as a relay for communications, as we did during the Jovian Wars?' the Director of

Earthside Communications asked.

'No. Your commercial facilities will probably not be required except on a routine basis. The

Solarian Patrol will be using ultra-wave equipment. This spaceport will be expected first to

defend itself, second to destroy any attacking spacecraft within its range and last to act as a

cislunar spotter for Grand Fleet Headquarters,' Larry answered. 'Mr. Castora?'

'Could the black spaceship be a pirate?'

'Yes!' Larry said. 'That is a definite probability. Certainly the battle to the death philosophy

fits. However, consider the spaceship. It was of a design different from that of the Solar System

or of any of the inhabited planets we know. If these are pirates, then they are the most dangerous

pirates we've ever seen. They have the facilities of one or more worlds to produce their own

fleet. If they are pirates, we still must prepare, perhaps more than ever. Are there any further

questions? No? Then I'll turn the meeting back to Mayor Love.'

'Thank you, Lt. McQueen,' Ron Love said. He waited a few moments until Lt. McQueen sat down, and

then continued waiting until he again had the attention of the group.

'In normal times Copernicus is a spaceport and a research center rather than a military base,' he

began. 'The Gateway to Tellus we call ourselves. But even so we have a responsibility: we are

responsible for all the activities in one of the four sectors of the moon through Copernicus

Control and its orbiting observation relays. Through Copernicus Control we control most of the

commercial traffic in the Solar System. We also exert direct military command over a large radius

of the Lunar surface and half a million miles into space with our blaster batteries. We are one of

the primary lines of defense of Tellus! That responsibility can weigh heavy.'

Ron paused for a moment and then continued in a softer tone, an almost tired tone. 'This

information which Lt. McQueen has brought compels us to consider Copernicus as a military base

under impending attack from an unknown foe. A state of war may soon exist! Our first concern is

the general public. Our first assumption is that if the enemy attacks, they will first have

infiltrated us and be prepared to sabotage or destroy our defenses, our air, our power and/or our

water systems.

'I need from each of you a report,' he said. 'A list of the critical points of internal attack,

which are under your control, and the procedures for protecting these essential systems or

minimizing any damage that can be done to them. This report will be due in three days. Include

everything you can think of, whether you have a solution to the problem or not. Mr. Johnstone, I

also need from you, as Director of Copernicus Control, an evaluation of our external defenses and

their weak points. My secretary will issue each of you an outline of the information required in

your reports. They will be classified Top Secret as well as the information discussed here and the

outline. Release only as little as possible to those members of your staff who have been cleared

on this level, or from those from whom you specifically need help,' Ron directed.

'If there are no further questions, the meeting of the Board of Directors of Copernicus will be

adjourned,' Mayor Ron Love concluded.

* * *

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Dr. Kelvin remained behind with Lt. McQueen and Mayor Love after the rest of the Board of

Directors had left. At the Mayor's suggestion they went into his office.

The office of the Mayor of Copernicus showed his status. It was a plush place with thick carpets,

draped walls and a large genuine wood desk imported from Tellus at one end. Behind the desk a

three-dimensional television picture of the interior of Copernicus Crater covered the entire wall.

One could see several spaceships being unloaded far below. In the distance was the top of the east

peak on the other side of the crater 50 miles away. It was called Pelz Peak after one of the first

men to enter the crater on foot. The three peaks in the center of the crater were, of course,

named after the three astronauts who first landed there.

'OK, Ron. What's the real reason behind that Board Meeting?' Dr. Kelvin asked the Mayor after they

were seated.

'What do you mean?'

'Of the people at that meeting, at least four had no business being there. Or if you want to be

formal, they had no "need to know" the information revealed. I'm certain you didn't invite them

without a reason.'

Mayor Love looked inquiringly at Lt. McQueen.

'Are the shields and blocks up around this room?' Larry asked.

'G-1?' Ron said.

'Yes, all the shields and spy-ray blocks are in operation,' the office robot answered.

Lt. McQueen nodded to the Mayor to go on.

'We suspect that we have already been infiltrated, and are checking on the Board of Directors

level,' Ron Love answered. 'The chairs in the conference room had lie detectors secretly installed

by the last Mayor of Copernicus. I never bothered to have them removed. I hope both of you realize

how politically dangerous that fact is and will appreciate my position in telling you. During the

meeting any significant changes in emotional levels were displayed on the plate in front of my

seat. Our suspicions seem to have been borne out. One of the men at the meeting didn't turn off

his personal recorder and practically went off scale when the words "Icarus", "pirates" and

"sabotage" were mentioned.'

'Who was he?' asked Dr. Kelvin.

'John Griffin, Director of Facilities.'

There was a long pause, which was finally broken by Dr. Kelvin. 'We've been had! It's the one

place we can't afford to have a ... a traitor!'

The Mayor had to laugh at the look of utter consternation on Dr. Kelvin's face. 'You're wrong,' he

said. 'Almost any one of the Directors could be as dangerous. There are ways of checking Griffin's

activities but that's a matter for myself and the Director of Security. Meanwhile, if you would

take Lt. McQueen over to the research center, he will discuss the details of Project Hard Hat.'

'Larry, if you'll check with the Director of Security when you're through with Dr. Kelvin, he'll

bring you up to date on any immediate results of our research on Griffin.'

'Good hunting, Ron,' Lt. McQueen said as they left.

'Thanks,' the Mayor answered.

CHAPTER TWO

A CHANGED MAN

In the hall outside the Mayor's office Lt. Larry McQueen and Dr. Kelvin stepped into the open Down

shaft and dropped, free, through the City Hall Building to the travel tunnel level several hundred

feet below. The travel tunnel was an extension of the same inertialess field as in the shaft but

in the horizontal direction. Currently there was a grid of 10 north-south and 5 east-west travel

tunnels under Copernicus. Opening off them every hundred feet or so, a pair of shafts extended

upwards.

Dr. Kelvin reached up. Immediately, a handle snapped into his cupped hand at over 50 miles per

hour. He didn't feel it strike him - inertialess collisions cannot be felt but he was instantly

drawn along by it. It might be thought that air resistance would cause one to travel in a

horizontal position but this is not so when the air itself is inertialess. Sounds are also strange

inside a travel tunnel because every sound travels instantly to all parts of it without

attenuation and then stops without reverberation. Gravity is equalized in the travel tunnels and

shafts. Some rather grim accidents had occurred in which external gravity caused all of the air in

an inertialess field to fall to the floor. Artificial gravity fields were used in such a way that

the air was forced to circulate rather than stagnate at the floor.

Lt. Larry McQueen followed Dr. Kelvin through the travel tunnels to the entrance of the Moorpark

Research Center. There they went through a security check.

A few minutes later they were in Dr. Kelvin's office. It was a great contrast from Mayor Love's. A

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large, slightly battered, metal desk, and one of the tables were piled high with notebooks,

magazines, tapes and papers. Models of gadgets were scattered about the room. A drafting tank and

a bookcase were behind the desk in easy reach. The only real concession to comfort was two well-

upholstered easy chairs and a couch.

Even then, the folded blanket on the floor next to the couch suggested that it had been used for

more than just a place to sit.

'Are you familiar with the Rodebush-Bergenholm field?' Larry asked.

'No,' Dr. Kelvin answered. 'Sit down. Sit. I've seen Rodebush and Bergenholm's note in Nature but

it doesn't give any of the essential details.'

'The field is the best matter shield yet developed,' Larry explained. 'It was derived from a

similarity between the equations for the spaceship wall shield and those for artificial gravity.

However, instead of dissipating the energy impinging on the field, it's stored in the field, or

more accurately, circulated through the matter encompassed by the field. The generator can

actually use part of the energy stored inside the field to strengthen and maintain itself.

However, the field does require a conductor through it. The Hill, where the prototype is being

installed, uses the alloy sheathing covering it as the conductor for the field. It's not as

effective as it could be, so they're cleaning down the surface and copper plating. But until they

finish, the alloy is there, and usable: As part of our program of up-grading Solarian Patrol bases

and major spaceports, we propose to metal coat the surface over Copernicus and use a Rodebush-

Bergenholm field as protection against bombardment.'

'But that would be a major engineering project!' Dr. Kelvin said. 'The Hill was sheathed during

the Jovian Wars using a wartime budget. Sheathing just the crater wall side of Copernicus alone

would be an incredibly difficult task, and financing it during peacetime ...' Dr. Kelvin shook his

head.

'No, a sheath isn't necessary,' Larry said. 'An evaporative coating of copper a few micro-inches

thick would be quite adequate. To the Rodebush-Bergenholm field it would be the equivalent of a

sheath of several feet of alloy. With the field on, it would give a protection no thickness of

alloy alone could give. The field is completely opaque to almost all radiation, so your blaster

batteries and communication antennas will have to be moved. Mayor Love is clearing that with the

appropriate Directors and Copernicus Control.

'I see why it would be useless on spacecraft,' Dr. Kelvin said. 'They would be completely blind.'

He pondered for a moment in thought and then turned to his desk. He called up from the micro-file

inside the desk a series of maps of the crater, a couple of references and the Rodebush-Bergenholm

letter. After consulting these, he connected in the computer and sketched the problem in the

drafting tank. A minute later he looked up at Lt. McQueen.

'To cover an area 50 miles long, 10 miles outward from the crater rim over us and 15 miles from

the rim down to the floor with a thickness of 400 micro-inches of copper will require a minimum of

one million cubic feet of material!' he said.

'That's an order of magnitude thicker than is required by my estimate,' Larry said coolly. 'That

reduces your quarter million tons to around 25 thousand tons. I doubt if you need to cover that

section all the way out to the southern entrance. It's only a single tunnel and represents about

half the total area.

'Wrong. Even though that area isn't inhabited, the shock wave of a near miss could collapse the

tunnels on us here,' Dr. Kelvin answered.

'OK, then you need to cover more than 10 miles out from the top of the rim,' Larry said.

Dr. Kelvin hesitated. 'You're right. Let's check.' He turned to the computer. 'Assuming that the

largest meteoroid they can start moving, without being detected and intercepted, is about 100 feet

on a side ... iron ... I wonder if some kind of quake barriers ... hmmm ...'

A few minutes later he looked up again and said, 'We convert Copernicus into a free standing

triangular prism. We go out about 10 miles on each side of the Dome and cut a slot a few feet wide

to a depth of about a mile below our lowest level, which is about even with the crater floor, and

plate the slot. That will save about 20 per cent of the amount of copper needed but we'll probably

use it anyway, since we won't be able to control the plating process in the slot as well as we can

on the open surface. The slots will be a lot of trouble but we need them for shock protection.'

'What weight of copper do you estimate?'

'Roughly 25 thousand tons.'

Larry smiled. 'When can you start?'

'Well, I've got a lot of work to do,' Dr. Kelvin said, looking at the paperwork on his desk. He

looked up and smiled. 'How about an hour from now?'

'The Himalaya will deliver 14 cylinders of copper, 9 feet in diameter and 60 feet long, in three

days. The remaining amount up to an additional 10 thousand tons will be delivered in any standard

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shape or form you require within three days after you order it. The Solarian Patrol has completely

taken over the stock and facilities of Bridgeford Copper for this purpose. Here is a list of your

Patrol charge numbers and a list of Earthside contacts. The generators will arrive with the

copper. Here is an authorization from Mayor Love to use as many men from the research center and

Copernicus Control as you need to do the job as fast as possible. OK?'

Dr. Kelvin took the papers. A happy look came over his face, like a boy who had been given a new

bicycle. 'Done !' he answered. 'Can you find your own way out of here?'

As Lt. McQueen left, Dr. Kelvin had apparently forgotten his paperwork and was already on the

intercom calling in his staff.

* * *

After Lt. Larry McQueen and Dr. Kelvin left the office, Mayor Ron Love spent several minutes

looking out at the silent picture of Copernicus Crater in contemplative thought. He spoke a few

words to the office robot, and the picture of the crater was replaced with a recording of the

recent Board of Directors meeting. Shown above the head of each of the directors was a chart

showing the output of the lie detector attached to his chair. Ron learned little new that he

hadn't summed up to Lt. McQueen and Dr. Kelvin as Director Griffin's reaction to certain words,

especially 'Icarus'. The other directors reacted but in what seemed to be a normal manner.

Ron turned around and, using the keyboard on his desk, started calling personnel files from the

Central File computer to the plate on his desk.

The records indicated that John Griffin had been a long time administrator of the Facilities

Division. He had come rapidly up through the ranks and had been the Division Director for the last

five years. Going through the depart mental organization charts, Ron noted that the division

secretary had changed about three months previously to a Virginia Lewis. About two months later

there was a series of major departmental changes. 'Rog,' Ron said softly to himself. Flip ping the

intercom switch, Ron said, 'Margurite, will you chase down Rog Philips and send him in here?'

Ron continued through the file on Griffin. Griffin had taken a vacation just before the

departmental changes started. Ron punched in a key sentence and started through Griffin's security

file. Nothing important.

He went through Virginia Lewis' file. She had apparently arrived from Uranium Incorporated's

vacuum refining plant in Fauth crater about a month before she got the job. No boy friends, no

previous marriages, no bank references, no hobbies, no organizational memberships, no medical

history, no nothing! A complete non-entity.

Ron looked up the file on the previous division secretary. She had left for Earth abruptly with a

one day notice. Her bank record indicated she couldn't afford the ticket and certainly couldn't

afford the shipping bill on her possessions, which she had sent after her. But they had been paid

with funds transferred from Earth.

Ron flipped on the recorder. 'A memo to Owen Hanovich,' he said. 'Subject: Security File.

Classification: Secret. Please update the records of Hilda Johnson, ex-Division of Facilities

secretary, with emphasis on financial condition, sources of income and present status.'

Ron went on through the records. The men who had replaced those who left the Facilities Division

were all from Fauth and all non-entities who had arrived in the last four months. Ron had just

asked the Central File computer to sort out all the residents of Copernicus who had arrived from

Fauth in the last year, when his secretary announced that Rog Philips was waiting in the reception

room.

'Send him in,' Ron said, and got up from his desk. He met Philips about halfway to the door and

waved him into a chair before perching himself on the end of his desk.

'Rog, I want to talk to you about two matters, both of which are important to the security of the

city and both of which sound like I'm being nosy about personal affairs. About a month ago you

came to me from the Facilities Division, where you were one of the chiefs, and asked for a job. I

didn't ask you then for details of why you were leaving, because I knew you. We've been friends

for quite a while. I considered it some kind of personal disagreement between you and John

Griffin. Now I have reason to believe that it's more important than that and I want to know just

what happened over there that so many people left or resigned.'

'I'll be honest with you, Ron,' Rog said. 'I don't understand what happened.' There was a long

pause as Rog rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully. 'Everything was fine up to the time Griffin

left on vacation. I was left in charge of the Division. When he got back, it was as if a new man

appeared. He cut off all his old friends and wouldn't see them. He sent out a series of

directives. He stopped calling weekly staff meetings. People got called on the carpet for no good

reason. He was suddenly cold, hard and distant. An utterly changed man. Where normally he didn't

worry about the details in my Electronics Department, now he was watching every move. People were

reporting to him instead of me, and everything I did was wrong. So I got out.'

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'Where did he take his vacation?'

'I don't know. Somewhere on Tellus. Ask his secretary. She made the arrangements.'

'What do you think of his secretary?'

'I have rarely seen such a little brass-plated bitch!'

'All right. Consider this question carefully: Could the man who returned be someone disguised as

John Griffin and the new secretary be helping him carry it off?'

There was a long pause. Ron was pleased by the look of questioning puzzlement that came over Rog's

face.

'It fits. It fits perfectly. But who? Why would anyone do something like that? Griffin's not rich

nor politically powerful'

Ron told Rog about Lt. McQueen and the message he had brought from Solarian Patrol Headquarters.

'Now, there's something else that has to be done,' Ron said. 'I figure that you know a good man

for the job. Lt. McQueen brought some information about a secret moon base which was built

somewhere here back before World War 3. We are going to have to send someone out to secure it.

'Before World War 3, huh. There's one guy in the Carpathian Club that would really like that job.

Harvey Reinfield.'

'Carpathian Club? Oh, yes. That's that group of mountain-climbing nuts we've got wandering around

the landscape,' Ron said with a sly smile. 'You're a member, aren't you?'

'If you weren't an Honorary Member yourself, I'd punch you in the nose,' Rog answered with a broad

smile. As I was saying, Harv's hobby for the last 10 years has been collecting stuff on the

history of space-flight before World War 3. He spent his whole last vacation completely searching

the Apollo landing areas. I've seen his file of old moon photos and it alone is incredible. So far

he's hit a complete blank on the moon base. What did the Solarian Patrol come up with?'

'A diary and a photograph found in the cornerstone of an old church in Nebraska. No one knows how

or why it got there but,' Ron shrugged, 'I have copies of the pages and a summary of the Patrol's

guess as to the area they think the moon base is located in. It will still take some looking but

this should limit that to a couple of weeks at most.'

'Where is it?'

'I can't tell you more than that it's somewhere north-west of here, within 500 miles,' Ron

answered. 'By the way, you are going to have to review some of the reports on internal safety. I

would appreciate it if you gave the report of the Facilities Division your personal, special

attention. I'm particularly interested in anything that has been omitted. Why don't you do your

own report on Facilities? I'm sure Margurite has an extra copy of the outline of the material

wanted. OK?'

'OK,' Rog answered.

A few moments later Rog left and Ron returned to look at the results of the computer file search

he had started. Other than those who came over each weekend to spend their pay check, there were

17 people permanently in Copernicus who had come from Fauth during the last 6 months, and two in

the 12 months prior to that. Ten people had traveled through Copernicus to some other destination.

Of those in Copernicus, eight were employed in the Facilities Division, six were employed

elsewhere and five had dropped from sight. The credit chit file of the missing five was empty, so

apparently some one else was providing food, clothing and housing for them.

At this point Ron called the Director of Security and turned the matter over to him with his

recommendations. Ron interviewed Harv Reinfield and started him on his quest.

After Harv had left, Ron sat a long time looking at the picture of the crater and wondering if he

really wanted to continue in the position of power he had wrested forcibly from his predecessor

just before the start of the Fourth Jovian War. Wondered if it might be time now to step down and

let one of the men he had so carefully watched take his place at the next election. The worlds

were changing almost too fast to keep up with now. Mankind was spreading out to the stars. Maybe

he should join them. He looked at the stars in the sky and they looked coldly back at him.

No. No, there was no place for him out there. He had worked too long and too hard here to give it

up and go out there and start over. Here was everything that was meaningful to him. Out there?

Only new beginnings. Beginnings that it would take one or two lifetimes to bring to fruition. No,

he had neither the time nor the patience to rebuild something new, only to hold onto what he had,

knowing it would get relatively smaller and smaller and less and less important as time passed.

Too old and too tired. Too inflexible. That's what he was.

But, by damn, he was going to hold onto what he did have.

He turned his back on the stars, back to his desk, refilled again for an uncountable time with

resolve to be the best mayor ever, and to accomplish! 'Let's see now,' he said to no one in

particular, 'that old bat, Mrs. Stillwater, wants me to help her get a zone variance in our Xanadu

area. We'll fix her wagon.'

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CHAPTER THREE

KIDNAPPED

Lt. McQueen found the Security Division. The receptionist directed him to Col. Hanovich's office.

Hanovich's secretary told him that he was expected. She ushered the Lieutenant into Col.

Hanovich's office and closed the door firmly behind him when he was inside.

The open curtains along one wall of the Director of Security's office revealed a window looking

out into the Dome, a hemisphere a half mile in diameter hollowed out of the center of the crater

wall. In the center of the Dome, held in place by tractor and pressor beams, was the artificial

sun giving out light and warmth to the inhabitants. The Dome was ringed with commercial

enterprises, and housed the park. The City Hall of Copernicus was part of the Dome's wall. Indeed,

each 'building' of Copernicus was a set of rooms hollowed out bf the rock surrounding a pair of

shafts from the travel level. The travel tunnels emptied into the Dome. The Dome was the center of

activity of both Copernicus and of the whole moon. Only recently was it possible to economically

create other domes on the moon. Still the Dome would remain unique, for soon mankind would come

out of hiding on the moon. This was to happen later, when whole craters became cities roofed with

the Rodebush-Bergenholm field. Impervious to meteor storms.

Col. Owen Hanovich came around his desk and shook hands. He was a somewhat stout man with red

hair, a bushy red beard and a black glove on his left hand.

'Welcome, Lt. McQueen,' he said, eyes twinkling. 'It's not often that a Sector Chief of the

Triplanetary Service visits us. Sit down.'

The Lieutenant sat down and asked, 'What makes you think I'm a Sector Chief in the Triplanetary

Service?'

'I was aboard the spaceship Edwardium Rex during the Coventry Affair.'

'Oh, a passenger?'

'Yes. Sometimes it does seem unfortunate that the penalty for piracy is death, but then, if we let

every attractive woman go ...' Hanovich trailed off into a moment's silence.

'She's still around. The jury let her go.'

'Oh?'

'I'm on a spy hunt now. You've been checked and apparently you aren't one of the opposition, so

I'll give you the details of what has been discovered so far. First, however, is this room

secure?'

Hanovich slid one of the writing surfaces in his desk out, rotated it and examined the lights

embedded inside. 'Yes,' he said, 'everything is in order. The shields and blocks are up.'

'How often are they maintained?'

Col. Hanovich's eyebrows darkened. 'Maintained?' He took this as a clue. 'My office is checked

every week. We have our own group to maintain the correct operation of these devices in the

Security Department and in the City Hall in general. I might add that the members of the group

have been in the department for at least 10 years. Each is an expert on bugs, taps and snoops.'

'The window?'

'One way vilar. It looks like part of the wall from the out side. A new material.'

'I know. Pull the drapes,' Larry said. 'Vilar is also transparent in the UV region. It takes some

special equipment but the Service has already had occasion to look through it. Anything we can do,

we should expect the opposition to be able to do.'

Hanovich pulled the drapes and Larry continued.

'As a result of the meeting of the Board of Directors, we have reason to suspect that John Griffin

is either one of, or at least in contact with, the unknown agency which the Patrol ... er ... the

Service is investigating. Mayor Love is checking into Director Griffin's activities.

'I know,' Col. Hanovich said, with just a trace of smugness in his voice. 'Here is a copy of the

results of the Mayor's efforts. He's turned the problem over to my division and I was just about

to put a team to work doing a detailed check of the files and records of all the people the Mayor

came up with.'

Larry read through the brief report and then put it back on Hanovich's desk.

'The man mentioned in my department is in the Watchman/Traffic Control Section. Here.' Under the

clear surface of Hanovich's desk were pictures of each of the men on public security duty.

Hanovich pointed to one of the pictures. 'This is what he looks like.'

Larry leaned forward and looked at the man. The face was neither distinctive nor familiar. 'OK,

how about the five men who dropped out of sight?'

'Nothing yet. Obviously they eat, so any excess purchases of food by anyone in the group will

eventually lead us to them. On the other hand, they could have left Copernicus through some secret

exit, though I don't know of any. No one has been reported missing but that doesn't mean that

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these people couldn't be impersonating someone without close friends or relationships.'

'The primary thing that bothers me is that for several months now these agents have had free run

of Copernicus,' Larry said. 'What have they done in that time? What listening devices or booby

traps have they set? They have taken the time and trouble to infiltrate the Facilities Division.

Why? What's their reason? What's their schedule? What's going to blow up in our faces at a

critical moment? And most important, how are we going to find out?'

'Since the start of the Jovian Wars we've dealt with problems similar to these,' Hanovich said, as

though it was of no great importance. 'As an initial measure Security has a "Customs Section",

which checks and records all of the baggage, personal effects and goods being shipped or brought

into Copernicus. We try to stop anything potentially dangerous. From the customs records we should

be able to determine what kind of electronic equipment or anything they brought in.'

'Not necessarily,' Larry said with a smile. 'I'm a perambulating warehouse of equipment and I

doubt that you have any idea what I'm carrying. It all looks innocent.'

Hanovich looked pleased, like a cat with a mouth full of canary. 'What's it got in its pocketsis?'

he hissed

Larry smiled, catching the reference to one of the few enduring classics of English literature.

Hanovich typed a key phrase into the keyboard on his desk. He thought a moment, typed in

additional information and then read from the plate. 'Goggles, binoculars, wristwatch, pocket

chronometer, belt communicator, flashlight, automatic lighter, wallet, change, a money belt, a

pocket knife and a knife in your boot heel. And the goggles. I admit that every spaceship officer

I've ever seen wears them but I've never seen them use them for anything except as sunglasses.

Care to explain?'

'The goggles and binoculars form part of the traditional uniform,' Larry answered. 'The goggles

come from the First Jovian War when they were used as eye protection from atomic explosion and

laser radiation. The originals had a semi-opaque liquid driven between the lenses by an explosive

charge, when a certain intensity or type of light hit a sensor on them. The modern ones use a high

speed, reversible, light intensity limiting effect; phototropism it's called. Of course neither

item is required unless you're using direct viewports. You still haven't mentioned a large part of

the stuff I'm carrying.'

Hanovich looked even more pained, if that was possible.

'At least you have a record of their possessions, even if we aren't sure what those possessions

really are,' Larry said. 'If we can account for everything, that's a good start.'

'I'll put a team to work on that point.'

'You might put one team to work just watching these people. Warn them that we're not playing

polite parlor games. This one is for keeps. An error, and they will know we are onto them. That

could be fatal to us all! Handle them with care, and remember that we may not have all of them

spotted. Matter of fact, keep looking for other connections and other groups. We need information

desperately!' Larry said, getting up. 'I've got to go now. I'll check with you later.'

'All right. I hope we'll have something for you the next time we meet. You're staying at the New

Frontier Hotel?'

'Yes.'

'We'll contact you there if we find out anything important. Or better yet,' Hanovich reached into

his desk and brought out what appeared to be a coin, 'carry this and we'll be able to trace and

contact you wherever you are in Copernicus.'

'Thanks, but they may be aware of your finder. If they are, I'd rather they weren't able to follow

me so easily. Thanks anyway.'

Bidding the Director of Security goodbye, Lt. McQueen left the City Hall and started through the

Dome toward his hotel.

* *

Wherever the men of Tellus go, they try to take part of their planet with them. Be it the farthest

point of the universe man has explored, a wilderness of timeless rock soaking in endless vacuum or

the midst of magma and ash of a planet not quite born - there is always a cave or bubble or dome

to which the men there could point and say, 'There! That's like home! That's the way it was !'

Nowhere is this more evident than on the moon. The Dome had been carved from lifeless rock in the

heart of a crater wall. Even after its half mile hemisphere had been cut and laboriously carted

out of the crater wall, there was no life there. Nothing could live in the airless, rock-bound

darkness. Air and water were wrung from the rock of the moon. Some of the pulverized remains of

the yet dark dome were mixed with micro-organisms from Tellus brought there to create a nutrient

soil. There was air and water and soil.

Now. Let there be light! Man created, out of his own need, a miniature sun to hang in the center

of the Dome. It had been changed many times before Lt. Larry McQueen's eyes first saw it. The

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