John Maddox Roberts - Space Angel by John Maddox Roberts Read Free Book Online Page A

lower than Earth,just don't go for more than a couple of minutes without a respirator and there should be no problems."
    The crew ate with cautious gusto as their stomachs
    were still suffering residual twinges from transition.
    After lunch, Kelly went to the navigator's bubble to
    have a look at Alpha Tau Pi Rho/4. Even from space
    it was a drab planet, somewhat smaller than Earth,
    but much older—her seas had shrunk to lakes, clouds
    lew and thin, vegetation just anemic patches of dingy
    green against the general grayness. Torwald joined him in the bubble.
    "The kind of place where Navy men dread being stationed. Oh, well, we didn't come here for recreation, after all. If this deal pays off as we expect,-we can spend all the time we care "to on a resort world. Kelly, you'll come with me to scout out the crystal formation in the atmosphere craft, so as soon as we land, meet me at the dock. While we're on the ground, the grav field won't be operating abaft the forward hold bulkhead. That makes loading the holds and
    launching the AC easier, but watch your step when you cross the line. It's a long drop through the hold if you don't catch the ladder." The landing horn honked. "There is it," said Torwald. "Go strap yourself in."
    The planet was no more attractive close up than it had been from a distance. Kelly's first good look at an alien world was from the atmosphere craft dock while Torwald and Achmed readied the craft itself.
    "Somehow, I expected something more exotic." His voice sounded tinny over the respirator that covered his nose and mouth.
    "As habitable planets go," said Torwald, "this one's pretty near the bottom of the barrel."
    The surface resembled the dreariest of Earth's desert—rock, sand, and thin, undernourished vegetation. The mountain ranges were worn to nubbins, not an elevation higher than a thousand meters on the whole planet. From the amount of coal the Admiralty survey had found, vegetation had once been abundant on Alpha Tau, but the planet's water vapor and oxygen had slowly leaked into space until only the hardiest life forms could survive. As usual in such cases, the survivors were the most primitive organisms, the ones that had been the least demanding of their environment in the first place. Alpha Tau was a world far gone in senility.
    "Not much to look at, is it, Raffen?" Kelly turned to find Popov standing behind him. The Russian was dressed in a geologist's field gear, a tightly rolled chart under his arm.
    "No argument there. I can see right now that you're going to have to offer big bonuses to tempt miners to come to this place. I worked better spots as a POW."
    "Pile in!" Ham called. Torwald, Kelly, and Popov climbed aboard the AC. The mate spoke briefly with Popov while Torwald and Kelly removed the AC's all-weather top and locked a low, rounded windshield
    into place around the pilot's area, then he turned to Torwald.
    "Torwald, you're our most experienced pilot, so vou take the controls."
    Kelly sat directly behind the pilot, from where he could study the operation of the AC. When all were belted in, Torwald eased the craft from the bay and look it up slowly for a hundred meters, to get a good look at the landing field. All the prefabs had been removed, except for the small shed housing the beacon. Only rectangular foundations remained to indicate the buildings had ever existed. The outpost was a forlorn sight.
    "Where away?" asked Torwald.
    "Taking the beacon for a homing point," said Popov, "set course 85 degrees, magnetic, for ninety-seven kilometers." Torwald punched the bearing into the craft's computer, then accelerated. He could have relinquished manual control but preferred to use the opportunity to get the feel of the AC. The dismal landscape sped by below them as they climbed from the shallow basin where the old base had been and headed into the hills.
    Eventually Popov gave the word to stop and hover, though the terrain below looked just like all the rest they had passed