Sargasso of Space (Solar Queen Series) by Andre Norton Read Free Book Online Page B

runoff—would warp your ship into a totally unknown lane, might bring you inside a planet instead of the necessary distance off its surface. He had had the theory of the break-through pounded into him, he could go through the motions of setting up a course, but he privately doubted if he would ever have the courage to actually take a ship into Hyperspace and out again.
    Frowning at the unoffending wall he was once more listing his own shortcomings when Rip called.
    “Man—” the astrogator-apprentice dropped down on a seat with a deep sigh, “well, we’re in once more and nothing cracked!”
    Dane was honestly surprised. He was no astrogator, it was all right for him to feel some doubts. But that Rip should display relief at having his own particular share of duty behind him for a while was something else.
    “What’s the matter?” Dane wondered if something had threatened to go wrong.
    “Nothing, nothing,” the other waved a hand. “But we all feel easier after the jump.” Rip laughed now. “Man, you think we don’t sweat it out? We maybe hate it more than you do. What have you got to worry about until we planet again? Nothing——”
    Dane bristled. “No? We’ve only cargo control, supplies, hydro—” he began to enumerate the duties of his section. “What good does a successful break-through do when your air goes bad——”
    Rip nodded. “All right, none of us are dead weight. Though this trip—” he stopped suddenly and glanced over his shoulder in a way which surprised Dane.
    “Did you ever meet an archaeologist before, Dane?”
    The cargo-apprentice shook his head. “This is my first trip out, remember? And we don’t get much briefing in history at the Pool—except where it influences Trade
    Rip lounged back on the bench, but kept his voice trained low, until it was hardly above a murmur.
    “I’ve always been interested in the Forerunners,” he began. “Got the tapes of Haverson’s ‘Voyages’ and Kagle’s ‘Survey’ in my gear now. Those are the two most complete studies that have been made so far. I messed with Dr. Rich this morning. And I’ll swear he never heard of the Twin Towers!”
    Since Dane had never heard of them either, he couldn’t quite see what Rip was trying to prove. But, before he could ask any questions, the blankness of his look must have betrayed his ignorance for the other made a quick explanation.
    “Up to now the Twin Towers are about the most important Forerunner find Federation Survey has ever made. They’re on Corvo—standing right in the center of a silicon desert—two hundred feet high, looking like two big fingers pointing into the sky. And as far as the experts have been able to discover, they’re solid clear through—made of some substance which is neither stone nor metal, but which certainly has lasting properties. Rich was able to cover his slip pretty well, but I’m sure he’d not heard of them.”
    “But if they’re so important,” began Dane and then he grasped what the Doctor’s ignorance could mean.
    “Yes, why doesn’t the Doctor know all about the most important find in his field? That presents a problem doesn’t it? I wonder if the Captain checked up on him before he took the charter——”
    But Dane could answer that. “His ID was correct, we flashed it through to Patrol Headquarters. They gave us clearance on the expedition or we couldn’t have lifted from Naxos——”
    Rip conceded that point. Field regulations on any planet in the Federation were strict enough to make at least ninety percent sure that the men who passed them were carrying proper ID-s and clearance. And on the frontier worlds, which might attract poachers or criminals, the Patrol would be twice as vigilant about flight permission.
    “Only he didn’t know about the Twin Towers,” the astrogator-apprentice repeated stubbornly.
    And Dane was impressed by the argument. It was impossible to spend a voyage on any star ship with another man and not come