Sidney's Comet by Brian Herbert Read Free Book Online

noon.”
    “A week from tomorrow? All I can say is we’ll try—”
    “Not good enough. No excuses on this one, Nancy.”
    “I’m an administrator, not a technician!”
    “Delegate it!”
    “Will that be all, Dr. Hudson?” she asked, coolly.
    “Nancy, please believe me when I say that I WILL get you off that orbiter.” I can’t tell her how we’re going to beat her brother in Tuesday’s election, he thought. The ties of blood . . . .
    “Why did my brother have to send me here?” she wailed. “I’ve been on this Godforsaken orbiter for three months!”
    “Be patient. We can’t let personal problems interfere with a world crisis.”
    “Such a convenient excuse. If not for that one, you’d have another.”
    “One more thing, Nancy.”
    “Personal or official? I’m ready to hang up on you!”
    “Official. Have a charging bay available for the ship when it gets there. Use Number One Argonium Gas. Check the charger now for malfunctions. There won’t be time for that later. . . . ”
    Hudson heard a click.
    “Nancy?” he said. “Are you there?”
    The line beeped, went dead.
    * * *
    At a study carrel in the Pleasant Reef Library, a youngsayerman read the first question of his homework assignment:
    1. State two reasons why Uncle Rosy led the AmFed people to believe he had died and then went secretly to the Black Box of Democracy.
    In ornate script, the youngsayerman penned the answer on a separate sheet of ruled paper, “a.) Our Master felt strongly that the AmFed system eventually had to survive on its own. He chose to monitor electronically all aspects of AmFed life in secrecy, adopting a policy whereby his control would be withdrawn gradually. In essence, it was a weening, b.) . . .”
    The youngsayerman scratched his shaven head, trying to come up with the second part of his answer. Glancing at the adjacent carrel, he read another student’s answer and then copied it onto his own paper: “b.) Uncle Rosy discovered the secret of long life, which he dispensed only to himself and to his sayermen. He did not feel an economic system could survive if such knowledge was released to the entire populace. . . . ”

Chapter Two
    B ACKGROUND MATERIAL, FOR FURTHER READING AND DISCUSSION
    Javik, Thomas Patrick—D.O.B. 10/20/68—Atlantic City, N.J.
    Skill Quotient: 1000 (perfect)
    Attitude Quotient: 135 (poor)

    2585: Graduate of PS. 502, New City, Md. . . . aptitude in math and physics . . . disciplinary problems.
    2588:Graduate of Space Academy . . . Mass Driver Mechanics . . . 3.93 G.P.A. . . . 5-day suspension for fighting.
    2588-2593: 2nd Lt., Space Patrol, light cruiser duty in the Ross Asteroids . . . Promoted to 1st Lt. . . .
    2593-2602: Resource Protection Patrol, Dune Region, Moon . . . one A.W.O.L. reprimand . . . promoted to Captain and given command of a Baltimore class cruiser at the outbreak of the Atheist hostilities.
    2603: Distinguished service in the LaGrange Four region . . . saved 2 AmFed base ships and destroyed an entire enemy fighter squadron . . . dishonorably discharged for striking a superior officer . . . no court-martial due to exemplary war record—
    2603-present: Garbage shuttle pilot, New City, Md.
    Excerpts from one of 300 military dossier files known to have been in the possession of General Munoz

    Thursday, August 24, 2605
    On the afternoon of Garbage day minus eight, Tom Javik found himself looking forward to the class reunion. He thought of Sidney as he switched off the autopilot and pushed the control stick forward with an effort that made the muscles on his arm standout.
    Good old Sid, he thought. Hard to believe it’s been twenty years —
    The heavy lift garbage shuttle Icarus rumbled and shook like a great awakening beast, then banked right slowly and made its way around New City’s field of solar power microwave dishes. Now Javik could see Robespierre Magne-Launch Base beneath the sun to the west, with its grey E-Cell silos, compactor buildings and mass driver