Accidental Flight Page 10

the conversation was taking place between twocaptives, herself and the gravital computer.

  Abruptly he turned away. He stopped at the telecom panel andmethodically kicked it apart. Delicate tubes smashed into powder. Theemergency radio he thoroughly demolished.

  The ship was firmly in the grip of the gravital monitor. There wasnothing he could do about that. All that remained was to protect Nonafrom their prying minds as long as he could.

  She didn't hear the noise, or didn't care. She sat there, head in herhands, calm and smiling.

  * * * * *

  The outer shell of the rocket dome opened before and closed behindthem. Jordan set the controls in neutral and lifted his hands,muttering to himself. They were gliding through the lip of the innershell. Home.

  "Cheer up," said Cameron breezily. "You're not really prisoners, youknow."

  Nona seemed content, though Jordan didn't. Docchi said nothing, thelight gone from his face. Anti wasn't with them; she was floating inthe tank of acid. The gravity field of the asteroid made thatnecessary.

  The ship scraped gently and they were down. Jordan touched a lever;passenger and freight locks were open.

  "Let's go," said Dr. Cameron. "I imagine there's a reception committeefor you."

  There was. The little rocket dome held more ships than normally camein a year. The precise confusion of military discipline was everywherein evidence. Armed guards lined either side of the landing ramp downwhich they walked.

  At the bottom, a large telecom unit had been set up. If size indicatedanything, someone considered this an important occasion. From thescreen, larger than life, Medicouncilor Thorton looked outapprovingly.

  The procession from the ship halted in front of the telecom unit.

  "A good job, Dr. Cameron," said the medicouncilor. "We were quitesurprised at the escape of the four accidentals, and yourdisappearance, which coincided with it. From what we were able topiece together, you deliberately followed them. A splendid example ofquick thinking, Doctor. You deserve recognition for it."

  "Thank you," said Cameron.

  "I'm sorry I can't be there to congratulate you in person, but I willbe soon." The medicouncilor paused discreetly. "At first the publicitywas bad. Very bad. We thought it unwise to conceal an affair of suchmagnitude. Of course the unauthorized broadcast made it impossible.Fortunately, the gravital discovery came along at just the right time.I don't mind telling you that the net effect is now in our favor."

  "I hoped it would be," said Cameron. "Nona--"

  "You've spoken about her before." The medicouncilor frowned. "We candiscuss her later. For the moment, see that she and the rest of theaccidentals are returned to their usual places. Bring Docchi to youroffice at once. I want to question him privately."

  Cameron stared at him in bewilderment. "But I thought--"

  "No objections, Doctor," snapped Thorton. "Important people arewaiting for you. That is all." The telecom darkened.

  "I think you heard what he said, Dr. Cameron." The officer at his sidewas very polite. He could afford to be, with the rank of three bigplanets on his tunic.

  "Very well," Cameron answered. "But as commander of the asteroid, Irequest that you furnish a guard for the girl."

  "Commander?" repeated the officer. "That's funny--my orders indicatethat I am, until further notice. I haven't got that notice." He lookedaround at his men and crooked a finger. "Lieutenant, see that thelittle fellow--Jordan, I think his name is--gets a lift back to themain dome. And you can walk the pretty lady to her room. Or whateverit is she lives in." He smiled negligently at Cameron. "Anything tooblige another commander."

  * * * * *

  The medicouncilor, Thorton, was waiting impatiently on the telecomwhen they got to Cameron's office.

  "We will arrive in about two hours," he said immediately. "When I saywe, I mean a number of top governmental officials and scientists.Meanwhile, let's get on with this gravital business." He caught sightof the commander. "General Judd, this is a technical matter. I don'tthink you'll be interested in it."

  "Very well, sir. I'll stand guard outside."

  The medicouncilor was silent until the door closed behind GeneralJudd. "Sit down, Docchi," he said with unexpected kindness. He pausedto note the effect. "I can sympathize with you. You had everything youwanted nearly within your reach. And, after that, to return toHandicap Haven--well, I can understand how you feel. But since you didreturn, I think we can arrange to do something for you."

  Docchi stared at the man on the screen. A spot of light pulsed on hischeek and then flared rapidly over his face.

  "Sure," he said casually. "But there are criminal charges against me."

  "A formality," said the medicouncilor. "With a thing like thediscovery--or rediscovery--of the gravital drive to think about, noone is going to worry much about your unauthorized departure from theasteroid."

  Medicouncilor Thorton sounded pleased. "I don't want to mislead you.We can't do any more for you medically than has already been done.However, you will find yourself the center of a more adequate sociallife. Friends, work, whatever you want. Naturally, in return for this,we will expect your full cooperation."

  "Naturally." Docchi blinked at him and got to his feet. "Soundsinteresting. I'd like to think about it for a minute."

  Cameron planted himself squarely in front of the screen. "Maybe Idon't understand. I think you've got the wrong person."

  "Dr. Cameron!" Thorton glowered. "Please explain."

  "It was an easy mistake to make," said Cameron. "Cut off fromcommunication, the gravital drive began to work. How? Why? Mostly, whodid it? You knew it wasn't I. I'm a doctor, not a physicist. NorJordan, he's at best a mechanic. Therefore it had to be Docchi,because he's an engineer. He could make it work. But it wasn't Docchi.He had nothing to do with--"

  "Look out!" cried Thorton too late.

  Cameron fell to his knees. The same foot that brought him down crashedinto his chin. His head snapped back and he sprawled on the floor.Blood trickled from his face.

  "Docchi!" shouted Thorton from the screen.

  Docchi didn't answer. He was crashing through the door. The commanderwas lounging against the wall. Head down, Docchi ran into him. Thetoaster fell from his belt to the floor. With scarcely a pause, Docchistamped on it and continued running.

  The commander got to his feet and retrieved the weapon. He aimed ittentatively at the retreating figure; a thought occurred to him and helowered it. He examined the damaged mechanism. After that, it wentgingerly into a tunic pocket.

  Muffled shouts were coming from Cameron's office. The general brokein.

  The medicouncilor glared at him from the screen. "I can see that youlet him get away."

  The disheveled officer straightened his uniform. "I'm sorry, sir. I'llalert the guards immediately."

  "Never mind now. Revive that man."

  The general wasn't accustomed to giving resuscitation; it was out ofhis line. Nevertheless, in a few minutes Cameron was conscious, thoughsomewhat dazed.

  "Now then, Doctor, if it wasn't Docchi who was responsible for thesudden functioning of the gravital drive, who was it?"

  With satisfaction, Cameron told him. He had not been wrong about thegirl. Listening to the detailed explanation of Nona's mentalabilities, the general was perplexed, as generals sometimes are.

  "I see." The medicouncilor nodded. "We overlooked that possibilityaltogether. Not the mechanical genius of an engineer. Instead, thestrange telepathic sense of a girl. That puts the problem in adifferent light."

  "It does." Cameron pressed his aching jaw. "She can't tell us how shedoes it. We'll have to experiment. Fortunately, it won't involve anydanger. With the monitor system we can always control the gravitaldrive."

  The medicouncilor leaned perilously backward and shook his head."You're wrong. It's supposed to, but it doesn't. We tried. For amicrosecond, the monitor did take over, but the gravital computer issmarter than we thought, if it _wa
s_ the computer that figured out themethod. It found a way of cutting the power from the monitor circuit.It didn't respond at all."

  Cameron forgot his jaw. "If you didn't bring the rocket back onremote, why did she come?"

  "Docchi knows," growled the medicouncilor. "He found out in this room.That's why he escaped." He tapped on his desk with blunt fingers. "Shecould have taken the ship anywhere she pleased and we couldn't havestopped her. Since she voluntarily came back, it's obvious