Immediately after they awoke, the Starmen put Zip's plan into action.

Joe opened another of the alien s.p.a.cecraft. The Starmen had taken a quick look at the other ships in the hangar and found them to be identical. Quickly they made the ship look as if it had been abandoned in panic. When they were finished, two men carried a small tank of oxygen into the storage area. Joe then piloted the ship through the airlock to a point where it hovered just above the asteroid. Zip, Mark, and two miners stood outside on the ground. An explosion rocked the ship, and a panel was blown out from the wall of the storage area. Joe had detonated the oxygen tank to make it look as if some cargo had ignited and destroyed the ship.

Joe emerged from the main door and jumped to the ground. He had been tethered and the others pulled him in. They went back through the airlock and shut the door. They were still able to watch what happened through the immense window, transparent on their side. The ship began to drift away from the asteroid on a pre-arranged course Joe had set.

"The pirates should be seeing that on their radar in a few minutes,"

said Zip. "I figure the ship has to be at least a quarter mile from the surface for it to register on their screens."

But it was nearly ten minutes later that three pirate ships appeared.

The pirates could easily see the ripped panel on the ship and took only a few precautions on approaching the derelict. Zip turned to a "reception only" channel on the communicator his suit provided.

"It's not an Earth ship, sir," said a voice, "and it's empty.

Completely derelict. Must have been clamped to the surface of the asteroid and got shaken off when you moved it out of the Belt."

"Go inside! Make sure there's no one in it!" It was the commanding voice of Lurton Zimbardo. "Look for any sign that the Starmen had something to do with it!"

"Yes sir!" The orders were given and six men left one of the pirate ships and went through the open door of the alien craft. It took less than a minute to get a report.

"Nothing here, sir," said one of the s.p.a.cesuited men to his officer.

"The cargo area has been completely destroyed in an explosion, and the wall has been blown open into empty s.p.a.ce. There are no suits, no signs of any habitation."

"It's an old wreck, sir, and so damaged that it can't be used,"

reported the pirate officer to headquarters.

"Probably left by the beings who built the asteroid," said Zimbardo.

"Come on back to work. I'd like to take a look at it, but we don't have the men or time right now. Other matters are pressing."

"Yes sir." The communication terminated. The pirate ship took back its six crew members and the three ships cruised over the horizon.

"Part one, the least risky part, successful," said Zip. "Let's get going on part two, right now. Joe?"

"Ready Zip," the lanky Starman responded. He stepped through the airlock and leaped off the iron surface of the asteroid toward the derelict. Powered by small jets of oxygen he sped to the ship and disappeared through the open door.

"Everyone else get busy," called Zip. They ran back through the airlock to the hangar. The others were already aboard their escape craft. Zip piloted it through the airlock and kept the ship close to the surface of the asteroid. The airlock closed behind them. In the meantime Joe had caused the damaged ship to drift back down toward the asteroid out of radar range. He and Zip brought the two ships together and made a link. Joe left the broken ship and joined the others.

"Ready, Zip" he announced, once he was aboard. Zip put the slightest possible power into the escape ship, then turned the power off. Both ships began to drift away from the asteroid, so slowly as to be almost unnoticeable. Zip was hoping that when the pirates saw the blip on their radar, they would conclude it was the derelict and pay no attention. He was ready to drift for as long as it took to escape the notice of the pirates before turning on the power and setting a course for freedom. But now that the asteroid was not in the Belt any longer, he knew that they would have to drift for much longer than he had antic.i.p.ated.

They were free. But the tension was thick. It would not dissipate for a long time.

Forty-two hours later, Marshal and Averette North witnessed the impact of an asteroid that turned their atmosphere plant into rubble. Within an hour of the impact, Lurton Zimbardo opened a channel that allowed him to speak through nearly every communication system on Mars. Gene had previously discovered a method for entering and using all communication bands on Mars except those that were most closely guarded. He had surrept.i.tiously placed automatic signal points into the Martian system without activating them until this moment. Now that the moment had arrived, the voice of the pirate leader was heard throughout Mars.

"This is Lurton Zimbardo. The atmosphere plant at New Emmaus has just been destroyed by an asteroid impact. You were not able to detect the asteroid by radar. It struck without warning. This is to prove that I am able to render asteroids invisible and send them wherever I wish.

You cannot see them and you cannot stop them. Within a day the four remaining atmosphere plants on Mars will be similarly destroyed. This will convince you that I have more power than you can imagine, and that you are helpless to oppose me. After the last asteroid has struck your planet, I will announce my demands."

Lurton Zimbardo shut off the microphone in the control center of the asteroid. A crowd of at least forty men jammed the center where Zimbardo sat at the console. The rest of the pirates were standing in the factory or at their a.s.signed work places in the facility. All had heard the broadcast. A feeling of immense power and invulnerability surged through them. A few men began to cheer, and within seconds the enthusiasm had infected the rest of the pirates and the cheer became a roar. It rang throughout the control center and along the corridors, and filled the factory. Zimbardo's smile was wide. He looked down almost modestly, as if he were reluctant to accept the men's accolades.

When the cheers had died down at last, Zimbardo said simply but so that all could hear, "And now for the last step in the plan." The room was quiet. He took out a set of notes from his pocket. The paper was marked with scrawls, lines, and columns of figures. His eyes flicked rapidly from the notes to the controls. His fingers began to fly over the keyboard. He punched in coordinates and set the power grid. He marked the timing of various operations.

Gene, Zimbardo's closest a.s.sociate, was watching. Gradually his smile narrowed. His eyebrows creased. Then his eyes widened and his face drained.

"Sir!" he exclaimed in a quiet voice. "Those are the coordinates of Earth! If you use those, you'll take this whole asteroid directly to Earth!"

"Exactly," nodded Zimbardo. "In about 32 days, as I figure it." He was smiling widely again as he pressed "Enter" and activated the asteroid's propulsion system.

14: The Shield of St. George

THE CONVERSATION was very quiet, but the microphone picked it up. The words that pa.s.sed between Lurton Zimbardo and Gene were heard by every pirate on the asteroid. There was complete silence. The pirates'

enthusiasm and their complete trust in Zimbardo's leadership was instantly badly damaged. Though no one spoke, many of the men began to doubt their leader's sanity, and became afraid.

"But sir," pleaded Gene. "This asteroid is the key to our success, and we're all its pa.s.sengers. If you program it to collide with Earth, I..." words failed him.

Zimbardo smiled indulgently. "Gene," he soothed, as if explaining something obvious to a confused child, "I'm not going to cause us to smash into the Earth. We want to control Earth, not destroy it, and how better to do it than from a close orbit around the planet in this magnificent flying base? I'm taking us to Earth, and there will be plenty of time to adjust our course once we get close. We will accelerate until about midway there, then decelerate until we achieve orbital speed.

"I will, however, inform Earth that I have sent an asteroid more than forty miles long on a collision course-an asteroid they can't see and can't stop! They will meet any demands I make! They will definitely meet any demands I make, after we destroy the five atmosphere generators on Mars with pinpoint accuracy. Relax now. In a month or so, we will be the undisputed masters of the third planet-and all without leaving home!" He laughed.

Gene grinned and also laughed, but while Zimbardo's laugh was deep and genuine, Gene's was a little forced. He was relieved, but his trust in Zimbardo's leadership had suffered a severe setback. He would be on his guard from here on. He looked up and caught the eye of Mr. Lather. His face was hard and unsmiling; it was difficult to tell what he was thinking. Gene turned and looked at Gebbeth. His expression was marked with merciless determination. He, at least, appeared convinced and prepared to follow Zimbardo all the way. But Gene was no fool; he looked around and surmised that the majority of those in the room were harboring secret reservations.

Gene didn't blame them. He felt the same way. He would stay with Zimbardo for the time being, but he would keep a careful eye on the situation and look for a way to ensure his personal safety if it appeared that the pirate leader had lost touch with reality. The pirates were looking for power and prestige, not a suicide mission.

For almost two days the Starmen and the miners had been drifting in s.p.a.ce, not using power of any kind, afraid that even using lights might draw the attention of the vigilant pirates on the asteroid. The distance between the ship and the ma.s.sive iron asteroid with its fascinating interior was increasing incrementally, but not quickly enough to please Zip. He chafed with impatience.

Mark's first duty once the fourteen men were aboard ship was to discover their location. Since the escapees were using no power at all, Mark could employ only observation and mathematics to get his estimate.

He guessed that they were 1,023 miles from the nearest edge of the Asteroid Belt and drifting roughly parallel to it.

The Starmen's plan was to head for the nearest SE facility. If Mark's estimate of their position was correct, the facility closest to them was an unmanned Starlight Enterprise station on O344, a medium-sized asteroid coming their direction. As soon as it was safe to use power Joe would pilot the alien ship to the station.

"We'll be okay in a few hours, Zip," said Joe. "You got us out of the asteroid with food and a ship. We all thought that would be impossible.

We ought to be able to turn on the energy and get blasting out of here before too long."

"I know," responded Zip, with his characteristic furrowed brow. "We're caught between taking a chance on being recaptured by the pirates and depleting the food. We'll run out of supplies in a couple of days."

"I know-and the closest base is roughly four days away, depending on how speedy this beauty proves to be. But we'll make it." Joe went off to visit with Mark, who was gazing out of the window at the immense spread of the Milky Way.

George St. George came up to Zip, who was sitting alone at a table, doing nothing but staring down at his hands. He sat down opposite him; when Zip looked up, the miner smiled.

"You've brought us back into the heavens, young Mr. Starman," he said, "so you've got no reason to be covered with gloom. You won't get us to safety now any faster by worrying."

Zip pursed his lips and looked into St. George's eyes. "The man seems to be protected by a shield of innocence all around him," he thought.

"His base was destroyed, he and his men were captured and taken into a ma.s.sive iron asteroid by the Solar System's greatest enemy, and now he's floating in the void with only two days' food left, and he's still calm and trying to encourage me the way he encourages his men. Who is the real leader of these men? I make the decisions, but he strengthens their hearts. He even strengthens my heart."

St. George smiled. Almost as if he could read Zip's mind, he added, "Each of us has a gift according to the grace given us, which we are to use to benefit others. If it weren't for you, we'd still be locked up inside that room-or worse-under the control of Lurton Zimbardo. I have my gift, and you have yours, and we both employ our gifts well. We haven't come this far to fail now. Our success doesn't depend solely on you, you know. Relax and just do your part. There's still a lot to do, but the outcome isn't in doubt."

Zip smiled, and before he could say anything St. George had risen and strolled to the window where Joe and Mark stood.