Joe remained on the flight deck, keeping careful watch on the instruments. He preserved the Star Ranger's course precisely so that there would be no unnecessary delay in meeting the runaway asteroid.

Before him was a scattering of white stars in the blackness. A few large ones stood out.

"Mark would love this," Joe thought, but he didn't bother his friend.

The best minds of Starlight Enterprise and s.p.a.ce Command had been working for more than twenty-four hours on the problem of diverting the runaway asteroid, and had not even been able to restore power.

Twenty-five ships had docked inside the landing area, and more than 300 men were inside the facility. Some had been detailed to explore and take an inventory of what was found, others had been ordered to provide temporary light and power using portable equipment from the ships, and still others worked under Jesus Madera-Cruz in the desperate attempt to restore power to the asteroid.

From the communications center aboard the Tempest, Mr. Madera had been in contact with SE's best engineers and the Starmen. SE's best hope was in the Starmen since they had been aboard the asteroid and had walked through its power plant. By electronic communication, Mark had been able to provide some of the plans for the power plant to Mr. Madera, but the plant was simply too large and too complex for the plans to be of much use.

George St. George had given Madera the proper combination of b.u.t.tons in the elevators to give him access to the warehouse, but even after the portable units had restored power to the elevators they could not deliver men to the warehouse. The elevators would not descend beyond a certain level since Zip had previously destroyed all the panels when the pirates were pursuing them. Consequently, Madera had had to detail men to descend manually through the shaft to the warehouse floor and repair the controls at the warehouse level for one elevator. That had taken nearly eleven hours.

Except for one brief nap, Madera had not slept since the Tempest had landed. Once the elevator had been repaired, he went with about thirty men through the same pa.s.sages that the Starmen had traversed. Since the temporary lighting and power had been set up only in the facility that the pirates had been using, Madera and his companions walked in darkness as deep as the inside of a cave.

Madera hefted a huge but lightweight lamp for use in the power plant.

To illumine their way through the warehouse and corridors, others carried personal flashlights. As they made their way through the facility, the lights they carried cleaved the darkness. But behind them, the absolute darkness closed up again.

After leaving the warehouse, Madera had to use the codes the Starmen had provided to come to the immense power plant. Although the men had been told in advance what to expect, when the doors of the elevator opened, they were just as awed as the Starmen and miners had been when they first beheld the scene.

Though the power plant was completely dark and silent, there was a feeling among the men at the elevator door that they were at the edge of vastness. Madera activated his lamp and shone it into the iron cavern. Its light penetrated about half a mile; in its cone the latticework, panels, and tubing were revealed. When Madera saw the extent of the plant, he smiled with deep appreciation, then encouraged the men to get to work.

He a.s.signed them to three groups. They were to spread throughout the plant and search for evidence of any burnout or other damage. The men went forth with lights, tools, and electronic equipment. Madera himself set out to study one of the power stations and try to learn its secrets by personal examination.

At one end of the asteroid was the huge landing facility that Troy Putnam had taken over. About two-thirds of the length of the asteroid away was the port through which the Starmen and miners had escaped.

Between was an enormous complex of habitable s.p.a.ce. At the lowest level was the power plant. Above the power plant was an immense compound, secure from any chance encounter by Earthmen. Access could be given only from inside, and no Earthman would be able to enter by force, short of taking the entire asteroid apart. Indeed, no Earthman even suspected it existed.

Inside this compound, several tall, slender, humanoid figures were working frantically at a panel. Endless banks of dials, screens, switches, and other electronic paraphernalia were set out in the huge room where they worked. The room was dark. Several portable lights had been set in a semi-circle around the panel where the figures were working.

Conversation was minimal and quiet, barely above a murmur. Tools were requested and exchanged. A light was brought over and placed so as to reveal the inner workings of a cabinet filled with circuits and connections.

One figure walked slowly to the far end of the room, carrying a small light. He pa.s.sed through a doorway, traversed a short corridor, and entered an enormous chamber. He paced along a catwalk. The power in this room was operative. Far above him was an indigo sky with silver stars. A pale blue dawn was showing at the horizon. To his left was an extensive mirror-smooth lake in which the sky and stars were reflected in unutterable beauty. In the lake, trees grew in profusion. It appeared to be an orchard in flood time, but it was apparent that the trees grew best in a watery environment. Heavy, thick, almost circular leaves covered the trees. Fragrant white blossoms promised fruit in the next season. On the sh.o.r.e were numerous small boats for skimming and a few large ones for working in the orchard.

The catwalk led for about a mile across one end of the lake and had several side pa.s.sages, all on the right. At the fourth side pa.s.sage, the walker turned and pa.s.sed through an airlock. After he had come through the second door, he entered a lightless room that gave an impression of immense s.p.a.ciousness. Revealed in the shadow of his light were many horizontal gold and clear quartz capsules about eight feet long and two feet in diameter, stacked in rows. Each capsule was connected to cables that led into a large box. Boxes were s.p.a.ced about twenty feet apart and each was connected to about forty capsules.

The walker opened the top of the box and peered inside. He raised a small communicator to his lips and spoke into it. After receiving a reply, he reached into the box with a long tool. A moment later, dim lights went on in the room and a very low hum started up. The walker smiled broadly and closed the box. Then he retraced his steps.

Captain Mary Marks-Owens woke Jesus Madera out of a deep sleep.

"Mr. Madera," she said, approaching him gently where he had fallen asleep in his chair. He had returned to his office and workshop aboard the Tempest to study some diagrams he had made in the power plant. "The Star Ranger has arrived. The Starmen are waiting for you."

"Thank you, Captain," said Madera, lifting his head and rubbing his brown eyes. He ran his hand through his hair quickly, left his room, put on his helmet, and descended the outside ladder to the floor of the launching pad. He turned toward the control center and saw the Starmen on the other side of the wall. They all waved at him. Madera was one of the Starmen's favorite acquaintances from Starlight Enterprise. He strode across the tarmac and pa.s.sed through the airlock and hailed the young men.

After he had removed his helmet and exchanged hasty preliminary greetings, he led them across the quad in front of the manufacturing center and through the great doors.

"What have you discovered?" asked Mark.

"I think I can power up the computer system, but it will take a lot of energy to do so. I used submicroscopic robotic probes to provide detailed maps of the computer in the power plant, and some of the wiring, machines, and selected other equipment inside this amazing facility. I've detailed men to take portable power packs down to the power plant and arrange them in sequence to give us enough power to jump-start the computer. When we do that, we ought to be able to get into the files you found earlier, Mark. Getting the power packs down there is not easy, but with dozens of men working, I estimated that we could get it hooked up in a couple of hours. That was the time I was taking to study some diagrams I'd made, but instead took an involuntary catnap."

"Why didn't you enter the power plant through the hangar from which we escaped?" asked Zip.

"We looked for the opening in the place you'd indicated, but found no evidence of any kind that there was an airlock. We even tried locating it with radar, but the entrance is concealed so effectively that we could find no trace of it. We needed the personnel at this end, so we abandoned the search. Getting to the power plant through the complex here is the long way around, but we knew that we could do it and just couldn't take the time to look further on the surface for the shortest means of ingress."

"We'll have to find some way to open the airlock from the outside when we're not so rushed," responded Zip. "We haven't kept up with the time limit. What've we got?"

Madera sighed. "If we can't move the asteroid, impact with Earth will take place on Thursday, September 8, at 2:33 p.m. That's about six days from now. It will strike in the Atlantic Ocean just north of the West Indies."

"How much time have we got to turn it aside?"

"Just a coupla days. After that time, no matter what we do the asteroid will still strike the Earth somewhere. But we'll be able to move it."

"You sound confident, Mr. Madera," said Joe turning his head briefly as the four of them approached the elevators.

"Don't worry, Joe," said Madera. "Earth is not ready yet for its Judgment Day."

Somehow the Starmen believed him. He was not a Starman nor a reputed scientist, but he was a man of deep dignity who exuded confidence and easily won the affections of the people around him.

Moments later, they were at the site of the activity. The last portable power pack had been set up and connected to the closest console in the power plant.

"Set?" asked Madera of the technician who had overseen the procedure.

"Yes sir, Mr. Madera."

"Let's go, Mark." The big Starman stepped up next to the console with Madera. Mark felt a bit of stage fright. Anxiety coursed through him as he suddenly realized that there was so little time left and that the ability to turn the asteroid aside depended on him. Having an audience of more than thirty men daunted him.

"It doesn't depend entirely on you, Mark," said Madera, appearing to read Mark's mind. "Now let's power up."

Mark felt the anxiety drain away. He pressed the power b.u.t.ton he had discovered before, when the Starmen had been escaping from the pirates.

The computer screen surged into life. The men cheered, and Madera smiled. Joe stretched exultantly and appeared to grow two inches taller.

Zip's brow remained furrowed. He showed little emotion. For him the time to exult would be when the asteroid had been diverted. This was only a vital step in the process. There were others ahead.

Mark kept his eyes on the screen but spoke to Mr. Madera. "I have a theory, Mr. Madera. There must be power enough in this system, and far more than enough, to turn the asteroid aside. We don't need to find out what Zimbardo's burned out. We should try to get access to the rest of the system. The diagrams I sent you show that there must be plenty of power. We just have to find out how to turn it on!"

"That's sound reasoning, Mark," nodded Madera. "And probably easier than trying to locate whatever damage Zimbardo did."

For some time, Mark and Madera conversed quietly as Mark flipped through file after file. Diagrams appeared and Mark's fingers flew over the screen as he pointed out what he had learned while journeying on the Star Ranger. Madera nodded, and pointed out several connections Mark had not seen.

Once, Madera handed a small diagnostic pack to one of the technicians and sent him to climb the iron latticework. The man returned in a few moments and gave a report. Madera nodded again and turned to Mark.

Three hours went by. Joe's eyes were drooping, but Zip was still intent, his eyes on Mark.

Mark clapped his hands and turned to Madera. Madera smiled and raised his eyebrows. With an open hand, he gestured to the control panel. Mark nodded his thanks and pressed several b.u.t.tons. The files changed rapidly at each new command. Then Mark made fists and clenched a few times as if ma.s.saging his fingers. Then he raised his hand and prepared to press a b.u.t.ton off to the side of the panel.

Suddenly he leaped back a foot, his hands lifted as if he had touched a hot surface. His face was white, his eyes were wide open, and he was breathing hard. His body was trembling as if he were deadly frightened.