Rocket to Limbo

And Tom Lorry, worry heavy on his quizzical face as he went about the ship, showing the strain and trying to hide it, trying to grasp the full meaning of the tension that built up, and not quite succeeding.

And Paul Morehouse, navigator, his usually affable expression gone, lines of worry on his face too as he checked the bearings and recalculated the course, underscored the day’s progress for his report to the skipper.

And Walter Fox, his pale blue eyes alert, but always firm, always confident as he moved about the ship, checking preparations, a nod here, a smile there, oblivious to the cold looks, the short answers, the whispers.

Another day, more whispers, new complaints. Peter Brigham carefully avoiding Lars now, rising before Lars awoke, never in the bunkroom, always in a group in the lounge, never alone.

Lars found him at last, just turning in as another sleep period began. He snapped the light off quickly as Lars pushed open the hatch, but Lars snapped it on again, and walked slowly to his locker. He started to undress.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked suddenly, turning on Peter. “Come on, you’re not asleep. Answer me! What do you think you’re doing?”

Peter looked up at him lazily. “Old Eagle-eye! Been watching me, have you?”

“You bet I have.”

“All right, then you tell me. What am I doing?”

“Look, this is no joke,” Lars said. “You’ve got the men on this ship ready to fly apart any minute. Don’t you know what’s happening? Can’t you see what comes next?”

Peter sat up suddenly, and he wasn’t smiling. His eyes were intent on Lars’ face. “No, tell me what comes next.”

“Mutiny comes next. And you know it as well as I do.

You’ve been doing everything in your power to turn this crew against Commander Fox. You’ve put the words in their mouths, the ideas in their heads. And^if you play your cards just right, you’re going to succeed, too.”

Peter roared with laughter, his arms gripping his sides as he rolled on the bunk. “And you’re just getting the idea now? Where have you been?” He caught his breath, his laughter dying as suddenly as it started. “But that’s all right, that’s all right. It it’s soaked through to your level, it must be working!”

“Working!”

“Yes, working. I told you Fox had some questions to answer, didn’t I? Well, I meant it. He hasn’t even started answering yet.”

“But mutiny—”

“It’ll make this one thing certain,” said Peter Brigham through his teeth, “that Walter Fox will never lift another Star Ship off Earth, ever. Even if it takes a mutiny to stop him.”

Chapter Five No Place For Cowards

For a long moment there was silence as Lars stared at Peter. Then, slowly, he sank down on the bench along the bulkhead. “So it’s Fox you’re after,” he said. “Not the place the ship is going, or what we may find there. You’re not concerned about that at all, just about getting Walter Fox.” “Now you’re getting the idea,” said Peter. Lars shook his head. “I don’t get it. Peter, it just doesn’t make sense, what you’re doing. You’re taking the greatest planet-breaker that Earth ever sent to space, and you’re trying to mutiny his crew and break him. Why? Whom could we have in command better than Fox? He’s led crews into unknown territory before, and they’ve trusted him, and he’s brought them back, too. Don’t you know what Fox has done?”

“Oh, yes, I know all right. You’re the one who doesn’t.” Peter gave Lars a scornful glance. “You’re so sick with hero-worship you wouldn’t recognize the truth about Walter Fox if it walked up and kicked you in the teeth. I don’t know why I even bother talking to you.”

“I know that Fox is a great man, if that’s what you mean, and I’m proud to be aboard his ship.”

“I know, I know,” Peter sighed. “You’ve read his books, and all the nice newspaper reports of his voyages, all singularly favorable to Walter Fox. Big press releases, fancy live 3-V broadcasts, everything. That’s your idea of the man.”

“And your idea?”

“That he’s a fanatic and a fool,” Peter snapped. “Why do you think this ship was ever commissioned on this trip in the first place? Because Fox knew about the Planetfall and screamed to high heaven until they gave him a ship and men to go hunt her down. Why was he so eager? Because of the Planetfall, do you think? Fox didn’t care two beans about the Planetfall. But he smelled aliens, and that meant he had to come, no matter how he managed it or whom he brought along. Handing him a ship and sending him to Wolf IV was like handing a knife to a homicidal maniac and turning him loose on the town.”

“I don’t believe it,” Lars said slowly.