The Runaway Asteroid, Michael D. Cooper [mobi reader android TXT] 📗

from the landing field. All buildings on Ceres were made of the gray rock native to the asteroid. Building material was cheap and solid, but plain.

Although the city itself was covered with an atmosphere dome, the SE office was located close to the landing field, not within the city proper. Entrance was through an airlock. Once through the airlock, the Starmen removed their helmets and placed them on the rack.

"Whoopee! This is fun, being famous!" exclaimed Joe, his eyes alight. "I hope it lasts until we get back to the Earth-Moon system! I'd like to enjoy it!"

"I hope so, too, for all our sakes. Your exploits have given all the
Starmen a good name!" Joe whirled.

"Kathryn Mullaney!" cried Joe. Mark and Zip smiled widely.

"What are you doing on Ceres, Kathryn?" asked Zip. "I haven't seen you since your last visit to the Academy at the beginning of our senior year." Kathryn Mullaney had graduated from Starlight Academy a year before Zip and his partners; her first assignment as a Starman was in the Outer Planets. She was twenty years old, wore her strawberry blond hair short, and had a few freckles spangled across her nose below blue eyes which had a touch of green in them.

"Finished my assignment on Ganymede and I'm coming back home for a leave which I hope will be very long! I spent eight months in the smallest population center in the Solar System, and can't wait to get back where there are crowds of people! I'm just staying here long enough for a quick once-over on my ship, refueling, and then I'm Earth-bound. In fact, I'm on my way out now."

There was a little more pleasant conversation, then Kathryn said, "I've got to be going, and Sim is waiting for you upstairs. Good luck!"

Zip, Mark, and Joe ascended the stairs and came to the landing. The stairway and corridors were very plain. There was no unnecessary ornamentation of any kind, and lighting was minimal. They found a door with a sign on it that read STARLIGHT ENTERPRISE in bold letters. A second line provided the name of SE's resident operations officer on Ceres: "Sim Sala Bim." Joe knocked.

"Come in," said a voice. The Starmen entered the door. The occupant, a tall, slender man of Indian extraction with black thinning hair, was already coming toward the door to welcome his visitors. "Welcome! So glad to see you! Welcome, please come in!" He ushered them into the room.

"Nice to see you again, Sim," greeted Zip. They sat down in a circle of chairs, Sim sitting near a table on which were placed all the makings necessary for tea. There were already two cups set out, which had been used recently. Sim took one for himself and set the other aside. "This was Kathryn's," he said as he produced three new cups for his visitors. "You probably passed her on your way in."

The conversation continued as Sim poured the tea from a very large brown earthenware teapot. Before long, Zip brought up the subject of their visit.

"I wish we had more time to visit, Sim, but our assignment is extremely urgent. We must find George St. George as fast as possible, and Oritz has told us that only a miner named Montezuma Vly can tell us where he is. We're on our way to Montezuma's Castle."

"Ah, yes," said Sim Sala Bim, "Sabbath George. He is well known here, but we haven't seen him in almost a year, I think. Almost a year."

"Sabbath George?" asked Mark.

"George St. George is a devout man-genial, generous, liked and respected by everyone. Honest to a fault. He's called Sabbath George because of his beliefs. The nickname is intended to kid him a little bit, but is really meant as a term of respect and affection. But to find him in short order, you will indeed have to go through Montezuma Vly. Montezuma's Castle is not hard to find, but getting in will be difficult."

"We are familiar with Mr. Vly's convictions and we wouldn't bother him if there were any other way to find St. George. Given the time constraints, we have no choice."

Sim nodded. "Montezuma's Castle is easily recognizable by its unusual shape. It is a true crescent, a sliver of stone with Vly's operation in its very center." Sim went on to provide its coordinates and other information the Starmen would need to find it.

Zip continued. "On this assignment secrecy is of the utmost importance. It is vital that no one knows who we are or what we're doing. We obviously can't take the Star Ranger, as the news media have made that ship easily recognizable. We learned that when we landed on Ceres. I think we're going to need to use another ship."

With Sim, the Starmen made plans to leave the Star Ranger on Ceres while the Starmen, dressed in ordinary clothes, quietly departed for Montezuma's Castle in another ship.

"I'll let you have the Vigilant Warrior," said Sim. "It's a local ship, designed for operating in the Asteroid Belt. We own it, but it hasn't been used in a while and probably no one will recognize it as an SE ship. It's the best I can do on short notice, but it should serve you well."

"I'm sure it'll be fine, if you say so," answered Zip.

Sim Sala Bim got right to work, and the Vigilant Warrior was ready for takeoff within two hours. As soon as it was ready, the Starmen lifted off from Yellow City. As Joe piloted the ship into the heart of the Belt, Zip looked back for a brief, wistful moment and saw the unusual dark red color of the Star Ranger, his ship, on the field of Yellow City.

"That's it," said Mark, as the navigation equipment locked onto the asteroid that was the home of the elusive Montezuma Vly.

"Hmmm. No wonder it's so hard to find," observed Zip, looking over Mark's shoulder for a moment. "Not far from major travelways but so unobtrusive you'd never notice it."

"It just hovers almost in the shadow of that large, worthless chunk here. Should be able to see it out the window before too long."

Joe was busy threading the Vigilant Warrior through the asteroids for the next few minutes. He kept the ship at a moderate pace and passed easily around the slowly turning asteroids. They were all moving at about the same speed and maneuvering was not difficult.

"Should be coming up on it about now," offered Mark.

"There it is," said Zip almost immediately. The Vigilant Warrior had eased its way around an oblong worldlet-the "large, worthless chunk" that Mark had just mentioned-bringing into view a crescent-shaped, stony asteroid about a mile long. It looked almost like a fat banana with the ends tapering into sharp points.

"Montezuma's Castle," breathed Zip. "Kind of looks like a moon for that large asteroid."

"I think it is," answered Mark. "It rotates around the larger chunk and the two make almost a helix pattern in their journey through the Belt. They were probably a single asteroid at one time. One powerful impact must have split them, but the pieces haven't drifted far apart."

"Well, let's get down there. There's no mistaking the shape of the 'Castle.' Whatever odd shapes you can find in the Belt, that's got to be unique." The Starman brought the Vigilant Warrior slowly into the proximity of Montezuma Vly's refuge. "See if you can raise him, Mark."

Mark Seaton flipped on the communicator.

"Starman Mark Seaton on the starship Vigilant Warrior calling Montezuma Vly on the Castle, requesting permission to land." His voice was smooth, intimate, and confident. There was no response. A minute later, Mark repeated the message. The metallic voice of an automatic response system came on.

"This asteroid is private property and visitors are not welcome."

"We understand that, sir," Mark replied, "and we would not request permission to land if it were not a matter of urgent business of personal concern." A human voice came on.

"Yeah, like I haven't heard that one before! I don't want visitors! If
I wanted a social calendar, I'd go live in a big population center like
Ganymede. Keep going! Next services are 3,000 miles away."

"Mr. Vly, this is Starman David Foster, Commander of the Starlight Enterprise ship Vigilant Warrior," Zip broke in. "We understand and respect your reluctance to receive visitors and will stay no longer than necessary. We are calling on you because your friend George St. George has information we need which is vital to the safety of all the settlements on Mars and even the Earth-Moon system. We also believe it possible that he is in danger from violent men."

"Well, that's a new one. George in danger? What about it?"

"May we land, Mr. Vly? I don't want to take the slightest risk that our conversation can be overheard. We won't stay any longer than necessary."

"You've found me. May as well come in and state your business." The communicator was shut off from Vly's end.

Zip came up on the Castle. It didn't take long to find the landing site. There were two spacecraft in position in about the middle of the asteroid. One was a small ship suitable for local jaunts, and the other was a normal-sized craft capable of interplanetary travel. The name Sentinel was painted on the side of the larger craft. Both were very old and in places a little battered, but were clearly cared about and well kept up.

The Vigilant Warrior touched down about fifty yards from the closest of Vly's craft. Joe shut off the engines and pressed the security button. A slight shudder ran through the ship as bolts shot from the fins, securing the ship to the surface. The Starmen disembarked and descended the ladder.

"Over there," pointed Joe. The entrance to the airlock was discernible across the tiny landing area. The Starmen began walking toward it. The starfield swept away to right and left, with a couple of nearby asteroids visible to the eye. A great horn of stone rose up before them, sweeping to a point above. Behind them a similar horn curved up in the opposite direction.

The ground was uneven, with contours sharply defined. Jagged, broken rock comprised most of the terrain, with a few smooth ripples which rose about twenty or thirty feet from the plain. Shadows were utterly dark in the vacuum of space. The Starmen wore asteroid shoes, designed for walking in low gravity conditions. Their soles had an automatic "smart grip" function that gripped the ground when weight was placed on them, but released when the walker took another step. Without the asteroid shoes, the minimal gravity of "Montezuma's Castle" would have made walking a difficult, even dangerous, task.

The Starmen saw that the airlock was set into the side of a hill. The hill had been artificially cut away in front of the door. As Zip, Mark, and Joe approached the airlock, the outer door opened. When they had passed through, it shut behind them. Joe kept watch on the instruments as air filled the compartment. When the atmosphere had become normal, he removed his helmet, and Zip and Mark followed suit. They opened the second door and passed through. A dimly-lit stairway led down in front of them. About twenty-five steps brought them to the beginning of a short passageway. At the end was another door. It was solid.

Zip approached the door and paused. He turned his head to the other two, lifted his eyebrows and shrugged. Mark and Joe nodded. Zip knocked. The door was opened almost immediately.

A good-looking, clean-shaven man with dark brown wavy hair looked them over once quickly, then stepped aside. "Come in," he said, waving a hand while the other held the door. "I'm Montezuma Vly." He had powerful hands, obviously used to hard labor. His nails had grit under them. Strong as the hands were, they were also clearly the hands of an artist, capable of fine work. He shook hands with the Starmen as they entered.

"Wow!" said Joe, the last to enter. Vly shut the door. The three Starmen gazed about them. They were standing in a small room packed with machinery-old-fashioned machinery used for rock cutting, polishing stones, and mounting specimens. The heady smell of machine oil hung in the air, not heavy like that of an aircraft hangar but attractive and energizing, almost like a perfume.

The machinery was made of cast iron, with wheels and gears, rods and chains visible inside the cases. Mark noted that each machine looked lovingly maintained. The newest machine must have been at least fifty years old,