Chapter 14: The Shield of St. George

THE CONVERSATION was very quiet, but the microphone picked it up. The words that passed 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 passengers. 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 space, 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 massive 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 massive 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.

All at once, Mark pointed and cried out, “Hey, look at that! Do you see what I see?” Several men came to the window and peered out. Zip Foster joined them. Joe answered.

“Yes! -the asteroid’s moving!”

The dark bulk of the pirates’ asteroid, which had loomed so close to them for two days, was gradually but visibly moving away. Its silhouette had been blocking half their view of the Asteroid Belt and the gleaming array of stars behind it, but now, even as they watched, its profile diminished and stars were winking into view around its edge.

“They’re heading out somewhere-moving that entire asteroid! I wonder what’s going on?” asked Mark.

“We’ll be able to power up before too long, now! We’ll be on our way ourselves,” announced Zip, animatedly. “Soon we can get in touch with Starlight. It’s been over a week since we’ve been in contact. We’ve got a lot to tell them.” The shadow that had lain over Zip for two days had been lifted. “How long until we can turn on the power, Mark? When will we be out of the pirates’ radar range?”