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t4 ASTOUNDING SCIENCE-FICTION NEUTRAL VESSEL 15

the most malignant face he'd ever seen. jets continued to blast. They were ac- The mate called and the second and indi,·idual fuel supply in separate insu-
Then, as white flame crackled past his celerating with full power-at five gravi- thin] officers responded quickly. Zona lated cells was all right, he reflected,
ear, singeing his hair odorously, he ties. Nothing serious in that-for a P hillips had gone out \\'ith the nurse, provided you neve1- had trouble with
laun~hed his big bulk into a flying tackle. while. There was plenty of time to de- Brand noticed. Jarvis and Rosso were more than one or two at a time. Vv'ith
_ His arms en wrapped struggling legs; celerate. But how long would the tubes here, reporting in. Brand pointed word- all of them out of commission and the
Ills square battering-ram of a shoulder stand the heat? And what was the trou- lessly to the panels and told them to disconnects inoperative, \\'hat were you
hit just right. The fellow went down ble? The flashing lights showed every- stand by. going to do?
like a toppling chimney, smacking into thing in the ship wrong all at once. "Vve're going armed," he told Carlin, Those disconnects \\'ere in the 13,800-
a floor grating with a crunch of finality. "I've notified maintenance," Carlin _as they left. bolt bus from the main generator. To
But Brand made sure with the butt of told him. ''i\rmed ?" The 111µte looked sur- cut them out of a live circuit like that
the fellow's own weapon. Kicking him "What started it all?" Brand asked. prised. was something. The relays and main
over, he saw that he was a Terrestro- "Regular hourly test procedure, sir. Brand explained and, stopping at the breakers, too, \\'ere inside the cell with
Martian. Pliillips' suspicions had been The operators plugged in on their mate ·s cabin for flame throwers, they the irrniter tube, jet breech and fuel hop-
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well founded but his visit too late. ;- ground indicators ahd everything started. started below. They went directly to per. So \\'ere the step-ur translormers,
Returning, Brand. found that the girl Every relay clicked furiously and the Brinkerhof, the head maintenance en- the phanotron rectifiers and the 400,000-
Zona _had fainted over her father's body. jets were on. As you can see, they re- ..,.ineer lindino- him scratchin!!' his head Yolt D. C. for ignition. And the heat of
b ' b - a continuous blast. You couldn"t even
He picked her up bodily and strode onto fuse to cut off. That's all we know." as he looked over his file of circuit draw-
the bridge with her slim form draped Brand thought of the circuit diagram ings. a-et in there to shut off the fuel sup-
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over one arm. . and of Phillips, a frown creasing his ''I can't fio-ure it out," he told Brand. ply. And you dared not shut down the
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_T,here would be no supper at the cap- brow. "Funny," he muttered. "It looks as if someone had tampered main o-enerators because the gravity
tains table today for them. Carlin jump.ed. "What's that, sir?" with the switches all around. It doesn't compe1~sators ran off the 13,800-volt
"Nothing." The _audio blared and seem possible." A. C. And who could live to ten of
sudden exposure to live gravities ?
II. Brand jumped. ·'No," agreed Brand. "But it-" Also and \\·orse, the main generators
The four operators straightened The door to the maintenance offo;e
CARLIN .at once seemed more solici- tens~ly. Something was in the air. crashed open and an electrician collapsed supplie~I the current f<;>r the excite:s th~t
tous of the girl than of the difficulties "Wilson, maintenance," squawked the inside. Blood gushed from his throat in maintained the atomic blast v,h1ch, m
on _the bridge and below. ' audio. "Numbers-' one, two and three jerky spurts. H e bubbled horribly: turn, supplied energy to turn that gen-
''She's only fainted," Brand. told him drive chambers inspected. All circuit " Machine shop. T hey're-" erator. Cut the generator, and the blast
gruffly after one look at the control pan- breakers closed and fused solid. Can't That was all. T he man died while wotild die. vVith that ~u}, the generator
e_s. H e had never seen so many red be repaired without complete shut- they stood> rooted with horror. His couldn't be restarted ti 11 the blast was .
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lights flashing at one time in all his ex- down." jugular had been ripped wide open. restarted from a jury-rig exciter cir-
perience. "A mutiny!" babbled Brinkerhof. cuit. Generators \\'eren't supposed to
"We can't shut down. What's wrong
H e glared at the mate, who scurried ,with the hand disconnects?" returned "Mutiny, hell!" Brand snorted. ''This be cut out in transit; the exciter cur-
back to the controls, Then Brand the captain. is war. On a neutral ship, too. Co111e rent ior starling was supplied normally
howled into an audio frame for the in- Oil ! " from special lines run in from dock
"F used solid, sir."
firmary. H e told them about Phillips "Very well. Stand by until the others before take-off. Rigging jury-exciter cir-
and about the daughter and to be damn report." THE CAPTA IN'S burly form nearly cuits would take hours, and in the mean-
quick doing something. He got the re- " Aye, sir." filled the passageway as the three made time nothing but low-voltage storage-
sults he sJemanded. A nurse was with Brand turned to the mate. "Now, toward the 111achine shop. They battery po"·er would be available.
the girl almost before he had finished what in the devil could have done that?" plunged through the central core for- It looked as if they'd just have to keep
bellowing. on accelerating for a v.,-hile. Until they
he tjemanded. · ward of number three di•ive chamber and
T?en he glared at the indicating panel. Carlin shook his head. Just then the Brand glanced up at the huge discon- could figure a way out. Meanwhile-
Their speed had increased from the nor- audio. started talking again. N umbers necting switch. Sure enough, its mas- His reflections ceased abruptly when
mal 27.6 to 45.8 miles per second in fo_ur and five drive chambers were re- sive copper bars had been hand-brazed he saw a bent figure skulking out of the
ten minutes. N one of the operators ported in the same condition as the first fast in their fingers. How could any- machine shop. Not in ship's uniform,
spoke a word. Brand moved to the three. So were the steering-jet cham- one have gotten away with this ? They this figure. Brand splashed a lance of
motor panels and saw that all five driv- . bers. Brand grimaced. couldn't on a full-crew ship, that was white flame at his feet and saw a floor
ing jets were on full blast, as vyere the . "Get Jarvis up here," he told Carlin. grating glow instant red. The man
a cinch.
four steering jets. H e flicked a control "And Tony Rosso. You and I are go- T his business of placing the drive mo- yelped and ducked into a passage lead-
key himself. Nothing happened. T he ing l:ielow ,"
tors as complete assemblies with their ing forward.

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