Chapter 14

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 Space 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 buttons 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 passages 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 assigned 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 space. 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 passed 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 shore 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 passages, all on the right. At the fourth side passage, the walker turned and passed through an airlock. After he had come through the second door, he entered a lightless room that gave an impression of immense spaciousness. 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 spaced 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 passed 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 button 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 buttons. The files changed rapidly at each new command. Then Mark made fists and clenched a few times as if massaging his fingers. Then he raised his hand and prepared to press a button 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. Zip shot forward, pushing his way through the crowd to reach Mark.

“What is it, Mark? What’s wrong?” His voice was urgent.

“The power plant--it’s thousands of years old!” Mark wasn’t looking at Zip--he was still looking forward, as if his eyes were being drawn to the controls. “Pressing this button...” he stopped and swallowed hard, and blinked twice. “Pressing this button is the last step in activating the rest of the power plant. It should give us the power we need, but--but it’s clear that it hasn’t been activated for thousands of years. There’s no way to tell whether it’s safe. This is a complicated system. If something is wrong,” Mark slowly turned to face Zip, “If something is wrong, if a bolt has slipped into the wrong place, if Zimbardo bypassed a vital circuit somewhere, or if a conduit is stopped up anywhere, all the energy this plant can produce could blow back at us. The entire works could explode into a million pieces.”

Zip looked at the floor for an instant, then looked up again and stared directly into Mark’s eyes. “You’re right, Mark; but there’s no other choice. You have to do it.”

Mark’s exhaled quickly. “Oh, I know, Zip--I know. But as I reached out my hand, I had a sudden chill that our destruction was a second away. It just didn’t _feel_ right. And if this asteroid blows into fragments, then Earth will be peppered with _hundreds_ of devastating impacts!”

Zip slowly turned and faced the silent crowd. Every face was marked with grave intensity. Joe stood at the back, his face drawn and tense.

“You all heard,” Zip said. “But you all know that we have no choice.” No one said anything. A few men dropped their eyes and shuffled their feet. Zip turned to Mr. Madera in silent appeal. Madera nodded very slowly.

Then Mark wiped both hands on his shirt and slowly reached out and pressed the last button.

A distant grinding noise as of gears engaging sounded from far away. There was a whooshing sound as of air filling a giant bag. The grinding sound leveled off into a bare hum. The lights gradually came on.

The men cheered. Mark looked relieved. The tension under which he had been operating quickly released. His face wrinkled up and tears began to flow down his cheeks.

Then the bare hum began to build. It turned into a whine, and then into a shriek. The floor began to shudder. Mark wiped his eyes and stared at the screen.

“The reaction is starting, but the energy level is climbing much faster than it should! Something’s wrong! _Something’s wrong!!_”

The men began to hear small explosions. There was a popping sound as a flexible tube burst a few yards away. Tinkling glass rained down in several places as light bulbs popped with the influx of too much energy. Mark began to flip rapidly through files on the screen.

All at once a panel a hundred yards away blew out in a monstrous explosion. A burst of brilliant white light blinded the men momentarily. As their eyes returned to normal a loud hiss cut through the air and continued to build. Yellow and orange sparks erupted in a spectacular shower from the damaged panel. Mark turned toward the site with a look of panic. Without warning a connector at the panel lit up with a coruscating orange color. Unable to handle the power surge, it began to melt and fragment. In less than a second, the damage shot through the connector and came to where it entered the computer terminal. There was a sickening, deep “brrzzz” sound, and the screen went dark.

Mark slumped toward the floor. Madera grabbed the Starman before he fell and eased him to the iron deck. Joe ran forward.

21: The Asteroid Over Vanuatu

ZIP was already hunched over Mark when Joe came to the front of the crowd. A few of the men hovered nearby, which others ran to the site of the explosion. Most stayed in place, looking around nervously.

“Is he...?” stammered Joe.

“He sustained a powerful shock,” said Madera. “The energy was too much for that panel and it backed up to the terminal here. Mark had his hand on the keyboard.”

Zip was taking Mark’s pulse. Mark’s right hand was blackened and his sleeve was frayed up to the elbow. “His pulse is strong. I think he’s just unconscious. It must have been quite a blow!”

“Yes, it was,” said Madera. “I could feel the power of it just standing nearby! But his heart is beating strongly! Let’s get him back to the _Tempest_ where he can receive some care!”

“What about the power?” asked Joe, getting to his feet.

“Look around you, Joe,” said Madera with a wave of his hand.

Joe and Zip looked out toward the plant.

“Hey!” exclaimed Joe. “It’s okay! It’s leveled off!” The shriek had diminished to a gentle hum once again, and the sounds of popping conduits and breaking glass had disappeared. “What happened?”

“I think that the panel over there was a huge breaker for this part of the power system. Mark was right. There was enormous danger in starting the plant up after so long. The energy surged through it and even the breaker couldn’t handle it very well. It blew up when it couldn’t handle the strain any more, and diverted the energy it couldn’t absorb back into the terminal here. Fortunately for Mark, by that time there was only a little left.” Madera glanced down at Mark. “He’s a brave man.”

“Yes, he is,” confirmed Joe with some animation. He and Zip picked Mark up. With the help of two others, they carried him to the elevator. In less than a minute, all the men were on their way back to the control center and the _Tempest_.

Within ten minutes they were back in the main hall. Through the great doors they could see more than two dozen spacecraft arrayed on the extensive launching pad.

Mark sighed deeply, then moaned. The four men who were carrying him kept up the pace. Joe called out, “Mark! How’re you doing?”

Mark moaned again, blinked, then opened his eyes. He stared up at the ceiling, appearing not to see anything. Then suddenly he began to struggle.

“Hey! Hey, what’re you doing?” he cried out. “Put me down!”

“Easy, Mark,” said Zip. “You had a shock, but you’ll be okay!”:

“I’m okay now! Put me down! I have to fix the panel! Where are you taking me?”

“Everything’s fine, Mark,” said Mr. Madera. “The system leveled out and the power is back on and controlled.”

Mark sank back with another sigh. “Great,” he said. “Put me down, though. I’m all right.” The men set him on his feet, but supported him as he wobbled, trying to get his balance.

“Wow! Am I tired!” he said at last. “Somebody help me to my bunk and wake me when it’s over.”

“I’ll go with you, Mark,” said Joe. With Joe trying to support the larger of the two Starmen, the two of them walked slowly across the quad to the airlock that led to the launching pad.

“We’re still not finished,” said Madera. “We have to steer the asteroid out of its collision course. For that, I think we’ll need some help from an unlikely source.”

“Gene,” stated Zip.

“Gene,” affirmed Starlight Enterprise’s Chief Ioneer.

Jesus Madera reached for his communicator and asked that Gene be sent to him from where he was being held in the _Tempest_. Madera dismissed the men who had been with them in the power plant, then turned to the red-headed Starman.

“I’m sure that Joe or even I could pilot the asteroid if we had to, but it is best that Gene do it--best for him.”

“Of course, Mr. Madera,” said Zip. “I understand.”

While they waited, the Starman gazed around. Far above was the roof of the great chamber like an iron sky. The natural lights of the complex once again blazed throughout the structures. The air seemed fresher.

He and Madera watched Gene descend the ladder and jump the last few rungs to the pad. Then he turned and paced quickly to the closest entrance in the great wall. He came through the airlock, discarded his helmet, and hurried to the small group that was waiting for him.

“We have restored power,” said Madera.

“So I see!” said Gene with a great smile. “That’s terrific! Do you want me to pilot the asteroid away from Earth?”

“That’s exactly what I want you to do. Let’s go.”

The three men made their way along the corridors, hastened past open doorways, and took the elevator up one flight to the control center. They passed dozens of SE men and members of Space Command. Captain Mary Marks-Owens was supervising their work.

Once in the control center, Gene took his seat at the main console, glanced at the Starman and the other men in the large room, then stared at the screen before him. He scratched his head, then placed his hands on the keyboard and activated it.

“Whew!” he exclaimed a moment later. “Well over 290,000 miles per hour! It would be better to turn this asteroid aside and pass by the Earth rather than try to bring it into orbit, as Zimbardo had planned at first. We’re going too fast for that!”

“My thoughts exactly,” said Madera, seating himself on a stool next to Gene. “Let’s see how you do it.”

Gene plotted coordinates and tracked the trajectory of the runaway asteroid, then calculated the amount of thrust needed to pass the Earth at a safe distance. He figured how much he could slow the asteroid down without putting too much stress on the inhabitants. When he was finished, he turned to Madera.

“Okay?”

“Looks right to me!”

“Well, then...here goes.” Gene entered the figures into the primary guidance system and activated it. Tears suddenly came into his eyes. “Oh, please let it be enough, let it be right, let it work,” he whispered.

* * * * *

The Starmen woke after twelve hours of sleep aboard the _Star Ranger_. Uncharacteristically, Joe was the last one up. He found a note in the washroom that read, “We’re on the _Tempest_. Join us for breakfast whenever you’re ready.” He washed up quickly and hastened to the SE fleet command ship.

Readily admitted, he found his two colleagues in the dining area. Mark and Zip were just finishing a large platter of scrambled eggs and cheese, potatoes, freshly-squeezed juice, and hot coffee. “I’ll have the same, but with tea,” he announced, and sat down.

“Yes sir,” came a voice from the galley.

“How’re you feeling this morning, Mark?” asked Joe. “How’s your hand?”

“Couldn’t feel better, Joe! Had a good sleep at last, and my hand should be healed in a couple of weeks. It was a second-degree burn.”

A few moments later, Gene came out carrying Joe’s breakfast.

“Gene!” exclaimed Joe.

“Yes, Mr. Taylor. Just trying to help out a little,” said the erstwhile pirate.

“He cooks as well as he pilots,” said Mark.

“We’re safe, then.” Joe made it a statement rather than a question as he shook some pepper onto the steaming eggs.

“Yes,” said Zip. “The asteroid will sweep past the Earth in a week, missing it by about 50,000 miles. It will be visible for almost the whole night over the south Pacific, like a fast-moving star. Should be quite a sight!”

“Then what?” asked Joe between gulps of juice.

“Then what, what?” responded Mark.

“Then where does it go?”