productive time. It was a stupid thing to do. No wonder Cap was broke, or the next closest thing.
"Weird, huh?"
Lando went for his slug gun as he turned around.
Cy squirted himself backward and dipped apologetically. "Sorry, Pik. I'll make some noise next time."
Lando nodded, somewhat mollified, but unwilling to let Cy completely off the hook. "I should think so. That's a damn good way to get yourself blasted."
The cyborg rotated forward in agreement. "Sorry, Pik. It won't happen again."
Lando smiled. Something about Cy made it hard to stay mad. Besides, the cyborg was a good sort, and one helluva engineer. By working damned near around the clock Cy had repaired most of the damage done during the pirate attack. "You said Cap's course was 'weird'⦠as if you were expecting it."
The silver ball made a jerking motion that reminded Lando of a shrug. "I was. Every time we enter the belt, Cap waits till the job's done, and searches for his ship."
"Ship? What ship?"
Cy floated toward the control panel and came to rest on top of the tac tank. "You remember that cyborg named Jord Willer? The one that damned near rammed us off Snowball? Remember how he mentioned the Star of Empire ?Well, she was a liner, a big one. The biggest of her time. I even rode on her once when I was a little boy, but that was more than thirty standards back, and before Cap took command. She was a grand ship, nearly four miles long, and loaded with every luxury you can imagine.
"Every year the Empire made a tour of the inner planets. And every year two thousand members of the social elite would pay exorbitant prices to come aboard, criticize each other's clothes, and enjoy 'the tour.'"
Cy was silent for a moment, as if collecting his thoughts, or remembering how it felt to have a flesh-and-blood body.
"Anyhow, the way Cap tells it, the Star of Empire was in hyperspace, making the jump from New Britain to a nav beacon just off Durna's sun when something went wrong.
"Nobody knows for sure, but Cap thinks that a billion-to-one failure by the NAVCOMP dropped the ship out of hyperspace a fraction of a second too early. Others believe it was a tiny drive fluctuation, or some sort of unusual discontinuity in hyperspace, but whatever the reason⦠she came out right in the middle of the asteroid belt."
Now Lando remembered. He remembered adults talking, some sort of distant disaster, and the name: Star of Empire.
He looked at Cy. "If Cap was in command, what's he doing here?"
Cy swiveled from side to side as if shaking his head. "Come on, Pik! When you lose a ship like the Empire, your career is over, no matter where you are at the time. And if you're dead drunk, well, a tug's the most you can hope for."
"Cap was drunk?"
Cy rolled forward, then back. "That's right. The first officer got some of the people off, including Cap, but very few survived. Many of those who survived the initial impact with the roid were killed while trying to escape the belt."
Lando tried to imagine. A huge ship, miles long, suddenly appears in the middle of an asteroid belt and crashes into a roid. There's chaos as passengers are sucked into space and klaxons hoot too late.
Men scream as they fight for lifeboats.
Children die as metal bends inward to crush soft flesh.
Corridors are slick with blood.
Air whistles out through a tiny hole as a man struggles to plug it.
An old man smiles and plays the grand piano in the ship's lounge.
An officer yells orders until a passenger kills her, takes her space armor, and heads for a lock.
Lovers embrace as the air is sucked from their lungs.
And somewhere in all this a drunk captain, a limp load over someone's shoulder, wakes to find that his ship is dead.
Lando shook his head in amazement. "So what're you telling me? That Cap's looking for the Star ?"
"That's right," Cy replied. "There was a lot of confusion after the wreck. Lifeboats went every which way. Many were never seen again. With the exception of Cap and Jord
"Weird, huh?"
Lando went for his slug gun as he turned around.
Cy squirted himself backward and dipped apologetically. "Sorry, Pik. I'll make some noise next time."
Lando nodded, somewhat mollified, but unwilling to let Cy completely off the hook. "I should think so. That's a damn good way to get yourself blasted."
The cyborg rotated forward in agreement. "Sorry, Pik. It won't happen again."
Lando smiled. Something about Cy made it hard to stay mad. Besides, the cyborg was a good sort, and one helluva engineer. By working damned near around the clock Cy had repaired most of the damage done during the pirate attack. "You said Cap's course was 'weird'⦠as if you were expecting it."
The silver ball made a jerking motion that reminded Lando of a shrug. "I was. Every time we enter the belt, Cap waits till the job's done, and searches for his ship."
"Ship? What ship?"
Cy floated toward the control panel and came to rest on top of the tac tank. "You remember that cyborg named Jord Willer? The one that damned near rammed us off Snowball? Remember how he mentioned the Star of Empire ?Well, she was a liner, a big one. The biggest of her time. I even rode on her once when I was a little boy, but that was more than thirty standards back, and before Cap took command. She was a grand ship, nearly four miles long, and loaded with every luxury you can imagine.
"Every year the Empire made a tour of the inner planets. And every year two thousand members of the social elite would pay exorbitant prices to come aboard, criticize each other's clothes, and enjoy 'the tour.'"
Cy was silent for a moment, as if collecting his thoughts, or remembering how it felt to have a flesh-and-blood body.
"Anyhow, the way Cap tells it, the Star of Empire was in hyperspace, making the jump from New Britain to a nav beacon just off Durna's sun when something went wrong.
"Nobody knows for sure, but Cap thinks that a billion-to-one failure by the NAVCOMP dropped the ship out of hyperspace a fraction of a second too early. Others believe it was a tiny drive fluctuation, or some sort of unusual discontinuity in hyperspace, but whatever the reason⦠she came out right in the middle of the asteroid belt."
Now Lando remembered. He remembered adults talking, some sort of distant disaster, and the name: Star of Empire.
He looked at Cy. "If Cap was in command, what's he doing here?"
Cy swiveled from side to side as if shaking his head. "Come on, Pik! When you lose a ship like the Empire, your career is over, no matter where you are at the time. And if you're dead drunk, well, a tug's the most you can hope for."
"Cap was drunk?"
Cy rolled forward, then back. "That's right. The first officer got some of the people off, including Cap, but very few survived. Many of those who survived the initial impact with the roid were killed while trying to escape the belt."
Lando tried to imagine. A huge ship, miles long, suddenly appears in the middle of an asteroid belt and crashes into a roid. There's chaos as passengers are sucked into space and klaxons hoot too late.
Men scream as they fight for lifeboats.
Children die as metal bends inward to crush soft flesh.
Corridors are slick with blood.
Air whistles out through a tiny hole as a man struggles to plug it.
An old man smiles and plays the grand piano in the ship's lounge.
An officer yells orders until a passenger kills her, takes her space armor, and heads for a lock.
Lovers embrace as the air is sucked from their lungs.
And somewhere in all this a drunk captain, a limp load over someone's shoulder, wakes to find that his ship is dead.
Lando shook his head in amazement. "So what're you telling me? That Cap's looking for the Star ?"
"That's right," Cy replied. "There was a lot of confusion after the wreck. Lifeboats went every which way. Many were never seen again. With the exception of Cap and Jord
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