Metal ores were necessary, he knew, but saw no obstacle in that, his knowledge of the difficulties of prospecting, mining, and metallurgy being as sketchy as his knowledge of burros.
His goods filled every compartment of the compact little freighter. He checked the last item from his inventory and ran a satisfied eye down the list. Any explorer or adventurer of the past might well be pleased with such equipment, he thought. He could imagine showing Jack London his knockdown cabin. See, Jack, he would say, it’s proof against any kind of weather-perfectly insulated walls and floor-and can’t rust. It’s so light that you can set it up in five minutes by yourself, yet it’s so strong that you can sleep sound with the biggest grizzly in the world snuffling right outside your door.
And London would scratch his head, and say, Dave, you’re a wonder. If I’d had that in the Yukon, it would have been a cinch!
He checked over the list again. Enough concentrated and desiccated food and vitamin concentrate to last six months. That would give him time enough to build hothouses for hydroponics, and get his seeds started. Medical supplies-he did not expect to need those, but foresight was always best. Reference books of all sorts. A light sporting rifle-vintage: last century. His face clouded a little at this. The War Department had positively refused to sell him a portable blaster. When he had claimed the right of common social heritage, they had grudgingly provided him with the plans and specifications, and told him to build his own. Well, he would, the first spare time he got.
Everything else was in order. MacKinnon climbed into the cockpit, grasped the two hand controls, and swung the nose of the tortoise toward the guardhouse. He had been ignored since the ship had landed; he wanted to have the gate opened and to leave.
Several soldiers were gathered around the guardhouse. He picked out a legate by the silver stripe down the side of his kilt and spoke to him. ‘I’m ready to leave. Will you kindly open the Gate?’
‘O.K.,’ the officer answered him, and turned to a soldier who wore the plain gray kilt of a private’s field uniform. ‘Jenkins, tell the power house to dilate-about a number three opening, tell them,’ he added, sizing up the dimensions of the tortoise.
He turned to MacKinnon. ‘It is my duty to tell you that you may return to civilization, even now, by agreeing to be hospitalized for your neurosis.’
‘I have no neurosis!’
‘Very well. If you change your mind at any future time, return to the place where you entered. There is an alarm there with which you may signal to the guard that you wish the gate opened.’
‘I can’t imagine needing to know that.’
The legate shrugged. ‘Perhaps not-but we send refugees to quarantine all the time. If I were making the rules, it might be harder to get out again.’ He was cut off by the ringing of an alarm. The soldiers near them moved smartly away, drawing their blasters from their belts as they ran. The ugly snout of a fixed blaster poked out over the top of the guardhouse and pointed toward the Barrier.
The legate answered the question on MacKinnon’s face. ‘The power house is ready to open up.’ He waved smartly toward that building, then turned back. ‘Drive straight through the center of the opening. It takes a lot of power to suspend the stasis; if you touch the edge, we’ll have to pick up the pieces.’
A tiny, bright dot appeared in the foot of the barrier opposite where they waited. It spread into a half circle across the lampblack nothingness. Now it was large enough for MacKinnon to see the countryside beyond through the arch it had formed. He peered eagerly.
The opening grew until it was twenty feet wide, then stopped. It framed a scene of rugged, barren hills. He took this in, and turned angrily on the legate. ‘I’ve been tricked!’ he exclaimed. ‘That’s not fit land to support a man.’
‘Don’t be hasty,’ he told MacKinnon. ‘There’s good land beyond. Besides-you don’t have to enter. But if you are going, go!’