passenger tube, there’ll be vacuum beyond it. We can survive in vacuum for a very brief
period of time. The airlock of our ship is perhaps a dozen meters away, and there’s
almost no gravity outside on the surface. As soon as you’re out there, make a jump for
the airlock. Bon chance!”
The Duke pushed them back a short distance from the doorway, unscrewed the middle
finger of his right hand, and hurled it with all his strength at the sealed door. The hatch
blew open with a shattering explosion, shaking the ground beneath them and filling the
ever-thinning air with a thick cloud of dust and debris.
The trio in the hallway did not hesitate. The escaping air pulled the dust out into space,
and they ran after it into the crater that served as the asteroid’s landing field. The artifi-
cial gravity ended as they passed the threshold; in desperation they leaped toward the
open airlock of their ship.
Etienne d’Alembert had said they could survive in vacuum, but he hadn’t said that it would
be pleasant. Almost immediately there was a pounding in Helena’s ears and her eyes felt
as though they were going to bulge beyond their sockets. Her upper lip felt wet and
sticky as blood began to drip from her nose and bubble as it hit the vacuum. There was a
shock of cold on her skin as her sweat evaporated into space.
As she sailed toward the ship she could tell she’d miscalculated her leap. She would hit
the hull just below the bottom of the airlock and probably bounce back down to the
ground. She tried to readjust her course, but there was nothing to push against; all she
did was exert herself and use up more of her lungs’ precious oxygen supply.
She cushioned her impact against the ship with her forearms and tried to grab the
smooth surface so she wouldn’t simply bounce directly back into space; that would mean
death within a few minutes. She managed to let the hull absorb most of her momentum,
but could not gain a complete grip. She slid slowly down the side of the ship toward the
crater’s floor.
She landed with a bump and tried hard to scramble to her feet. It was difficult to see
now; everything seemed filtered through a red haze that she realized was blood, which
had now begun bubbling through her tear ducts as well. Her eyeballs felt unbearably dry,
and she kept blinking to moisten them; the liquid evaporated the instant she opened her
eyelids again.
Her chest was burning with intense pain. She’d been unable to get a deep breath before
running out into the vacuum, and of course there was nothing here to breathe. What air
she’d had in her lungs was rapidly turning to carbon dioxide, but she knew if she exhaled
it there’d be nothing else to take in again.
Her strength failed her and she fell to the ground again. Reality was becoming a painful
red haze, cold outside and burning inside at one and the same time. She lay miserable on
the rough ground, waiting for death to claim her and frustrated at the way her life was
ending.
Then she felt a pair of strong hands grasping her under her arms and lifting her up.
Through weakly fluttering eyelids she could make out the form of Captain Fortier, looking
at least as horrible as she felt. Blood was bubbling out of his eyes, ears, nose, and
mouth, and he, too, was blinking rapidly to keep his eyeballs moist. After lifting her
upright, he gathered his strength and pushed her upward toward the airlock hatch once
more. Helena floated up with agonizing slowness, her lungs threatening to burst with pain
at any second.
As she reached the airlock level, Etienne d’Alembert reached out and grabbed her,
pulling her into the chamber and holding her tight to preserve her body warmth. A
moment later they were joined by Captain Fortier, who palmed the closing switch the
instant he was past the threshold.
The outer hatch slid quickly shut and air began to pump rapidly into the crowded chamber
with the most wonderful hissing sound Helena had ever heard in her life. She let out the
very painful breath she’d been holding, gasping and gulping at the still-thin air in a
desperate attempt to recharge her body after its horrible ordeal. Her companions were
reacting the same way, and for a while the only activity in the crowded airlock was
shivering and gasping for breath.
Helena’s spasms of shivering brought her body floating into contact with Fortier, and the
two young people clung to one another. As the shock of their exposure began to subside,
they became more aware of their sensations, but they did not stop holding each other.
They looked deeply into each other’s blood-smeared faces, reading the other’s soul and
matching it to their own. Suddenly, realizing how ludicrous they looked, Helena began
laughing. Fortier looked startled for a moment, then was caught up by the sound’s
infectiousness. Soon both young people were hugging each other tightly and overcome
by a bout of hysterical laughter.
Etienne d’Alembert witnessed this bizarre behavior with an experienced eye. A wise,
kindly smile warmed his face, but he made no comment. None was really needed.
A couple of hours later, when they were thoroughly recovered and cleaned up from their
ordeal, the trio donned spacesuits and returned to the asteroid. The battle, if such it
could be called, had long since been over. This asteroid had not been built for all-out
defense, and the onslaught of armored d’Alemberts had quite overwhelmed it. The only
injury on the invading side was when one of the wrestlers accidentally tripped over a
piece of debris and knocked into another armored figure, breaking the second man’s
arm. Beyond that, the armor protected the d’Alembert forces from anything Loxner could
throw at them.
Loxner himself had not fared so well. As the attackers breached one line of defense after
another and approached the central computer where his mentality was stored, the
former surgeon became desperate. He could not die in the conventional sense, but he
had a great fear of being captured and interrogated by SOTE experts. As the armored
invaders broke into the room, Dr. Loxner activated a special program, erasing all
memory from his computer. A moment later, there was no trace of the man who claimed
to have cheated death.
Although all official records vanished with the mind of Dr. Loxner, there was some
physical evidence left behind. Several of the rooms within the asteriod turned out to be
laboratories and workrooms where the doctor could continue manufacturing robots. His
computer mind manipulated remote sensors, working with more precision than a human
being ever could.
The main assembly room showed signs of recent activity. There were many pictures of
Elsa Helmund and Herman Stanck in various poses. Some of the pictures were taken at
recent events. These were clearly the images Loxner had used to construct duplicates of
the late Police Commissioner and Sector Marshal. Fortier was particularly excited at this
discovery.
“Some of the evidence I discovered in your father’s computer,” he told Helena when they
returned to their ship, “indicated that he and Stanck had been working in the conspiracy
for many years, so Stanck should have been a robot all that time. The evidence here is
that both the Stanck and Helmund robots were built within the last few months. As far as
I’m concerned, that’s enough to throw the previous data into doubt. I don’t know why, but
it looks now as though someone went to great lengths to plant evidence framing your
father.”
“But it’s all too late,” Helena said weakly, shaking her head sadly from side to side.
“I never meant him any harm. I was just doing my job, trying to defend the Empire.”
Fortier held Helena’s shoulders tightly and looked directly into her eyes. “Please,” he
whispered. “It’s very important to me that you believe that.
“I … I do.” Helena’s voice was barely audible. She lowered her head and buried her face
against his chest. “It’s just so unfair, so … so. . . .”
Then the sobbing became uncontrollable, and Captain Paul Fortier stood holding and
comforting her for the next hour and beyond.
Chapter 13 Escape Ship
Tanya Boros was left weak and depressed by the sudden turnabout in her condition. It
seemed that one moment she’d been in total command of the situation and the next she
was a prisoner of the despised SOTE agents. Her soul was numb from the chill.
On top of that, she knew she was doomed. She’d been captured before as part of her
father’s treasonous plot and, because she’d played only a minor role in it, had merely
been exiled to Gastonia. Her involvement this time was far more severe, and she faced
only one possible sentence: death. Even if the Empress was uncharacteristically dis-