“Quiet as a church,” said the man.
“We’ll be held up another eight hours at least,” Johnny said. “Don’t go to sleep on us, Jack.”
“Don’t worry about us sleepin’,” the man said grimly. “There’s been nobody around but yourselves, so far, except the clearance inspector.”
Johnny looked up sharply. “You check his papers?”
“And his prints. He was all right.”
Johnny took Tom’s arm, and they headed through the gate toward the control tower. “I guess I’m just naturally suspicious,” he grinned, “but I’d sure hate to have a broken cut-off switch, or a fuel valve go out of whack at just the wrong moment.”
“You think Tawney would dare to try something here?” Tom asked.
“Never hurts to check. Well have our hands full for a few hours getting set, so I just asked my friends to keep an eye on things. Always did say that a man who’s goin’ to gamble is smart to cover his bets.”
At the control tower they parted, and Tom walked in to the clearance office. Johnny’s watchman had startled him; for the first time he felt a chill of apprehension. If they were right—if this trip to the belt were not a wild goose chase from the very start—then Roger Hunter’s accident had been no accident at all.
Quite suddenly, Tom felt very thankful that Johnny Coombs had friends.
“I don’t like it,” the major said, facing Tom and Greg across the desk in the U.N. registry office below the control tower. “You’ve gotten an idea in your heads, and you just won’t listen to reason.”
Somewhere above them, Tom could hear the low-pitched rumble of a scout ship blasting from its launching rack. “All we want to do is go out and work Dad’s claim,” he said for the second time.
“I know perfectly well what you want to do. That’s why I told the people here to alert me if you tried to clear a ship. You don’t know what you’re doing, and I’m not going to sign those clearance papers.”
“Why not?” Greg asked.
“Because you’re going out there asking for trouble, that’s why not.”
“But you told us before that there wasn’t any trouble. Dad had an accident, that was all. So how could we get in trouble?”
“I won’t even discuss it with you,” the major snapped. “I’m simply refusing you clearance.”
Greg shook his head. “I don’t think you can do that, Major. We’re both past eighteen, birthday was last March. We’re of legal age, so you can’t object to that. We’re not prospecting, we’re heading out for claimed rocks. Those were Dad’s claims, and they were free and clear., We have a space- worthy craft to take us out there, and a qualified rig waiting for us when we get there. We have more than a minimum crew signed. Maybe I sound like a space lawyer, but I’d like to know what regulation you’re going to use to stop us.”
The major’s face was an angry red. He started to say something, then stopped, and scowled at them instead. They met his stare. Finally he threw up his hands. “All right, so legally I can’t stop you,” he said. “But at least I can beg you to use your heads. You’re wasting time and money on a foolish idea. You’re walking into dangers and risks that you can’t handle, and I hate to see it happen.”
“What kind of dangers?” Greg said.
“Mining in the belt is a job for experienced men, not rank novices.”
“Johnny Coombs is no novice.”
“No, but he’s lost his wits, taking you two out there.”
“Well, are there any other dangers you have in mind?”
Once more the major searched for words, and failed to find them. “No,” he sighed, “and you wouldn’t listen if I did.”
“It seems everybody is warning us about how dangerous this trip is likely to be,” Greg said quietly. “Last night it was Merrill Tawney. He offered to buy us out; he was so eager for a deal that he offered us a fantastic price. Then Johnny tells us that Dad hit some rich ore when he was out there on his last trip, but never got a chance to bring it in because of his . . . accident. Up until now I haven’t been so sure Dad didn’t just have an accident, but now I’m beginning to wonder. Too many people have been warning us.”
“You’re determined to go out there, then?”
“That’s about right.”
The major picked up the clearance papers, glanced at them quickly, and signed them. “All right, you’re cleared. I hate to do it, but I suppose I’d go with you if the law would let me. And I’ll tell you one thing—if you can find a single particle of evidence that will link Jupiter Equilateral or anybody else to your father’s death, I’ll use all the power I have to break them across my knee.” He handed the papers back to Tom. “But be careful, because if Jupiter Equilateral is involved in it, they’re going to play dirty. If there’s something they want badly enough, they won’t waste much time with you. So watch out.”
At the door he turned. “Good trip, and good luck.”
Tom folded the papers and stuck them thoughtfully in his pocket.
The Hunters met Johnny Coombs in the registry offices upstairs; Tom patted his pocket happily. “We’re cleared in forty-five minutes,” he said.
Johnny grinned. “Then we’re all set.” They headed up the ramp, reached ground level, and started out toward the launching racks.
At the far end of the field a powerful Class I Ranger, one of the Jupiter Equilateral scout fleet, was settling down into its slot in a perfect landing maneuver. The triangle-and-J insignia gleamed brightly on her dark hull. She was a rich, luxurious-looking ship; in comparison, the Class III Dutchman looked small and shabby, its hull pitted and scarred by meteors and dust. The Ranger, with her dozens of sister ships, made a formidable fleet in the Asteroid Belt. With that fleet, Jupiter Equilateral had built its strength as a mining concern in the belt; the Ranger had power, and maneuverability, and a highly trained crew to handle her.
But with that power there was a touch of arrogance. Many miners on Mars could remember when Jupiter Equilateral had been nothing more than a tiny mining company working claims in the remote “equilateral” cluster of asteroids far out in Jupiter’s orbit. Gradually the company had grown and flourished, accumulating wealth and power as it grew, leaving behind it a thousand half-confirmed stories of cheating, piracy, murder and theft. Other small mining outfits had fallen by the wayside until now over two-thirds of all asteroid mining claims were held by Jupiter Equilateral, and the small independent miners were forced more and more to take what was left, what Jupiter Equilateral didn’t want.
They reached the gate to the Dutchman’s launching slot, and the watchman hailed them. “Not a sign of anythin’,” he said, with a touch of disappointment in his voice, “and me all set for a good brawl.”
Johnny chewed his lip thoughtfully. “Well, thanks anyway. You took a weight off our minds.”
The man watched them start up the ramp for the ship. “Johnny,” he said suddenly, “if you need any more crew, fust speak up.” He jerked a thumb toward the Ranger that had just landed. “There’s plenty of boys around here who’d like to tangle with that crew.”
“Thanks, Jack,” Johnny said. “But this round is ours.”
“Well, you’ll find a couple of Markheims stored in the cabin,” the man said. “Don’t be afraid to use them.”
Johnny grinned and clapped the man on the shoulder. “Doubt if we’ll need them at all,” he said. But when he joined the twins on the ramp, he wasn’t smiling any longer. “I don’t like it,” he said. “I was certain they’d have somebody snoopin’ around.”