Somewhere on Venus lies the wreck of Space Patrol XX15, which holds a secret vital to Earth's security. Only one man knows where the wreck lies: Rex Carson. But he has been unjustly banished to a terrible Jovian penal colony, where he organizes a revolt of the prisoners and the overthrowing of a corrupt regime.
Release date:
April 30, 2014
Publisher:
Gateway
Print pages:
97
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The Cap Kennedy (F.A.T.E.) Series (E.C. Tubb writing as Gregory Kern)
1:Galaxy of the Lost (1973)
2: Slave Ship from Sergan (1973)
3: Monster of Metelaze (1973)
4: Enemy Within the Skull (1974)
5: Jewel of Jarhen (1974)
6: Seetee Alert! (1974)
7: The Gholan Gate (1974)
8: The Eater of Worlds (1974)
9: Earth Enslaved (1974)
10: Planet of Dread (1974)
11: Spawn of Laban (1974)
12: The Genetic Buccaneer (1974)
13: A World Aflame (1974)
14: The Ghosts of Epidoris (1975)
15: Mimics of Dephene (1975)
16: Beyond the Galactic Lens (1975)
17: The Galactiad (1983)
Alien Dust (1955)
Alien Impact (1952)
Journey Into Terror (originally published as Alien Life (1954, rev 1998))
Atom War on Mars (1952)
Fear of Strangers (first published as C.O.D. - Mars (1968))
Century of the Manikin (1972)
City of No Return (1954)
Death God’s Doom (1999)
Death is a Dream (1967)
Dead Weight (first published as Death Wears a White Face (1979))
Escape into Space (1969)
Footsteps of Angels (2004) (previously unpublished work written c.1988)
Hell Planet (1954)
Journey to Mars (1954)
Moon Base (1964)
Pandora’s Box (1996) (previously unpublished work written 1954)
Pawn of the Omphalos (1980)
S.T.A.R. Flight (1969)
Stardeath (1983)
Starslave (2010) (previously unpublished work written 1984)
Stellar Assignment (1979)
Temple of Death (1996) (previously unpublished work written 1954)
Fifty Days to Doom (first published as The Extra Man (1954))
The Life-Buyer (1965, 2008)
The Luck Machine (1980)
World in Torment (originally published as The Mutants Rebel (1953))
The Primitive (1977)
The Resurrected Man (1954)
The Sleeping City (1999)
The Space-Born (1956)
The Stellar Legion (1954)
To Dream Again (2011)
Venusian Adventure (1953)
Tide of Death (first published as World at Bay (1954))
E. C. Tubb (writing as Arthur MacLean)
The Possessed (revised version of Touch of Evil (1957))
E. C. Tubb (writing as Brian Shaw)
Argentis (1952)
E. C. Tubb (writing as Carl Maddox)
Menace from the Past (1954)
The Living World (1954)
E. C. Tubb (writing as Charles Grey)
Dynasty of Doom (1953)
The Extra Man (first published as Enterprise 2115 (1954) & then as The Mechanical Monarch (1958))
I Fight for Mars (1953)
Space Hunger (1953)
The Hand of Havoc (1954)
Secret of the Towers (originally published as The Tormented City (1953))
The Wall (1953)
E. C. Tubb (writing as Gill Hunt)
Planetfall (1951)
E. C. Tubb (writing as King Lang)
Saturn Patrol (1951)
E. C. Tubb (writing as Roy Sheldon)
The Metal Eater (1954)
E. C. Tubb (writing as Volsted Gridban)
The Green Helix (originally published as Alien Universe (1952))
Reverse Universe (1952)
Planetoid Disposals Ltd. (1953)
The Freedom Army (originally published as De Bracy’s Drug (1953))
Fugitive of Time (1953)
FRAME
MIDWAY between Earth and Venus a rocket ship coasted silently towards the Sun. Ports masked, tubes dead and lifeless, soaring high above the plane of the Ecliptic, the possibility of discovery was remote. Only a slight occlusion of the stars, a faint shimmer of reflected sunlight betrayed its passage, and here in the untravelled regions of space there were none to see.
Within, the sole occupant sat in deep concentration before the control panel. From time to time he made intricate calculations on the small calculator set into the desk beside him. Rapidly he set the equations, punched keys, read off the answers. They brought no relief. Fuel! No matter how he figured the course there was not enough.
Wearily he straightened and left the board. The ship, aside from a whisper from the atmosphere panel and a low hum from the gravity cells, was silent. Built to accommodate twenty men so centralised were the controls that all essential functions could be performed by one. It was the latest thing of its type, and he had stolen it.
A chatter from the radio sent him whirling in a pure reflex action, one hand darting towards the heavy weapon at his side.
“Attention. Attention,” the radio blared. “Routine watch orders to all ships. Rex Carson. White native of Earth, Height 76 inches. Weight 180 lbs, Hair black, Eyes blue. Age 26. Last seen wearing uniform of Tycho Station Inspector. Wanted for narcotic smuggling. Evading arrest. Theft of Patrol Ship XXX15. This man is believed to be heading for Mars. Keep close watch. Message ends.”
With the cessation of the staccato tones a click came from the receiver. A white card fell into a tray, he picked it up. A reasonable facsimile of his portrait, thumbprint, and retinal pattern, together with all relevant information, stared back at him. Angrily he screwed it into a ball and flung it against the bulkhead.
It had been neatly done, he admitted. The money paid without his knowledge into his bank account … The little packages found carelessly hidden in his quarters. Blind luck had warned him. A forgotten letter, a half-heard conversation, and he knew that he had been framed as neatly as a man could be.
Instinct had guided him then—the blind urge to escape. The XX15 had been poorly guarded, just back from flight trials and carrying a full war-load. His uniform had gained him easy entry, and before the startled guards knew what he was aiming at, he had sealed the ports and blasted off. He had tried for Mars, but lack of fuel had forced him into a course for Venus. Only by using the solar drag could he hope to reach the planet; the long uphill flight against solar gravity would have left him helpless before half the journey was over.
Now there was nothing to do but wait. Wait until the long arcing flight had carried him to within reach of Venus. After that? He shrugged. Time would tell.
He was seen on the very edges of the atmosphere. A patrol ship, swinging in its fixed orbit, intercepted him on the radar screens, and radioed a peremptory order to halt.
He ignored it. A second order, coupled with the threat to fire, brought the same response, and without further delay the patrol ship blasted from its orbit and gave chase.
He didn’t give a second’s thought. His whole attention was fastened on the delicate business of landing. With only the bare scrapings of fuel left in the tanks, he had to manage a landing on a planet totally unknown to him. So, because he could do nothing else, he blasted straight down through the atmosphere.
Behind him, multiple cannon unmasked, radio sending urgent messages through the turbid air, came the patrol ship.
Down they went. Down through the first cloud layer. Down through the turbulent maze of cross currents beneath it. Down into the second cloud layer. The patrol ship was not so close now. Its captain knew Venus if Carson didn’t and he had no wish to pile his ship and crew on one of the miles-high peaks that thrust their summits well into the clouds. He followed at a more cautious speed, and the distance between them rapidly widened.
Down, down … The whine of the atmosphere against the hull had almost passed the audible range. The edges of the ports glowed red with the intense heat generated by friction, but still Carson kept up the suicidal speed.
He had to. He had to land the ship, collect what he needed, and find a safe refuge before the following patrol could catch up with him. To add to his worries the fuel was almost exhausted. The slender hand of the gauge rested at zero, and he knew that he must land at once or be dashed into smoking wreckage.
With a sigh of relief he finally penetrated the cloud layer, and immediately began to straighten the ship. Slowly, too slowly, the ship began to level off. Automatic gravity adjustments compensated for the change of direction, as the vestigial atmosphere-control surfaces bit into the screaming air. Beneath him, rank jungle sprawled, towering fern, like trees, wreathed with clinging vines, the whole a sickly yellowish-green. Before him three great peaks reared, their summits hidden in the lowering clouds.
He headed for them, a vague hope of finding shelter somewhere in the foothills spurring him on. Behind him, a tiny mote in the rear vision screen, the pursuing ship suddenly appeared. Blue flame lengthened from its tubes as its radar picked him up, and rapidly the distance between them lessened.
Desperately he stared ahead. The three great mountains were very near now. They stood at equal distances apart, as if they marked the points of some huge triangle. He guided the slowing ship towards the nearest, and as it loomed closer, began firing the forward rockets.
Long streamers of blue flame jetted before the ship. Immediately he felt it check, l. . .
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