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<v Speaker 1>Chapter twelve of Space Platform by Murray Leinster. This LibriVox

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<v Speaker 1>recording is in the public domain. Space Platform, Chapter twelve.

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<v Speaker 1>The incoming shift had a messy clean up job to do.

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<v Speaker 1>It was accomplished only because security men abruptly took over

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<v Speaker 1>the work of gang bosses, and all ordinary labor on

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<v Speaker 1>the platform was put aside until normal operations were again possible.

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<v Speaker 1>Even that would not have been feasible but for the

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<v Speaker 1>walkie talkies the security men wore. As the situation was

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<v Speaker 1>sorted out, it was explained to them, and they relayed

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<v Speaker 1>the news for the satisfaction of the curiosity of those

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<v Speaker 1>who worked under them. No work, no explanation. It produced

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<v Speaker 1>immediate and satisfactory cooperation all around. There had been four

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<v Speaker 1>separate and independent attempts to wreck the platform at the

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<v Speaker 1>same time. One was, of course, the plan of those

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<v Speaker 1>sympathetic characters who had volunteered to help Mike and his

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<v Speaker 1>gang win the status of spacemen by firing the platform's rockets.

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<v Speaker 1>There were not many of them, and they lost heavily.

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<v Speaker 1>They'd had thermite bombs to destroy the platform's vitals. Ultimately,

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<v Speaker 1>the survivors talked freely, if morosely and that was that

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<v Speaker 1>there had been a particularly ungifted attempt to cause panic

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<v Speaker 1>in the incoming shift in the rooms where its members

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<v Speaker 1>were screened before admission to work. Somebody had tried to

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<v Speaker 1>establish complete confusion there by firing revolver shots in the crowd,

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<v Speaker 1>expecting the workers to break through to the floor and

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<v Speaker 1>assign gentlemen with slabs of explosive to get to the

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<v Speaker 1>platform with them. The gentlemen with the explosives had run

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<v Speaker 1>into major Holtz security reserve, and they got nowhere. The

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<v Speaker 1>creators of panic with revolver shots were finally rescued from

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<v Speaker 1>their shift mates and more or less scraped up from

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<v Speaker 1>the screening room floor. They were in very bad shape

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<v Speaker 1>and carted off to be patched up for questioning. The

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<v Speaker 1>members of this group had been impractical idealists, and besides,

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<v Speaker 1>some of them had lost their nerve, as was evidenced

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<v Speaker 1>by the discovery of abandoned explosives and detonators in the

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<v Speaker 1>locker room and men's room of the shed. The most

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<v Speaker 1>dangerous attempt was, of course, that perfectly planned and coordinated assault,

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<v Speaker 1>which had been merely carried out at its original time

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<v Speaker 1>without either being hastened or delayed. By Mike's activities. The

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<v Speaker 1>plan had been beautifully contrived, and it would certainly have

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<v Speaker 1>been successful but for the machine gun bullets from the

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<v Speaker 1>gallery and the fight Joe's followers put up underneath the platform.

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<v Speaker 1>The exact instant when the whole shed would be most

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<v Speaker 1>nearly empty had been fixed upon, and three separate units

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<v Speaker 1>had worked in perfect timing. There been the men in

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<v Speaker 1>the stall truck. He delayed his exit from the shed

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<v Speaker 1>to the precise fraction of a second to get the

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<v Speaker 1>doors open at the perfect instant. The explosive laden trucks

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<v Speaker 1>had raced in at the exact second when they were

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<v Speaker 1>most certain to get underneath the platform and detonate their cargoes.

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<v Speaker 1>There been a perfect diversion plan for that too. Smoke

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<v Speaker 1>bombs and explosions in the outgoing screening rooms had created

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<v Speaker 1>real panic, and but for Joe's order for his group's

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<v Speaker 1>walkie talkies to be turned off, would have drawn every

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<v Speaker 1>security man on duty to that spot. Mike's trick then

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<v Speaker 1>had brought some saboteurs into the open, but had merely

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<v Speaker 1>happened to coincide with the most dangerous and well organized

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<v Speaker 1>coup of all. However, it was due to his trick

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<v Speaker 1>that the platform was now a wreck. There was also

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<v Speaker 1>another break that was sheer coincidence. It was a discovery

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<v Speaker 1>that could not possibly have turned up save in a

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<v Speaker 1>situation of pure chaos artificially induced. Joe had had to

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<v Speaker 1>react in a personal and vengeful way to the manner

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<v Speaker 1>in which his especial antagonist had fought him. One expects

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<v Speaker 1>a man to fight fair by instinct, and to turn

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<v Speaker 1>to fowls if he does in desperation only. But Joe's

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<v Speaker 1>personal opponent hadn't tried a single fair trick. It was

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<v Speaker 1>as if he'd never heard of a fist blow, but

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<v Speaker 1>only of murder and mayhem. Joe felt an individual enmity

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<v Speaker 1>toward him. Joe didn't consider himself the most urgent of

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<v Speaker 1>the injured when doctors and nurses took up the work

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<v Speaker 1>of patching, but Sally was there to help, and she

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<v Speaker 1>went deathly pale when she saw his blood stained throat.

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<v Speaker 1>She dragged him quickly to a doctor, and the doctor

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<v Speaker 1>looked at Joe and dropped everything else. But it wasn't

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<v Speaker 1>too serious. The antisept Dick's hurt, and the stitching was unpleasant,

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<v Speaker 1>but Joe was more worried by the knowledge that Sally

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<v Speaker 1>was standing there and suffering for him. And when he

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<v Speaker 1>got up from the emergency operating table, the doctor nodded

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<v Speaker 1>grimly to him. That was close, said the doctor whoever

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<v Speaker 1>chewed you, was working for your juggular vein. And he

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<v Speaker 1>was half way through the wall when he stopped. A

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<v Speaker 1>fraction of an inch more and he'd have had you, thanks,

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<v Speaker 1>said Joe. His neck fell clumsy with bandages, and when

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<v Speaker 1>he tried to turn his head, the stitch is hurt.

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<v Speaker 1>Sallie's hand trembled in his when she led him away.

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<v Speaker 1>I didn't think I'd ever dislike anybody so much, said

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<v Speaker 1>Joe angrily as I did that man while he was

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<v Speaker 1>chewing on my throat. We were trying to kill each other,

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<v Speaker 1>of course, but confound it. People don't bite. Did you

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<v Speaker 1>kill him, asked Sally in a shaky voice. Not that

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<v Speaker 1>I'll mind. I would have hated the thought, ordinarily, But

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<v Speaker 1>Joe halted. There was a row of stretchers not too

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<v Speaker 1>long at that in the emergency hospital space. He looked

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<v Speaker 1>down at the unconscious man who'd fought him. There he is,

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<v Speaker 1>he said, irritably. I banged him pretty hard, I don't

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<v Speaker 1>like to hate anybody, but the way he fought, Sallie's

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<v Speaker 1>teeth chattered. Suddenly, she called to one of the security

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<v Speaker 1>men standing guard by the stretchers. I think my father

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<v Speaker 1>is going to want to talk to him, she said, unsteadily.

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<v Speaker 1>Don't let him be taken away to the hospital until

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<v Speaker 1>Dad knows. Please. She started away, her face dead white

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<v Speaker 1>and her hand stone cold. What's the matter, demanded Joe sabotage,

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<v Speaker 1>said Sally, in an indescribable tone had a suggestion of heartbreak.

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<v Speaker 1>She went into her father's office alone. She came out

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<v Speaker 1>again with him, and her father looked completely stricken. Miss Ross,

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<v Speaker 1>his secretary, was with him too. Her face was like

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<v Speaker 1>a mask of marble. She had always been a plain woman,

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<v Speaker 1>a gloomy one, a morbid one, But at the new

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<v Speaker 1>and horrible look on her face, Joe turned his eyes away.

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<v Speaker 1>Then Sally was crying beside him, and he put his

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<v Speaker 1>arm clumsily around her and let her sob on his shoulder.

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<v Speaker 1>Completely puzzled, he didn't find out until later what the

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<v Speaker 1>trouble was. The man who tried so earnestly to kill

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<v Speaker 1>him was Miss Ross's fiancee. She had met this man

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<v Speaker 1>during a vacation as a government secretary, and he was

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<v Speaker 1>a refugee with an exotic charm that would have fascinated

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<v Speaker 1>a much more personable and beautiful woman than Miss Ross.

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<v Speaker 1>They had a whirlwind romance. He confided to her his

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<v Speaker 1>terror of emissaries from his native country who might kill him,

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<v Speaker 1>and of course she was more fascinated still when he

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<v Speaker 1>asked her to marry him. She accepted his proposal. Then,

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<v Speaker 1>just two weeks before her assignment to the Space Platform project,

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<v Speaker 1>he vanished. Miss Ross was desperate and love sick. One day,

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<v Speaker 1>her telephone rang, and his anguished voice told her he'd

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<v Speaker 1>been abducted and if she told the police, he would

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<v Speaker 1>be tortured to death. He begged her not to do

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<v Speaker 1>anything to cause him more torment than was already his.

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<v Speaker 1>She'd been trying to keep him alive ever since. Once,

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<v Speaker 1>when she couldn't bring herself to carry out an order

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<v Speaker 1>she'd been given, with threats of torment to him if

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<v Speaker 1>she failed, she'd received a human finger in the mail

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<v Speaker 1>and a scrawled and blood stained note which cried out

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<v Speaker 1>of unspeakable torment and begged her not to doom him

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<v Speaker 1>to more So, Miss Ross, who was Major Holt secretary

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<v Speaker 1>on one of his most trusted assistants, had been giving

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<v Speaker 1>information to one group of saboteurs all the while. She

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<v Speaker 1>was the most dangerous security leak in the whole platform project.

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<v Speaker 1>But her fiancee wasn't a captive. He was the head

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<v Speaker 1>of that group of saboteurs. He'd made love to her

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<v Speaker 1>and proposed to her merely to prepare her to supply

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<v Speaker 1>the information he wanted. He needed only to write a

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<v Speaker 1>sufficiently agonized note or gasp, tormented pleas on a telephone

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<v Speaker 1>to get what he wanted. Incidentally, he still had all

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<v Speaker 1>his fingers when Joe knocked him cold. Sally had recognized

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<v Speaker 1>him as the subject of a snapshot she'd once seen

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<v Speaker 1>Miss Ross crying over. Miss Ross had hidden it hastily

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<v Speaker 1>and told her it was someone she had once loved,

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<v Speaker 1>now dead. And this inadvertent disclosure that Miss ross us

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<v Speaker 1>was the security leak the Major had never had a

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<v Speaker 1>clue to could only have come about through such confusion

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<v Speaker 1>as Mike had instigated and Hainey and the Chief and

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<v Speaker 1>Joe had organized. But Joe learned those facts only later.

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<v Speaker 1>At the moment, there was still the platform to be

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<v Speaker 1>gotten aloft, and there was plenty of work to do.

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<v Speaker 1>There were two small rips in the plating caused by

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<v Speaker 1>fragments of the exploded truck. There were some bullet holes.

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<v Speaker 1>The platform could resist small meteorites at forty five miles

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<v Speaker 1>a second, but a high velocity small arm projectile could

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<v Speaker 1>puncture it. Those scars of battle had to be welded shut.

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<v Speaker 1>The rest of the scaffolding had to come down, and

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<v Speaker 1>the rest of the rocket tubes had to be affixed,

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<v Speaker 1>and there was cleaning up to be done. These things

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<v Speaker 1>occupy the shift that came on at the time of

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<v Speaker 1>the multiple sabotaged assaults. At first the work was ragged,

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<v Speaker 1>but the policy of turning the security men into news

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<v Speaker 1>broadcasters worked well. After all, the platform was a construction job,

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<v Speaker 1>and the men who worked on it were not softies.

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<v Speaker 1>Most of them had seen men killed before. Before the

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<v Speaker 1>shift was over, a definite work rhythm was evident. Men

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<v Speaker 1>had begun to take an even greater pride in the

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<v Speaker 1>thing they had built because it had been assailed and

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<v Speaker 1>not destroyed, and the job was almost over. Salli went

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<v Speaker 1>back to her father's quarters to try to sleep. Joe

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<v Speaker 1>stayed in the shed. His throat was painful enough so

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<v Speaker 1>that he didn't want to go to bed until he

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<v Speaker 1>was genuinely tired, and he was thoroughly wrought up. Mike

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<v Speaker 1>the Midget had gone peacefully to sleep again, curled up

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<v Speaker 1>in a corner of the outgoing screening room. His fellow

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<v Speaker 1>midgets talked satisfiedly among themselves, presently to show their superiority

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<v Speaker 1>to mere pitched battles. Two of them brought out a

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<v Speaker 1>miniature pack of cards and started a card game while

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<v Speaker 1>they waited for a bus to take them back to Bootstrap.

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<v Speaker 1>The chiefs Indian Associates loafed comfortably while waiting for the

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<v Speaker 1>same buses later they would put in for overtime and

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<v Speaker 1>get it. Hainy mourned that he had been remote from

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<v Speaker 1>the scene of action and was merely responsible for the

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<v Speaker 1>presence and placing and firing of the machine guns that

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<v Speaker 1>had certainly kept the platform from being blown up from below.

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<v Speaker 1>It seemed that nothing else would happen to bother anybody.

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<v Speaker 1>But there was one thing more. The thing happened just

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<v Speaker 1>two hours before it was time for the shift to

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<v Speaker 1>change once again, and when normal work was back in

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<v Speaker 1>progress in the shed, everything seemed fully organized and serene.

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<v Speaker 1>Everything in the shed had settled down and nothing had

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<v Speaker 1>happened outside. There was ample exterior protection, of course, but

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<v Speaker 1>the outside side guard system hadn't had anything to do

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<v Speaker 1>for a very long time. Men at radar screens were

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<v Speaker 1>bored and sleepy from sheer inactivity and silence. Pilots and

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<v Speaker 1>jet planes two miles and five miles and eight miles

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<v Speaker 1>high had long since grown weary of the splendid view

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<v Speaker 1>below them. After all, one can get very used to

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<v Speaker 1>late slanting moonlight on cloud masses far underneath, and bright

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<v Speaker 1>and hostile seeming stars overhead. So the thing was well timed.

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<v Speaker 1>A Canadian station noticed the pip on its radar screen. First.

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<v Speaker 1>The radar observer was puzzled by it. It could have

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<v Speaker 1>been a meteor, and the Canadian observer at first thought

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<v Speaker 1>it was, but it wasn't going quite fast enough, and

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<v Speaker 1>it lasted too long. It was traveling six hundred seventy

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<v Speaker 1>two miles an hour, and it was headed due south

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<v Speaker 1>at sixty thousand feet. The speed could have been within reason,

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<v Speaker 1>provided it didn't stay constant, but it did. There was

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<v Speaker 1>something traveling south at eleven miles a minute or better.

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<v Speaker 1>A mile in five plus seconds. It didn't slow, it

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<v Speaker 1>didn't drop. The Canadian radar man debated painfully. He stopped

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<v Speaker 1>his companion from the reading of a magazine article about

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<v Speaker 1>chinchilla breeding in the home. He showed him the pip

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<v Speaker 1>still headed south and almost at the limit of his

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<v Speaker 1>radar instruments range. They discussed the thing dubiously. They decided

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<v Speaker 1>to report it. They had a little trouble getting the

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<v Speaker 1>call through the night. Long distance operators were sleepy. Because

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<v Speaker 1>of the difficulty of making the call. The radar men

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<v Speaker 1>became obstinate and insisted on putting it through. They reported

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<v Speaker 1>to Ottawa that some object flying at sixty thousand feet

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<v Speaker 1>and six hundred seventy two miles an hour was crossing

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<v Speaker 1>Canada headed for the un United States. There was a

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<v Speaker 1>further time loss. Somebody in authority had to be awakened,

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<v Speaker 1>and somebody had to decide that a further report was justified.

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<v Speaker 1>Then the trick had to be accomplished. And a sleepy

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<v Speaker 1>man in a bathrobe and slippers listened and said, sleepily, Ah,

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<v Speaker 1>of course, you'll tell the Americans. It's only neighborly, and

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<v Speaker 1>patted back to his bed to go to sleep again.

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<v Speaker 1>Then he waked up suddenly and began to sweat. He'd

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<v Speaker 1>realized that this might be the beginning of atomic war,

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<v Speaker 1>so he set phone bells to jangling furiously all over Canada,

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<v Speaker 1>and jet planes began to boom in the darkness, But

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<v Speaker 1>there was only one object in the sky over the

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<v Speaker 1>Dakotas it went higher, it went to seventy thousand feet

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<v Speaker 1>and then eighty. How this was managed is not completely known,

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<v Speaker 1>because there are still some details of that flight that

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<v Speaker 1>have never been completely explained. But certainly Jado's flared briefly

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<v Speaker 1>at some point, and the object reached ninety thousand feet,

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<v Speaker 1>where a jet motor would certainly be useless, And then

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<v Speaker 1>almost certainly rockets flared once more, and well south of

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<v Speaker 1>the dakotas it started down in a trajectory like that

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<v Speaker 1>of an artillery shell, but with considerably higher speed than

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<v Speaker 1>most artillery shells achieve. It was at about this time

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<v Speaker 1>that the siren in the shed began its choppy, hiccoughing

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<v Speaker 1>series of warm up notes. The news from Canada arrived,

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<v Speaker 1>as a matter of fact, some thirty seconds after the

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00:16:41.399 --> 00:16:45.200
<v Speaker 1>outer perimeter radar screen around the platform gave its warning.

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<v Speaker 1>Then there was no hesitation or delay at all. Men

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<v Speaker 1>were already tumbling out of bed at three airfields, buckling

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<v Speaker 1>helmets and hoping their oxygen tanks would function properly. Then

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<v Speaker 1>the radars atop the shed itself picked up the moving speck,

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<v Speaker 1>and small blue white flames began to rise from the

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<v Speaker 1>ground and go streaking away in the darkness in astonishing numbers.

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<v Speaker 1>The covers of the guns at the top of the

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<v Speaker 1>shed slid aside miles away. Jet plane shot skyward, and

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<v Speaker 1>newly wakened pilots looked at their night fighting instruments and

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<v Speaker 1>swore unbelievingly at the speed they were told the plunging

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<v Speaker 1>object was making. The jet pilots gave their motors everything

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<v Speaker 1>they could take, but it didn't look good. The planes

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<v Speaker 1>of the jet umbrella over the shed stopped cruising and sprinted,

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<v Speaker 1>and they were the only ones likely to get in

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<v Speaker 1>front of the object in time. Inside the shed, the

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<v Speaker 1>siren howled dismally, and all the security men were snapping.

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<v Speaker 1>Radar alarm, all out, radar alarm, all out, And men

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<v Speaker 1>were moving fast too. Some came down from the platform

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<v Speaker 1>on hoists, dropping with rectlye speed to the floor level

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<v Speaker 1>some didn't wait for a turn at that. They slid

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<v Speaker 1>down one upright, swung around the cross piece on the

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<v Speaker 1>level below, and slid down another vertical pipe. For a

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<v Speaker 1>minute or more, it looked as if the scaffolds oozed

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<v Speaker 1>black droplets which slid down its pipes, but the drops

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<v Speaker 1>were men. The floor became speckled and spotted with dots

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<v Speaker 1>running for its exits. The sirens ceased its wailing, and

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<v Speaker 1>its noise went down and down in pitch until it

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<v Speaker 1>was a baritone moan that dropped to base and ceased.

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<v Speaker 1>Then there was no sound but the men moving to

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<v Speaker 1>get out of the shed. There were trucks too, Those

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<v Speaker 1>that had been loading with dismantled scaffolding roared for the

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<v Speaker 1>doors to get out and away. Some men jumped on

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<v Speaker 1>board as they passed. The exit door swung up to

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<v Speaker 1>let them go. But it was very quiet in the

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<v Speaker 1>shed at that. There was no noise but a few

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<v Speaker 1>fleeing trucks and the murmur, which was the voices of

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<v Speaker 1>the security men hurrying the work crew out. There was

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<v Speaker 1>less to hear than went on ordinarily, and it was

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00:19:10.359 --> 00:19:14.680
<v Speaker 1>a long distance across the floor of the shed. Joe

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<v Speaker 1>stood with his fists clenched absurdly. This could only be

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<v Speaker 1>an air attack. An air attack could only mean an

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<v Speaker 1>atom bomb attack. And if there was an atom bomb

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<v Speaker 1>dropped on the shed, there'd be no use getting outside.

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<v Speaker 1>It wouldn't be merely a fish in bomb. It would

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<v Speaker 1>be a hell bomb, a bomb which used the kind

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<v Speaker 1>of bomb that shattered Hiroshima only as a primer for

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<v Speaker 1>the real explosive. Nobody could hope to get beyond the

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<v Speaker 1>radius of its destruction before it hit. Joe heard himself raging.

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<v Speaker 1>He thought of Sally. She'd be in the range of

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<v Speaker 1>annihilation too, And Joe knew such fury and hatred because

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<v Speaker 1>of Sally that he forgot everything else. He didn't run,

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<v Speaker 1>he couldn't escape, he couldn't fight back. But because he hated,

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<v Speaker 1>he had to do something to defy. He found himself

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<v Speaker 1>moving toward the platform, his jaws clenched. It was pure, blind,

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<v Speaker 1>instinctive defiance. He was not the only one to have

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<v Speaker 1>that reaction. Men running toward the sidewall exits began to

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<v Speaker 1>get out of breath from their running. They slowed. Presently,

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<v Speaker 1>they stopped. They scowled and raged, like Joe. Some of

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<v Speaker 1>them looked with burning eyes up at the roof of

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<v Speaker 1>the shed, though their thoughts went on beyond it. The

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<v Speaker 1>security guards repeated radar alarm, all out, Radar alarm, all out.

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<v Speaker 1>Someone snarled nuts to that Joe saw a man walking

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<v Speaker 1>in the same direction as himself. He was walking deliberately

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00:20:56.839 --> 00:21:00.359
<v Speaker 1>back to the platform. Somebody else was headed back two

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<v Speaker 1>very peculiarly. Almost all the men on the floor had

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<v Speaker 1>ceased to run. They began to gather in little groups.

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<v Speaker 1>They knew flight was useless. They talked briefly, profanely. Here

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<v Speaker 1>and there men started disgustedly back toward the platform. Their

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00:21:19.640 --> 00:21:24.599
<v Speaker 1>lips moved in expressions of furious scorn. Their scorn was

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<v Speaker 1>of themselves. There was a gathering of men about the

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<v Speaker 1>base of the framework that still partly veiled the platform.

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<v Speaker 1>They tended to face outward angrily and to clench their fists.

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<v Speaker 1>Then somebody started an engine. A man began to climb

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<v Speaker 1>furiously back to where he had been at work. Quite unreasonably,

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00:21:46.200 --> 00:21:51.440
<v Speaker 1>other men followed him. Hammers began defiantly and enragingly to sound.

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<v Speaker 1>The work crew in the shed went defiantly and furiously

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<v Speaker 1>back to work. A clamor was set up that was

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<v Speaker 1>almost the normal working noise. It was the only possible

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<v Speaker 1>way in which those men could express the raging contempt

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<v Speaker 1>they felt for those who would destroy the thing they

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00:22:09.039 --> 00:22:13.480
<v Speaker 1>worked on. But there were some other men who could

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00:22:13.480 --> 00:22:17.200
<v Speaker 1>do more. There were three levels of jet planes above

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<v Speaker 1>the shed, and they could dive. The highest one got

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<v Speaker 1>first to the line along which the missile from an

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<v Speaker 1>unknown place was plunging toward the shed. That plane steadied

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<v Speaker 1>on a collision course and let go its wingload of rockets.

337
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<v Speaker 1>It peeled off and got out of the way. Seconds later,

338
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<v Speaker 1>the others from the jet umbrella were arriving. A tiny

339
00:22:40.039 --> 00:22:44.880
<v Speaker 1>spray of proximity fused rockets blazed furiously toward the invisible thing.

340
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<v Speaker 1>From the heights. Other planes, and yet others came hurtling

341
00:22:49.680 --> 00:22:53.359
<v Speaker 1>to the line, their radars briskly computed for them, there

342
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<v Speaker 1>were more rockets. The black painted thing, with more than

343
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<v Speaker 1>the speed of an artillery shell, plunged in to a

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<v Speaker 1>miniature hail of rockets. They flamed viciously half a dozen

345
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<v Speaker 1>a dozen explosions that were pure futility. Then there was

346
00:23:10.680 --> 00:23:14.880
<v Speaker 1>an explosion that was not Nobody saw it because its

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00:23:14.920 --> 00:23:18.319
<v Speaker 1>puny detonation was instantly wiped out in a blaze of

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00:23:18.359 --> 00:23:22.720
<v Speaker 1>such incredible incandescence that the aluminum paint on jet plane

349
00:23:22.759 --> 00:23:27.240
<v Speaker 1>still miles away was scorched and blistered instantly. The light

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00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:30.920
<v Speaker 1>of that flare was seen for hundreds of miles. The

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00:23:31.039 --> 00:23:35.559
<v Speaker 1>sound later on was heard farther still, and the desert

352
00:23:35.680 --> 00:23:39.480
<v Speaker 1>vegetation miles below the hell bomb showed signs of searing

353
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<v Speaker 1>when the morning came, but the thing from the north

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<v Speaker 1>was vaporized utterly, some forty five miles from its target.

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<v Speaker 1>The damage it did was negligible. The work on the

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<v Speaker 1>preparation for the platform's take off went on. When the

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<v Speaker 1>all clear signal sounded inside the shed, nobody paid any attention.

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<v Speaker 1>They were too busy. End of Chapter twelve.