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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] paused. This pause was longer, when he broke it his voice was a whisper. "I'm sorry. God keep you all." He turned and started for the door. Bennett slipped quickly in front of him. Max could hear him saying quietly and firmly: "Gangway, please. Way for the Captain." No one said anything until he was gone, but a woman passenger at Max's elbow was sobbing softly. Mr. Walther's sharp, clear voice rang out. "Don't go away, anyone! I have additional announcements to make." His manner ignored what they had all just seen. "The time has come to sum up our present situation. As you can see, this planet is much like our Mother Earth. Tests must be made to be sure that the atmosphere is breathable, and so forth; the Surgeon and the Chief Engineer are making them now. But it seems likely that this new planet will prove to be eminently suitable for human beings, probably even more friendly than Earth. "So far, we have seen no indications of civilized life. On the whole, that seems a good thing. Now as to our resources-- The _Asgard_ carries a variety of domestic animals, they will be useful and should be conserved as breeding stock. We have an even wider variety of useful plants, both in the ship's hydroponic gardens and carried as seeds. We have a limited but adequate supply of tools. Most important of all the ship's library contains a fair cross-section of our culture. Equally important, we ourselves have our skills and traditions . . ." "Mr. Walther!" "Yes, Mr. Hornsby?" "Are you trying to tell us that you are dumping us here?" Walther looked at him coldly. "No. Nobody is being 'dumped' as you put it. You can stay in the ship and you will be treated as a guest as long as the _Asgard_-- or you yourself--is alive. Or until the ship Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html reaches the destination on your ticket. If it does. No, I have been trying to discuss reasonably an open secret; this ship is lost." A voiceless sigh went through the room. All of them knew it, but up till now it had not been admitted officially. The flat announcement from a responsible officer echoed like the sentence of a court. "Let me state the legal position," Mr. Walther went on. "While this ship was in space you passengers were subject to the authority of the Captain, as defined by law, and through him you were subject to me and the other ship's officers. Now we have landed. You may go freely . . . or you may stay. Legally this is an unscheduled stopover; if the ship ever leaves here you may return to it and continue as passengers. That is my responsibility to you and it will be carried out. But I tell you plainly that at present I have no hope to offer that we will ever leave here--which is why I spoke of colonizing. We are lost." In the rear of the room a woman began to scream hysterically, with incoherent sounds of, ". . . home! I want to go home! Take me . . ." Walther's voice cut through the hubbub. "Dumont! Flannigan! Remove her. Take her to the Surgeon." He continued as if nothing had happened. "The ship and the ship's crew will give every assistance possible, consistent with my legal responsibility to keep the ship in commission, to aid any of you who wish to colonize. Personally I think . . ." A surly voice cut in, "Why talk about 'law'? There is no law here!" Walther did not even raise his voice. "But there is. As long as this ship is in commission, there is law, no matter how many light-years she may be from her home port. Furthermore, while I have no authority over any who choose to leave the ship, I strongly advise you to make it your first act dirtside to hold a town meeting, elect officers, and found a constitutional government. I doubt that you can survive otherwise." "Mr. Walther." "Yes, Mr. Daigler?" "This is obviously no time for recriminations . . ." "Obviously!" Daigler grinned wryly. "So I won't indulge, though I could think of some. But it happens that I know something professionally about the economics of colonizing." "Good! We'll use your knowledge." "Will you let me finish? A prime principle in maintaining a colony out of touch with its supply base is to make it large enough. It's a statistical matter, too small a colony can be overwhelmed by a minor setback. It's like going into a dice game with too little money: three bad rolls and you're sunk. Looking around me, it's evident that we have much less than optimal minimum. In fact--" "It's what we have, Mr. Daigler." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |