MacKinnie grimly faced death, reviewing the silly prayers the chaplains said over the dying. Somehow they did not seem silly at all.
“No, no,” Landry protested. “I’m sorry, I should have warned you. We are in orbit. The sensation of falling is natural, but it’s false. In fact, we can’t fall. Without power we’d never leave this orbit, because we’re falling around the planet — oh, hell, I don’t expect you to understand. But we’re quite safe.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Longway said grimly. “But you might have told us—”
The incident served to reassure MacKinnie about Kleinst. The young scholar had evidently known they were safe, but made no move to assure the others and thus break his cover as social historian. MacKinnie did not care for weaklings, but the young man seemed to have common sense as well as educated intelligence.
The landing boat’s engines started again, this time far more gently than before. For nearly an hour they experienced accelerations, now forward, now sideways, then finally there was a resounding clang, followed by other sounds. Midshipman Landry glanced at his pocket computer. “Good time,” he said. “Couldn’t have matched up quicker myself.”
“Do you pilot these craft?” MacLean asked. “Your pardon, but you seem young for such a task. It must be very demanding.”
MacKinnie listened with amusement. From his interviews with MacLean he knew what an effort MacLean must have made to be polite to a mere midshipman.
“I have been a qualified landing-craft pilot for nearly a standard year,” Landry answered proudly. He glanced at Mary Graham as if seeking approval. She smiled. “It’s not that difficult,” Landry continued. “The computers do most of the work. The fact is, we couldn’t fly these ships without them.”
The compartment door opened and two men in coveralls came inside. One wore gold piping on his sleeves, and both were dark men, with eyes that seemed to slant. There were no orientals on Prince Samual’s World, and MacKinnie and the others stared at the crewmen.
“My name is Taka,” one of the crewmen said. He floated through the compartment, not touching the decks, and began loosening the straps holding MacKinnie in his seat. When they had everyone loose they gestured toward the opening.
Mary Graham stared openly at the newcomers, but MacKinnie couldn’t tell if it were their strange eyes or the way they levitated through the compartment that interested her. Kleinst had a bored look, but under it MacKinnie thought he detected keen interest. The pale young scholar seemed relaxed, but whenever the crewmen spoke he tensed slightly.
“Come aboard,” Landry said. “We should not waste time…”
They floated gently through the connecting passageways between the landing craft and the main ship, gingerly following the towlines the ship’s officers had strung for them, everyone quiet and awed by the experience. We’ve left our world, MacKinnie thought. And I’m supposed to bring back the knowledge so we can build one of these. He shook his head grimly. The more he saw of the ships, the more he was convinced that they had taken on an impossible task.
Their staterooms proved to be minuscule cubicles, sparsely furnished at first sight, but when buttons were touched, various utilities such as beds and tables unfolded from the walls. MacKinnie sat in a chair and held himself in it while he looked at the various gadgets, but learned nothing.
Weight slowly returned.
A ship’s officer led him into the lounge, where some of the others were already assembled. The room was completely alien to MacKinnie. It was splendidly furnished, but in addition to couches, chairs, and tables on the deck beneath him, one large, circular wall was also covered with carpeting and furniture, all bolted into place. The wall was not a complete disc, for a large central tube ran through it well over Nathan’s head. More strange than the double furniture was the deck, which curved up both in front of him and behind him, yet, when he walked around it, always felt as if it were down. After a few strides, he looked back to see that where he had been was now well above him. A few more steps brought him around the central column “overhead” to reveal Renaldi apparently hanging from the ceiling, relaxing in a large chair, a drink in his hand.
“Ah, Trader MacKinnie, please be seated. The others will be here shortly.” Renaldi sipped his drink. “Pleasant to have weight again, is it not?”
“Yes.” MacKinnie sat, again noting the eerie sensations in his inner ears whenever he made a sudden movement. “How have you accomplished this, uh, giving us weight?”
Renaldi looked startled for a moment, then smiled. “You truly don’t know, do you? I’ll wait until the others arrive and explain. Have a drink, Trader. We can only enjoy this for another hour before the captain gets under way, and we will all have to be in our staterooms for the transition.”
MacLean, Longway, Kleinst, and Mary Graham joined them within moments. Midshipman Landry arrived a few minutes later, and explained that the guards and their leader were quartered on another deck with a lounge of their own. When all were seated, Renaldi told Landry, “The Trader is curious about our weight, Midshipman. Surely the Empire will not fall if we explain it to our guests?”
“No, of course not, Trader,” Landry said. “You see, gentlemen and freelady, the captain has caused the ship to rotate about its long axis. Thus, you are thrown toward the outside of the ship. When we begin our voyage, however, the ship will accelerate for long periods of time, and the rotation will cease. While we accelerate, you will feel weight, but ‘down’ will be that deck in front of you, and this deck will become a wall.” The boy paused for a moment, then said suddenly, “If you have never been off-world, you have never seen your own planet. There are ports at that bulkhead there; allow me to open them for you.”
Before any of the others could rise, Kleinst had charged across the deck, eagerly waiting until the port was uncovered. With a shrug, Landry uncovered several more, and the others took turns looking out. No one had the heart to remove Kleinst from his post.
They saw Prince Samual’s World, although it did not appear to them as a sphere, as the orbit was not that high. Although it was partly obscured by clouds, they could see much of the great mass of North Continent, a portion of the Major Sea, and several of the larger islands of the Archipelago. Except for the fleecy clouds, it looked exactly like globes and maps they had studied in school. The world below them appeared to be moving across their field of vision, however, and after it passed they would see the black of space, stars shining more brightly than they had ever believed possible.
For long moments there was no conversation. Finally, slowly, one by one they filed back to their seats, except for Kleinst, who stayed at the port until they were ushered to their staterooms for the beginning of the voyage.
MacKinnie was not allowed off the lounge deck except to go down a ladder to the deck below where Stark and the guards were quartered. His troops had far less luxurious quarters than his own, but somewhat more open space, and Hal was using the time to best advantage, training the men in unarmed combat, and experimenting with swords and shields- from their personal baggage. The men seemed cheerful enough, and MacKinnie ordered a small daily ration of brandy for each man to relieve the monotony. He returned to his own quarters for the same prescription.
The days flowed by with a monotonous quality, relieved by their constant efforts to master the language of Makassar. MacKinnie and MacLean sent for wooden swords and put in an hour of practice daily, resulting both in bruises on their persons, and considerable respect for each other. They also trained with their men.