Astounding British Edition, Volume 8, No. 11 — page 51: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

BLOOD BANK 49 with it, unless they had the warp-locking devices. A vague plan began forming in his mind. “I agree conditionally. Do you have Talewa Walkeka aboard? If so, prove it by asking her to answer the following request in her own voice: ‘List the garments con- tained in the closet of her quarters aboard this ship.’ If this is accomplished satis- factorily, then Ill tentatively assume inten- tions are not hostile. Let me remind you, however, that while we are grappled together, I can rip half your hull off by hitting my C-drive—unless you’re equipped with warp-locking devices.” That should do it, he thought. With such a warning, they would make certain that they had him aboard their own ship as a captive before they made any other move. And he would do his best to make it easy for them. Two or three hours would pass before he could expect an answer, so he began work immediately, preparing to use every means at his disposal to make a _ booby trap of the Jdiot, and to set the trap - “so that only his continued well-being would __ keep it from springing. The Idiot’s stock of spare parts was ‘strictly limited, as he had _ discovered previously. There were a few spare selsyns, replacement units for the calculator and courser, radio and radar parts, control- mechanisms for the reactors, and an assort- ment of spare instruments and detectors. He augmented this stock by ruthlessly tearing into the calculator and taking what he needed. He was hard at work when the answer came from the Sol ship. It was Daleth’s voice, crisp and angry, saying, “Six pair of dungarees, a jacket, a robe, and a silk frock. Drop dead, Roki.” The Solarian operator took over. “Ex- pect a meeting in six hours, In view of your threat, we must ask that you stand in the outer lock with the hatch open, so that we may see you as we grapple together. Please acknowledge willingness to co-operate.” Roki grinned. They wanted to make cer- tain that he was nowhere near the controls. He gave them a grumbling acknowledge- ment and returned to his work, tearing into the electronic control-circuits, the radio equipment, the reaction-rate limiters, and the controls of the C-drive. He wove a net- work of interdependency throughout the ship, running linking circuits from the air- lock mechanisms to the reactors, and from the communication equipment to the C- 4 drive. Gradually the ship became useless as a means of transportation. The jets were silent. He set time clocks to activate some of the apparatus, and keyed other equip- ment by relays set to trip upon the occurrence of various events. It was not a difficult task, nor a long one. He added nothing really new. For example, it was easy to remove the wires from the air-lock indicator lamp and feed their signal into a relay section removed from the cal- culator, a section which would send a con- trol pulse to the reactors if the air-locks were opened twice, The control pulse, if it came, would push the units past the red line. The relay sections were like single- task robots, set to obey the command: “If this happens, then push that swit When he was finished, the six hours were nearly gone, Pacing restlessly, he waited for them to come. Then, noticing a sudden flutter on the instruments, he glanced out to see the dark hulk slipping through his radia- tion screen. It came to a stop a short dis- tance away. Roki started the timers he had set, then donned a pressure suit. Carrying a circuit diagram of the changes he had wrought, he went to stand in the outer lock. He held open ihe outer hatch. The beam of a searchlight stabbed out to hold him while the Sol Ship eased closer. He could see another suited figure in its lock, calling guidance to the pilot. Roki glanced up at his own grapples; they were already energized and waiting for something to which they could cling. The ships came together with a rocking jerk as both sets of grapples caught and clung. Roki swung himself across a gravity- less space, then stood facing the burly figure of the Solarian. The man pushed him into the next lock and stepped after him. “Search him for weapons,” growled a harsh voice as Roki removed his helmet. “And get the boarding party through the locks.” “If you do that, you'll blow both ships to hell,” the Cophian commented quietly. “The hatches are rigged to throw the re- actors past the red line.” The commander, a sharp-eyed oldster with a massive bald skull, gave him a cold stare that slowly became a sneer. “Very well, we can cut through the hull.” Roki nodded. “You can, but don’t let any pressure escape. The throttles are also keyed to the pressure gauge.” Scomichooks.com