Astounding Science Fiction (British Edition) — page 39: what you’re looking at

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

THE GULF BETWEEN 37 said sharply, with sudden anxiety, “Ship’s drive control—acknowledge that order!” Silence. He tried again, coldly, unpleasantly certain that it would be in vain. “Ship’s drive control—acknowledge !” Again the dead silence was his an- swer and he knew there was no use to try any more. The units that per- mitted the ground-control station to control the ship had been sabotaged and he was helpless to prevent the ship’s take-off. Bullets continued to rattle against the door, warning him how fatal would be any attempt to leave the station. He was helpless so long as he remained in the station; he would be both helpless and dead a split-second after he opened the door to leave the station. Yet, he had to do something. He estimated the time that had gone by since he had seen the car speeding from the bomber to the ship. ‘It would have been Cullin, of course; it would be Cullin and Vickson who took the ship into the sky, with Vick- son at the pilot’s seat and Cullin be- hind him, watching him. Vickson knew as well as Miles how to operate the manual drive controls, and there was no hope that he would make a mistake and wreck the ship in the take-off. Even Cullin, alone, could lift the ship by simple voice command to the drive control. The Center forces would be closing in on the ship as the fighter planes exhausted the ammunition they were forced to use so continually, but they would be too late. A sound broke the silence of the observer’s viewscreen, the sound of someone entering the control room. It was Cullin, wearing the black and gray uniform of a high official of the So- cialist State Police, and he was alone. He took one quick look at the room, then walked straight to the observer’s chair in the manner of a man who knew exactly what he was going to do. At the sight of Knight’s face in the observer’s viewscreen he smiled in sudden, pleased surprise. Knight spoke the same greeting he had spoken at Punta Azul: “Going somewhere, Cullin?” Cullin seated himself in the ob- server’s chair, still smiling and taking his time about answering. ‘Why, yes,” he said, “I am going somewhere. Vickson was telling me you were in there, but I was afraid you had been rendered permanently speechless by your faithful George.” Cullin shifted his eyes to look past Knight at the robot lying on the floor across the room. “I see you had sufficient in- teiligence to destroy the robot before it destroyed you. It was very useful to me—via Vickson’s orders to it— but it’s just as well that it failed to carry out its last order; to throttle anyone who entered the station. You and I can now chat pleasantly about cabbages and kings and sealing wax and a man named Cullin who is, as you feared, going somewhere.” “Alone?” Knight asked. ‘““Where’s Vickson?” “Outside. He was rather surprised that he couldn’t go with me.” “He is.a pilot as well as observer— why don’t you take him along?” “You builders of this ship thought- fully gave it a robotic brain for the drive that makes the pilot’s manual controls unnecessary. Whoever con- trols this ship can write his own ticket, so I’ll take it up alone and there’ll be no danger of a doublecross, no doubt as to who will write the ticket.” Cullin reached out and turned the red knob to the right. “No pilot is needed,”’ he said. “‘You’ve made the ship foolproof.” “How did you manage to keep EComichooksnco im