He eased the hatch
open, glanced around, and then climbed down quickly. He stopped at a
locker, opened the doors quietly, and took out two paralo-ray guns and
two rifles. Then, closing the doors, he made his way to the opposite
side of the ship.
"Hey, Manning!" he whispered through the closed storeroom hatch. "Can ya
hear me?"
"Who is it?" asked Roger.
"Me--Shinny," hissed the wizened spaceman. He opened the hatch and Roger
quickly stepped out.
"What's the idea?" gasped Roger when Shinny shoved a rifle and pistol
into his hands.
"I ain't got time to explain now," said Shinny. "We've got to hurry if
we're going to take over this tub."
Roger's eyes glowed. "You mean--"
"Never mind what I mean," said Shinny. "Just listen. Loring's on the
control deck and Mason's on the radar bridge. Loring's just talked to
Connel. He's trying to make him blast outta here. If Connel doesn't,
Loring's going to dump you in space!"
"Yeah, I know. That murdering space crawler!" snarled Roger. He gripped
the rifle tightly. "I'll blast him--"
"Now wait a minute," hissed Shinny. "You go up and get Loring, see? Make
it look like you got out by yourself.
Pages:
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167