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Every member of the crew must consider himself expend-able, he said earnestly. This is the day that
our great grandparents, our forefathers, who boldly set out for the new space frontier so long ago,
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looked forward to with unfaltering courage. We must not fail them.
He concluded his announcement over the intercom system of the big ship by saying that the names of the
crew members of the lifeboat would be given out within the hour. And I know that every real man
aboard will want to see his name there.
John Lesbee, the fifth of his line aboard, had a sinking sensation as he heard those words and he was
not mis-taken.
Even as he tried to decide if he should give the signal for a desperate act of rebellion, Captain Browne
made the expected announcement.
The commander said, And I know you will all join him in his moment of pride and courage when I tell
you that John Lesbee will lead the crew that carries the hopes of man in this remote area of space. And
now the others
He thereupon named seven of the nine persons with whom Lesbee had been conspiring to seize control
of the ship.
Since the lifeboat would only hold eight persons, Lesbee recognized that Browne was dispatching as
many of his enemies as he could. He listened with a developing dismay, as the commander ordered all
persons on the ship to come to the recreation room. Here I request that the crew of the lifeboat join me
and the other officers on stage. Their instructions are to surrender themselves to any craft which seeks to
intercept them. They will be equipped with instru-ments whereby we here can watch, and determine the
stage of scientific attainments of the dominant race on the planet below.
Lesbee hurried to his room on the technicians deck, hoping that perhaps Tellier or Cantlin would seek
him out there. He felt himself in need of a council of war, however brief. He waited five minutes, but not
one member of his conspiratorial group showed.
Nonetheless, he had time to grow calm. Peculiarly, it was the smell of the ship that soothed him most.
From the earliest days of his life, the odor of energy and the scent of metal under stress had been
perpetual companions. At the moment, with the ship in orbit, there was a letting up of stress. The smell
was of old energies rather than new. But the effect was similar.
He sat in the chair he used for reading, eyes closed, breathing in that complex of odors, product of so
many titanic energies. Sitting there, he felt the fear leave his mind and body. He grew brave again, and
strong.
Lesbee recognized soberly that his plan to seize power had involved risks. Worse, no one would
question Browne s choice of him, as the leader of the mission. I am, thought Lesbee, probably the
most highly trained technician ever to be on this ship. Browne Three had taken him when he was ten,
and started him on the long grind of learning that led him, one after the other, to master the mechanical
skills of all the various technical departments. And Browne Four had continued his training.
He was taught how to repair relay systems. He gradually came to understand the purposes of countless
analogs. The time came when he could visualize the entire automation. Long ago, the colossal cobweb of
electronic instruments within the walls had become almost an extension of his nervous system.
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During those years of work and study, each daily ap-prenticeship chore left his slim body exhausted.
After he came off duty, he sought a brief relaxation and usually retired to an early rest.
He never did find the time to learn the intricate theory that underlay the ship s many operations.
His father, while he was alive, had made numerous attempts to pass his knowledge on to his son. But it
was hard to teach complexities to a tired and sleepy boy. Lesbee even felt slightly relieved when his
parent died. It took the pressure off him. Since then, however, he had come to realize that the Browne
family, by forcing a lesser skill on the descendant of the original commander of the ship, had won their
greatest victory.
As he headed finally for the recreation room, Lesbee found himself wondering: Had the Brownes trained
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