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  Perri held her breath, expecting to feel at any second the awful sensation of the ship breaking apart around her. Instead, she felt as if she were bouncing and sliding down a steep hill with no way to stop herself from plunging into an endless void. She put out one hand, reaching toward Halvo, but did not actually touch him. She merely wanted to be ready. If they were to die, she wanted her hand to be clasped in Halvo’s.

  And then the Space Dragon was drifting quietly in space. The lights returned to full strength and the viewscreens cleared. The pink light was gone, though Perri could discern a faint flush of the color around the edges of the screens. The picture she saw was of ordinary black space with a few stars and, here and there, streaks of blue or green, which she thought might be interstellar gas or cosmic dust illuminated by some unseen energy source.

  Inside the cockpit there was complete silence for a while, as if the two human occupants and Rolli all needed time to assure themselves that they still existed. Feeling limp and weak, Perri stared at her companions before turning back to the large viewscreen.

  “The Empty Sector doesn’t look very frightening,” she murmured.

  “The engines are dead,” Rolli said.

  “If we have lights and the viewscreen, then we still have power.” Halvo hit the start button. The engines immediately began to throb again. “Any sign of the Regulan ship?”

  “Not on our sensors,” Rolli said, “but I must caution you, Admiral, that all instrument readings are decidedly peculiar. The Regulan ship may, or may not, be lurking in our vicinity.”

  “Perri?” Halvo looked at her.

  After a moment to collect her thoughts, she checked the navigator’s panel and said, “I can’t give you any definite information either. These instruments are useless.”

  “Then we’ll do it the old-fashioned way,” Halvo said, “by sight alone.”

  “A method that will only be successful,” Rolli said, “if the image on our viewscreen is an accurate one.”

  Halvo said nothing to that. He just grinned and pushed a few buttons on the controls. The Space Dragon began to move again.

  “Without dependable instrument readings,” Rolli said some time later, “it will be impossible to discover a planet on which we could land the Space Dragon with any hope of survival.”

  “I suppose there are no space stations in the Empty Sector, are there?” Perri asked. Without waiting for Halvo’s response to her question she said, “I have learned enough about navigation to understand that only a narrow portion of the Empty Sector directly borders on the Jurisdiction. If we leave in any other direction we will be outside the galaxy proper, with no hope of ever finding a place for repairs.”

  “That’s right,” Halvo said.

  “Then why do you keep smiling as if you know a great secret?” Perri asked.

  “I know where we can find the space station we need,” he said. “Actually, it is a ship that has been placed in permanent orbit, but it has a docking deck large enough to accommodate the Space Dragon with no trouble, and if I know my brother, all the supplies we may require will be readily available.”

  Perri gaped at him, too astonished to speak. However, a robot could not be astonished, and Rolli at once said what Perri was thinking: “Admiral, your statement requires explanation.”

  “I know it does.” Halvo was not only smiling, his eyes were twinkling. “My friends, I am about to reveal a state secret.”

  “Is that wise?” Rolli asked. “The value of any secret lies in keeping it from the knowledge of all but a chosen few.”

  “This secret can be kept easily enough,” Halvo said. “I can fix your memory banks so you will never reveal what you learn about Dulan’s Planet. As for you, Perri, I will accept your word that you will keep the secret.”

  “You have it,” Perri said. “Halvo, how can you have a brother when Jurisdiction law only allows one child to a couple?”

  “If you knew my mother, you would not have to ask,” Halvo said, chuckling. “How she did it is irrelevant here, but Kalina did obtain official permission to reproduce a second time. My younger brother, Tarik, was the result.”

  “How can you expect him to help us when we are now outside Jurisdiction space?” Rolli asked.

  “Tarik is outside Jurisdiction space, too. He lives here in the Empty Sector.” While Halvo’s listeners sought for words in response to this unbelievable statement, he went on with his explanation. “Four years ago, the Jurisdiction won a major battle against the Cetans and then made a treaty with them. Tarik, who played an important part in the defeat of that warlike Race, suggested to our father that it would be a good idea to keep a watchful eye on the Cetans so we could be sure they were adhering to the terms of the treaty.

  “From a voyage he made just before the Cetan War, a journey that had ranged well beyond the boundaries of the Jurisdiction, Tarik knew of a suitable planet located not far from Cetan space. That planet is here in the Empty Sector.”

  “Then your brother is one of those you mentioned who returned from this sector,” Perri said.

  “He is,” Halvo said. “Tank is now the leader of a colony of ten scientists and communications experts who live on a world they named Dulan’s Planet. They traveled to it on a captured, refitted Cetan ship that they renamed the Kalina, and it is that ship that is now in orbit around Dulan’s Planet.”

  “You knew about this colony, and yet you did not tell us?” Perri cried. “This is why you came directly to the Empty Sector!”

  “As I said, the existence of the colony is a state secret. I could not tell you. But now we are in desperate need of assistance, and Dulan’s Planet offers the only possible hope for us.”

  “Do you know the coordinates?” Rolli asked.

  “I know where the planet used to be,” Halvo said, “though in this sector nothing ever remains stable for long. Still, I think I could find it, if we had instruments that were working properly.”

  “Have you ever been there?” Perri asked.

  “No.”

  “Then what do you suggest we do?”

  “The only thing we can do. We begin exploring and hope luck is with us.”

  Perri wondered if the peculiar effects of the Empty Sector had already begun to attack Halvo’s brain. He looked remarkably cheerful. He even whistled a funny little tune as he checked the controls.

  “Admiral,” Rolli said, but fell silent when Halvo put up one hand for silence.

  “Is the food processor working?” Halvo asked a short time later.

  “I don’t know.” Perri looked to Rolli for advice, but the robot’s eyelights were fixed on Halvo.

  “See if you can get one of those large salads out of it, will you?” Halvo asked. “And some bread, too. I’m hungry, but not close enough to starving to eat a Regulan main course. I may never be hungry enough for that.”

  Perri did as he bid her. She was glad to get out of the cockpit for a while. With only cockpit and galley usable and the air recirculation system set at minimal level, the Space Dragon was beginning to feel like a prison. Perri longed to stand in an open place with no confining walls around her and take a deep breath. Fresh air might help the headache that was bothering her.

  To her delight, the food processor was functioning well. It delivered not only the salad Halvo wanted, but a mug of steaming heskay tea for her and two loaves of dark bread. After piling everything onto a tray, she returned to the cockpit. There she discovered that Halvo and Rolli had effected a partial repair of the navigational instruments.

  While the two humans ate Rolli piloted the ship, but Halvo never moved out of the copilot’s chair and he constantly monitored what Rolli was doing. Just as Halvo finished his salad and handed the bowl to Perri, Rolli spoke.

  “Admiral, there appears to be a star of the type you have described to me.”

  “Where?” Halvo’s full attention was on the controls, then on the large viewscreen.

  “Good job, Rolli. A solar system with three planets, one of t
hem with two moons. Yes, this may be what we are searching for. This may be Dulan’s Planet.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Aboard the Jurisdiction ship Krontar, a grim-faced Capt. Jyrit paced the bridge, knowing he was about to lose the argument in which he was engaged.

  “Jyrit, my friend,” Kalina said, “I beg you to try to understand a mother’s aching heart. I cannot concede to your insistence that Halvo will never be found.”

  “Lady Kalina, I do understand your feelings. My own emotions mirror your anguish. Though sadly maimed, your son still had much to live for, much to look forward to in his future life.” More than I have, Jyrit added silently to himself. I have little life left at all.

  “Jyrit, I do know about the Jugarian rules of honor,” Kalina said. “If the shame of losing Halvo to a kidnapper cannot be expunged by his rescue, then you must die as restitution for his loss. I have grown to know you well, my friend. I suspect you of scheduling your own death for the near future.”

  “It will be necessary,” Jyrit responded, uncomfortably aware of Armaments Officer Dysia’s troubled gaze on him as well as Kalina’s clear blue eyes. Jyrit knew what Kalina would say next, because Dysia had already said the same thing to him several times. Much as he liked and respected them, they were both women, and Demarians at that. Therefore they could not be expected to comprehend the requirements of the strict code of honor that bound all Jugarian males. Jyrit was the son of a long line of warriors, and he knew what he would have to do.

  “It would be sheer ineptitude on your part to take your own life prematurely,” Kalina said. “We may still find Halvo. Jyrit, we are so close to the Empty Sector. I think we should search there, too.”

  “You know as well as I what the law says about the Empty Sector.” Jyrit and Dysia exchanged sympathetic glances, both of them realizing that Kalina’s suggestion was the last, desperate hope of a parent unable to admit her child was gone, never to be seen again. Out of his affection for Kalina, Jyrit made a decision that he knew was hasty and probably ill-advised. But he could not do otherwise. He owed the grieving woman every consideration since her grief was his responsibility.

  “What I can do without breaking any law,” Jyrit said, “is take the Krontar as far as the buoy at the edge of Jurisdiction space. We can get information from the buoy about any ships that have approached that boundary. If there is no data available to show the passage of a ship answering the description of the Space Dragon, will you agree to turn back to the Jurisdiction without objection?”

  “There are two buoys marking the Empty Sector,” Kalina said.

  “Very well. We will check both of them,” Jyrit said.

  “Agreed.” Kalina looked almost cheerful.

  * * * * *

  Several hours after that conversation, the information extracted from each of the buoys by the Krontar’s communications officer was identical.

  “One small ship, similar in description to the Space Dragon, has entered the Empty Sector,” the officer said. “It was followed by a Regulan war vessel.” She continued with technical information about the time of entry and the course taken by each ship.

  “Halvo.” Kalina spoke the name in a whisper. “He is alive.”

  “All we know for certain,” Jyrit said as kindly as he could, “is that the ship has survived.”

  “Halvo is in danger, Jyrit.” Kalina’s voice betrayed her tightly wound nerves. “That Regulan ship can mean no good to him. We must pursue them into the Empty Sector without further delay.”

  “This is a grave decision, Lady Kalina.” But not as grave as ritual suicide, Jyrit thought. If we can locate Halvo and by some unexpected miracle save his life, then I may live to see my wife and child again.

  “I have another son, who has established a colony in the Empty Sector,” Kalina said. She gave Jyrit a brief explanation about Tarik’s settlement on Dulan’s Planet.

  “I have heard rumors of such an outpost,” Jyrit said, “but never anything definite enough to make me believe in it.”

  “I know the coordinates for Dulan’s Planet,” Kalina said. “Tarik gave them to me before he left Capital. They are engraved in my heart and in my memory. Let us follow those two ships, Jyrit, and when we can follow them no longer, we will find Dulan’s Planet and stop there to visit Tarik. I will tell him myself what has happened to his brother.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “I did not expect to locate it so soon.” Halvo stared intently at the viewscreen. The Space Dragon was close enough for those in the cockpit to be able to make out the three planets that Halvo had insisted would be orbiting the star. “You can see the middle planet of this system does have two moons.”

  “That doesn’t mean this is the planet you want to find. Many stars have associated planets, and planets often have moons.” Perri was afraid to hope they would reach safety so easily. She was even more afraid of what would happen when Halvo was reunited with his brother, who, she was certain, would not approve of her. “Halvo, Rolli has pointed out that we cannot even be sure the image we see on our view-screen is a true one.”

  “We have to believe that it is,” Halvo said. “After using Starthruster, the Space Dragon is in worse condition than before. The two largest cracks in the hull have increased in size. The life-support system is on the verge of collapse. We need help, and we need it soon. We are going into orbit around that third planet.”

  “Our sensors indicate a ship dead ahead,” Rolli said.

  “It’s the Kalina,” Halvo said. “I would know her anywhere. My brother, Tarik, and I had her refitted to our own specifications before he left Capital with his people. This proves we have found Dulan’s Planet. Rolli, try to contact the Kalina.

  Perri sat back, waiting, a knot tightening in the pit of her stomach. She ought to be as happy as Halvo was that their dangerous journey was almost over. But all she could feel was fear and a sense of impending loss. With a sigh, she turned to her own instruments at the navigator’s console.

  “We cannot raise the Kalina,” Rolli said. “The problem appears to be with our own communications system.”

  “I am sorry to add to our problems,” Perri said, “but the Regulan ship is still following us.”

  “They have crossed into the Empty Sector? They do want us dead, don’t they?” Halvo’s voice was light, but Perri saw the cold look in his eyes. “Check your instruments again, Perri.”

  “My readings on the Regulan ship are consistent,” she said after obeying his command. She frowned, seeing new information displayed. “I should say my readings on the first Regulan ship. There appears to be a second ship following the first – and now I am receiving a third image! Are there three Regulan vessels chasing us? Or could these readings be the result of some distortional effect of the Empty Sector?”

  “If it is,” Rolli added to Pern’s excited remarks, “then my instruments are showing the same distortion. I also note three ships, but I do not believe the third one is Regulan.”

  “Could it be a Cetan vessel?” The knot in Perri’s stomach twisted tighter as she spoke to Halvo. “You did say the Cetan sector is near.”

  “That is no Cetan.” Halvo had the image on the larger viewscreen.

  Having seen models and telscan images of similar vessels all of her life, Perri was able to identify the Regulan ships at once. As Halvo sharpened the picture she could see that the mysterious third ship was definitely not Regulan though it, too, was oddly familiar to her. She recognized it just as Halvo spoke again.

  “That’s the Krontar! Now how in the name of all the stars did Jyrit find us?”

  Before either Perri or Rolli had time to speculate on the answer to that question, the Space Dragon was rocked by an explosion.

  “The Regulans are firing on us,” Rolli said, her emotionless voice making the dire statement seem even more terrifying than it otherwise would have been.

  “They want us blown into atoms before the Krontar can rescue us,” Halvo said.

  “Now
the Krontar is attacking the first Regulan vessel,” Rolli said.

  “With a ship the size of the Krontar and the armaments it carries, Jyrit can probably take those two Regulans,” Halvo said, “but the Space Dragon cannot fight. Nor can we survive even a single direct hit.”

  “What shall we do?” Perri asked.

  “We have to get away from the field of battle,” Halvo said. “We don’t dare to use Starthruster again. If we try, the Space Dragon will break apart.”

  “Then what shall we do?” Pern’s despairing cry was punctuated by another explosion.

  “That was entirely too close,” Rolli said.

  “I can’t argue with that assessment.” Halvo’s face was grim. “I think we ought to seek shelter behind the larger moon. I’ll take full control, Rolli. This will call for some fancy flying.”

  The words were not out of his mouth before the Space Dragon began to change course. Halvo handled the ship entirely by himself, using only occasional navigational assistance from Perri.

  She did not know how he managed to avoid the frequent blasts coming from the Regulan ships. There were a few near misses that rocked their little vessel, and Halvo performed so many twists and turns in direction and so many sudden, breathtaking swoops that Pern’s stomach began to protest.

  “Admiral,” Rolli said, “you are taking an exceedingly dangerous course, which is placing intolerable stress upon an already disabled ship.”

  “Just a few seconds more,” Halvo said. “I want to confuse the Regulans and make them wonder if perhaps they have succeeded in destroying us.”

  The larger of the two moons loomed on the viewscreen, an airless, meteor-pitted surface that reminded Perri of the small world on which she and Halvo had taken refuge earlier in their adventurous voyage. But on this particular world they could not land with any hope of survival because it had no atmosphere at all. As Perri watched in admiration of his ability, Halvo piloted the Space Dragon around the limb of the moon toward the dark side. Just as Perri thought they were safely out of range an ear-splitting blast shook the ship. The Space Dragon shuddered. Perri was almost thrown to the deck.