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Warner.
Hey, I like it! Captain, I take it there ll be some changes in our status.
Most of us can hope for something more than twenty years in the army and
retirement
Rick shrugged. I hadn t much thought about it, but I guess so. They talked
like we could do pretty well what we wanted to.
I have always fancied myself as a king, André Parsons said. I see no reason
why we cannot all become kings or at least dukes and barons. Pre-suming we
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succeed, of course.
We have to get out of here, someone shouted.
Babble broke out.
Where to?
I ve got a wife and two kids I got to get back home!
Ten hut! Elliot s command quieted them for a moment.
Before they could speak again, Rick said, We aren t going home. They made
that clear, and I don t see any way to get there. They can let the pressure
out of here anytime they want to. Anybody know how to breathe vacuum?
So what do we do, Captain? Campbell asked.
Stick together. Do what they want, Rick said. Lieutenant Parsons is right.
We can all get rich out of this. We can t go home, but we can be rich. If we
stick together.
Fight a whole planet? Campbell asked.
Not quite, Rick said. But we could. We have the edge in weapons and
tactics.
There ll be a lot of people down there, though. A lot. If we don t stay
together well, when does anyone sleep?
First we need a new contract, Warner said. His voice had a smug quality that
instantly irritated Rick. A new contract. We can begin by electing a
chairman
Sergeant Elliot looked as if he were having a stroke. Elect! We ve got
officers
Who have no authority over us under the cir-cumstances, Warner said. Their
commissions are from the United States, and we don t live there any longer.
Why do we take orders from them?
Warner, one more goddamn word out of you and I ll break your neck. Elliot
moved to stand near Private Warner.
He has a point, André Parsons said. Those who volunteer to go are also
volunteering to accept Cap-tain Galloway and myself as leaders. He turned to
Rick and said, very formally, Sir, I accept you as leader and captain of this
expedition. Then he sa-luted.
Parsons had turned away from the troops, so that only Rick could see his face.
His eyes showed sly amusement, and as Rick returned the salute, Parsons gave
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an exaggerated wink.
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Rick had told Parsons that the aliens and the human police, who in some ways
seemed as alien as the
Shalnuksis
were. probably listening to all their conversations; after that they were
guarded, saying nothing they did not want their employers to hear. It made
Rick lonelier than ever. He was losing Earth and everyone he knew, and he
couldn t talk about it without risk of being overheard.
And yet, he thought, it might be fun. As Parsons had said, everyone at one
time or another dreams of getting a chance to become a knight or baron or
duke. Even a king. That didn t happen on Earth anymore, but it might happen to
Rick Galloway on Paradise.
He had other fantasies. He knew enough of Earth s history to know of the
mistakes made in going from the Middle Ages to an industrial society. He had
seen pictures of Bombay and Calcutta. Perhaps, he told himself, he could help
this new world avoid some of the mistakes. For Karreeel and his merchant-
adventurers, this was a routine operation to make some money or whatever
passed for money in their culture but for Rick it was a chance at adventure.
It was also inevitable, and he was uncomfortably aware that many of the
arguments he used with himself and the men were born of necessity. They had no
other choices.
The first task was preparation. They would need supplies and equipment.
Agzaral had told him that a reasonable amount of equipment could be ob-tained
from
Earth. He hadn t said what would be reasonable.
Rick set the troops to making lists. Weapons, am-munition, special equipment,
communications, survival gear, medical supplies, soap; luxuries and
conveniences that couldn t be manufactured on Tran even with all the help Rick
and his people could supply. The lists became endless, and they began to cut
them back.
They had very little information about Tran. Kar-reeel was certain there was
no petroleum industry there, but neither knew nor cared whether there was
petroleum at all: thus no internal-combustion gear. The other decision
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