The Solar Queen by Andre Norton

Author:Andre Norton [Norton, Andre]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science fiction; American, Space ships, Fantasy, General, Science Fiction, Solar Queen (Imaginary space vehicle), Adventure, Life on other planets, Fiction, Solar Queen (Imaginary space vehicle) - Fiction
ISBN: 9780765300553
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates
Published: 2004-10-06T23:00:00+00:00

It was plain that no crawler had ever advanced this far. The narrow way was choked with piles of loose debris over which they helped each other to keep their footing. And the vibration in the wall grew stronger as they went.

Kosti thumped his fist against the stone as they paused for a breather.

“Those drums—they sure keep it up.”

The distant beat did carry with it some of the roll of a heavy drum.

“Kinda like the Storm Dancers on Gorbe—just a little. And that’s devilish stuff, gets into your blood ’til you want to get out and prance along with them. This—well, it’s nasty down deep—plain nasty. And you get to believing something’s waiting out there—” the jetman’s hand indicated the fog, “just waiting to pounce!”

They kept on, climbing now as each ridge of rubble they surmounted was a little higher than the preceding one. They must have been well above the surface of the valley where they had left the crawler when they came upon the strangest find of all.

Dane, clinging to an outcrop in the wall to retain his balance, teetered on the top of a mound. His boot slipped and he tumbled forward before Kosti could snatch him back, rolling down until he brought up with a bruising bump against a dark object. Under his clawing hands he felt, not the rough gravel and earth of the valley, but something else—a smooth sleekness—Had he come upon another ruined building this far from the city?

“Are you hurt?” called Kosti from above. “Look out, I’m coming down.”

Dane backed away from his find as Kosti came down feet first in a slide, his boots ringing against that buried thing with the unmistakable clang of metal.

“What the—!” The jetman was on his knees, feeling over that exposed surface. And he was able to identify it. “A ship!”

“What?” Dane crowded in. But now he was able to see the curve of the plates, various other familiar details. They had come upon the wreckage of a crash—a bad crash. The ship had jammed its way into the narrow neck of the valley as if it were a cork pounded into a bottle. If they were to go any farther they would have to climb over it. Dane took up his helmet mike and reported the find to the three at the crawler.

“The wreck of that ship you heard coming in?” Wilcox wanted to know. But Dane had seen enough to know that it was not.

“No, sir. This has been here a long time—almost buried and there’s rust eaten in. Years since this one lifted, I think—”

“Stay where you are—we’re coming up !”

“You can’t bring the crawler, sir. Footing is bad.”

In the end they did come, supporting Wilcox over the worst bits, keeping contact with the crawler by rope only. In the meantime Kosti prowled around and over the wreck, trying to find a hatch.

“It’s a rim prospector of a sort,” he reported as soon as Wilcox was settled on a rock to view the find.

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