CHAPTER IICUT TO: Space Cruiser
Quade hailed a taxi and was hurtled along Lunar Boulevard to the spaceport, where his ship waited, refueled and ready. It was a two-man cruiser, with the usual transparent nose of camera-ships, speedy and powerful. Nodding to the mechanic, Quade glanced at the setting sun and climbed aboard. Quade entered the forward compartment and touched the siren that warned aircraft a spaceship was taking off. He set the gravity plates and went back into the rear room.
A man was asleep in the hammock, with Quade’s best fur robe pulled over him. Quade gasped a startled oath and fled back to the instrument board to reverse the gravity. The ship, which had been lifting, settled.
With hasty strides Quade returned to his passenger and planted the toe of his boot firmly wh
