FOR EVEN IF THEY SHOULD land him somewhere where he had no wish to be, he still would have a running chance. On this planet he had no chance at all.
“All right,” said the ship. “You can come aboard.”
A hatch came open in the hull and a ladder began running out.
“Just a second,” Sherwood shouted. “I’ll be right there.”
He sprinted to the shack and grabbed his sack of the finest diamonds, then legged it for the ship. He got there almost as soon as the ladder touched the ground.
The hull still was crackling with warmth, but Sherwood swarmed up the ladder, paying no attention.
He was set for life, he thought. Unless—
And then the thought struck him that they might take the diamonds from him. They could pretend it was payment for his passage. Or they could simply take them without an exc
