Bob Shaw Land and Overland 3 The Fugitive Worlds

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."The smile returned to Toller's face as he saw that the crucial moment had come while his ship was well to the west of the island, so that a single natural maneuver would bring it into position for an upwind landing.It very much looked as though the aerial wheel of chance had declared against Vantara.He glanced again at the Countess's ship and was appalled to see that it was already breaking out of the flight pattern and beginning a steep descent to the island, obviously intent on making an illegal downwind landing."The bitch," Toller whispered."The stupid bitch!"He watched helplessly as the other vessel, its speed enhanced by the following breeze, speared down through the lowest levels of the air and drove towards the center of the island.Too fast, he thought.The anchors will never take the strain! Puffs of smoke appeared on each side of the gondola as its keel touched the grass and the anchor cannon fired their barbs into the ground.The ship slowed abruptly, its gasbag distorting.For a moment it looked as though Toller's prediction would be proved wrong, then both ropes on the left side of the gondola snapped.The ship rolled and turned, hauling its rear anchor out of the soil, and would have broken free had not the crew member on the solitary remaining anchor begun paying out line at maximum possible speed, thus easing the strain on the rope.Against the odds the single line took up the load without breaking, and all at once it was impossible for Toller to bring off his intended landing maneuver—Vantara's ship, dipping and wallowing, lay across his line of descent."Abort the landing!" he shouted."Up! Go up!"The main jets sounded immediately and, following the emergency drill, the crewmen who were not otherwise engaged ran aft to transfer their weight and help tilt the nose of the vessel upwards.Prompt though the corrective actions had been, the inertia of the tons of gas in the envelope which strained overhead slowed down the ship's response.For nightmarishly protracted seconds it continued on its course, with the obstructing vessel expanding to fill the view directly ahead, then the horizon began to sink with nerve-abrading slowness.From his position at the side of the bridge Toller glimpsed the long-haired figure of Countess Vantara, a momentary vision which was replaced by the swift-sliding curvatures of the other gasbag, so close that he could make out the individual stitches of the panels and load tapes.He held his breath, willing himself and his ship to rise vertically, and was beginning to hope that a collision had been averted when there came a vast groaning sound from below.The sound— low-pitched, quavering, reproachful—told him that his keel was ploughing its way across the upper surface of the other ship's gasbag.He looked aft and saw Vantara's ship emerging from beneath his own.At least two seams had given way in the varnished linen envelope, allowing the supportive gas to spew into the atmosphere.The rents, although serious, were not bad enough to cause a catastrophe—the elliptical gasbag was slowly becoming misshapen and wrinkled, allowing the gondola beneath it to sink to the ground.Toller gave the orders for his ship to resume normal flying and to make another circuit in preparation for landing.The maneuver gave him and his crew an excellent opportunity to watch the countess's ship sink down at the end of its tether, and—the final ignominy—be blotted out of sight by the collapsing gasbag.As soon as it had become apparent that nobody was going to be killed or even injured, the release of tension caused Toller to laugh.Taking their cue from him, Feer and the rest of the crew joined in and the merriment became almost hysterical when the parachutist—whose existence had virtually been forgotten—descended into the scene of action, made a comically awkward landing and ended up sitting on his backside in a patch of swamp."There's no hurry now, so I want a flawless showpiece landing," Toller said."Take her in slowly."In accordance with his instructions the ship settled down against the breeze with a stately motion and grounded with a barely perceptible shudder.As soon as the anchor cannon had secured the craft, Toller swung himself over the rail and dropped to the grass.The first of Vantara's crew were beginning to struggle out from beneath the folds of their gasbag, but Toller ignored them and walked towards the parachutist, who had risen to his feet and was gathering the sprawled canopy.He raised his head and saluted as he saw Toller approaching.He was a lean, fair-skinned youngster who looked barely old enough to have left his family home, but—and Toller was impressed by the realization—he had completed a double crossing of the void that lay between the sister worlds."Good foreday, sir," he said."Corporal Steenameert, sir.I bear urgent dispatches for her Majesty.""I thought as much," Toller smiled."I am under orders to transport you to Prad without delay, but I think we can take a moment to let you get out of that skysuit.It can't be very comfortable walking around with a wet arse."Steenameert returned the smile, appreciating the way in which Toller had put the relationship on an informal footing."It wasn't one of my best landings.""Bad landings seem to be the order of the day," Toller said, glancing past Steenameert.Countess Vantara was striding towards him, a tall black-haired woman whose high-breasted figure was made even more impressive by the fact that she was holding herself angrily erect [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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