The Runaway Asteroid | Page 8

for us and Richard wanted me to take personal charge of security on Mars until it was quite clear that the threat was past. Actually, I flew in with the invasion fleet. My most important assignment here is to set up a secret base for Starlight Enterprise, which will be a backup and defense unit prepared for any events such as the one we've just experienced."
"A secret base?"
"Yes. I'll be looking for the best site, recruiting the right people to man it, and drawing up plans for construction and the tasks it will have to perform. I don't need to tell you that the project is highly confidential. I'm only telling you about it because you're Starmen, and it will be a resource you'll need to become familiar with. Of course, there will be much more information coming your way later."
Oritz Konig spoke cleanly and clearly, but gave the [DB1]impression that his thoughts were racing faster than he could speak. He had had to discipline himself to speak so that others could follow him. There were few wasted words when he had to get a message across, but he was able to converse in a way that assured his listeners that he valued them as people and needed their cooperation. Konig manifested an extremely rare combination of being a "people person" as well as having a supremely disciplined and task-oriented mind.
"We interrogated the pirates while you were in the Asteroid Belt. We started with Troy Putnam, of course, but he won't say a word. He's got a strange kind of strength to him-genial in a lot of ways, but utterly inflexible and unbreakable when he doesn't want to cooperate.
"We questioned other pirate leaders, too, of course, and a lot of the rank and file. Not all of them cooperated, but enough did that we learned that they have a base in the Belt. It's no ordinary base. Most of the pirates don't know its origin but they can describe what it looks like.
"It's a fairly good-sized chunk of hard stone, mostly iron. It's hollow, and the base is inside. The access port is concealed. More to the point, it cannot be detected by radar.
"Some of the toughest of the pirates sneered that we'd never find it-that it couldn't be seen even if you were right on top of it."
Joe jumped in. "But sir, this technology is not new. There have been craft since the late twentieth century that were invisible to radar. There are other ways to find them-gravitational influences, to name one."
"Of course, Starman Taylor. This asteroid, however, appears to be the work of some advanced race, other than Earth. The pirates didn't create it-they took it over. Its sheathing system is highly effective, highly effective indeed. The pirates could be lying, of course, but once the word got out to them that we knew about the asteroid, most of them seemed to swell with a kind of arrogant pride, even welcoming the fact that we had the information. They were confident that we couldn't do anything about it."
"And that explains, I'm sure, why we couldn't find them in spite of an exceedingly thorough search of the area," concluded David Foster, feeling somewhat vindicated.
"So are we to go find the asteroid?" put forth Joe, leaning forward in his chair.
"No, Mr. Taylor. We want you to find the man who discovered it."
Joe leaned back into his chair, a puzzled look on his face. Oritz Konig continued.
"The asteroid was discovered almost twenty years ago by an asteroid miner named George St. George. He's a loner, like so many of the asteroid miners. He makes a good living, but has no fixed address. He's constantly on the move and spends most of his time away from settlements in the Belt. He'll disappear for months, maybe a year or two-then show up on Ceres or in Eagle City with what he has found in the Belt and turn it into cash and supplies. Then he's gone again.
"Apparently he discovered this remarkable asteroid the pirates took over. He's a trusting, almost na??ve, decent man. He spoke unguardedly about his find at one time and Troy Putnam learned about it. Putnam had St. George take him to the asteroid and paid him a good price for the knowledge. St. George showed Putnam where it was, and then disappeared into the Belt. Putnam went on to build his empire of pirates."
"And now you want us to find St. George so he can show us where the asteroid is," inferred Zip.
"It's not that simple, Starman. We've also learned that the pirates who escaped are the most dangerous of the lot. Their leader is a very bad number named Lurton Zimbardo. The pirates were willing to obey Troy Putnam because he encouraged them. They liked him. He was