{"product_id":"2940014009058","title":"INVADERS FROM THE INFINITE","description":"Chapter I\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eINVADERS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRuss Evans, Pilot 3497, Rocket Squad Patrol 34, unsnapped his seat belt,\u003cbr\u003eand with a slight push floated \"up\" into the air inside the weightless\u003cbr\u003eship. He stretched himself, and yawned broadly.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Red, how soon do we eat?\" he called.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Shut up, you'll wake the others,\" replied a low voice from the rear of\u003cbr\u003ethe swift little patrol ship. \"See anything?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Several million stars,\" replied Evans in a lower voice. \"And--\" His\u003cbr\u003etone became suddenly severe. \"Assistant Murphy, remember your manners\u003cbr\u003ewhen addressing your superior officer. I've a mind to report you.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA flaming head of hair topping a grinning face poked around the edge of\u003cbr\u003ethe door. \"Lower your wavelength, lower your wavelength! You may think\u003cbr\u003eyou're a sun, but you're just a planetoid. But what I'd like to know,\u003cbr\u003eChief Pilot Russ Evans, is why they locate a ship in a forlorn, out of\u003cbr\u003ethe way place like this--three-quarters of a billion miles, out of\u003cbr\u003eplanetary plane. No ships ever come out here, no pirates, not a chance\u003cbr\u003eto help a wrecked ship. All we can do is sit here and watch the other\u003cbr\u003efellows do the work.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Which is exactly why we're here. Watch--and tell the other ships where\u003cbr\u003eto go, and when. Is that chow ready?\" asked Russ looking at a small\u003cbr\u003eclock giving New York time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Uh--think she'll be on time? Come on an' eat.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEvans took one more look at the telectroscope screen, then snapped it\u003cbr\u003eoff. A tiny, molecular towing unit in his hand, he pointed toward the\u003cbr\u003edoor to the combined galley and lunch room, and glided in the wake of\u003cbr\u003eMurphy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"How much fuel left?\" he asked, as he glided into the dizzily spinning\u003cbr\u003eroom. A cylindrical room, spinning at high speed, causing an artificial\u003cbr\u003e\"weight\" for the foods and materials in it, made eating of food a less\u003cbr\u003edifficult task. Expertly, he maneuvered himself to the guide rail near\u003cbr\u003ethe center of the room, and caught the spiral. Braking himself into\u003cbr\u003emotion, he soon glided down its length, and landed on his feet. He bent\u003cbr\u003eand flexed his muscles, waiting for the now-busied assistant to get to\u003cbr\u003ethe floor and reply.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"They gave us two pounds extra. Lord only knows why. Must expect us to\u003cbr\u003eclean up on some fleet. That makes four pound rolls left, untouched, and\u003cbr\u003etwo thirds of the original pound. We've been here fifteen days, and have\u003cbr\u003esix more to go. The main driving power rolls have about the same amount\u003cbr\u003eleft, and three pound rolls in each reserve bin,\" replied Red, holding a\u003cbr\u003ecuriously moving coffee pot that strove to adjust itself to rapidly\u003cbr\u003echanging air velocities as it neared the center of the room.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Sounds like a fleet's power stock. Martian lead or the terrestrial\u003cbr\u003eisotope?\" asked Evans, tasting warily a peculiar dish before him. \"Say,\u003cbr\u003ethis is energy food. I thought we didn't get any more till Saturday.\"\u003cbr\u003eThe change from the energy-less, flavored pastes that made up the\u003cbr\u003eprincipal bulk of a space-pilot's diet, to prevent over-eating, when no\u003cbr\u003eenergy was used in walking in the weightless ship, was indeed a welcome\u003cbr\u003echange.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Uh-huh. I got hungry. Any objections?\" grinned the Irishman.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"None!\" replied Evans fervently, pitching in with a will.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSeated at the controls once more, he snapped the little switch that\u003cbr\u003ecaused the screen to glow with flashing, swirling colors as the\u003cbr\u003etelectroscope apparatus came to life. A thousand tiny points of flame\u003cbr\u003eappeared scattered on a black field with a suddenness that made them\u003cbr\u003eseem to snap suddenly into being. Points, tiny dimensionless points of\u003cbr\u003elight, save one, a tiny disc of blue-white flame, old Sol from a\u003cbr\u003edistance of close to one billion miles, and under slight reverse\u003cbr\u003emagnification. The skillful hands at the controls were turning\u003cbr\u003eadjustments now, and that disc of flame seemed to leap toward him with a\u003cbr\u003ehundred light-speeds, growing to a disc as large as a dime in an\u003cbr\u003einstant, while the myriad points of the stars seemed to scatter like\u003cbr\u003efrightened chickens, fleeing from the growing sun, out of the screen.\u003cbr\u003eOther points, heretofore invisible, appeared, grew, and rushed away.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47179394777328,"sku":"2940014009058","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940014009058_p0.jpg?v=1763598942","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940014009058","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}