Star Haven

Оглавление

E. C. Tubb. Star Haven

Отрывок из книги

BORGO PRESS BOOKS BY E. C. TUBB

Enemy of the State: Fantastic Mystery Stories

.....

“I can’t agree. Earth needs these new worlds, Barker, and too many of them are proving unfit for human habitation. You mentioned a hundred worlds a short while ago. Did you know that, of those hundred, only ten managed to support a colony for the first ten years? You know how things are back home. With the population increase what it is, we’ve got to find external sources of food and raw materials or face literal starvation. That’s why we are founding these colonies. Not for population expansion, though we can use them for that too, but to grow and supply essential food for the home world. You can’t just write off this planet because the colony doesn’t answer.”

“What do you want me to do?” Barker forced himself to remember that the commander was young, impetuous, and with a high personal stake in his decision. “Land and carry a virulent plague back to Earth? You know the dangers of that as well as I do. That is why this ship never lands, but uses the auxiliaries for ship to planet communication. And even if I did land, what then? I’ve a schedule to maintain and I can’t waste time here even if I was equipped for it, which I’m not. This isn’t an exploration vessel, Williams; this is only a transport, and, as such, is needed back on Earth for more important things than just worrying about one world.” He glanced at the screen and the deserted clearing. “Sorry, but there it is.”

.....