It was a week before the Lhari ship went into warp-drive, and all thattime young Bart Steele had stayed in his cabin. He was so bored with hisown company that the Mentorian medic was a welcome sight when he came toprepare him for cold-sleep.
The Mentorian paused, needle in hand. "Do you wish to be wakened for thetime we shall spend in each of the three star systems, sir? You can, ofcourse, be given enough drug to keep you in cold-sleep until we reachyour destination."
Bart felt tempted—he wanted very much to see the other star systems.But he couldn't risk meeting other passengers.
The needle went into his arm. In sudden panic, he realized he washelpless. The ship would touch down on three worlds, and on any of themthe Lhari might have his description, or his alias! He could be takenoff, unconscious, and might never wake up! He tried to move, to protest,but he couldn't. There was a freezing moment of intense cold and thennothing....
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
AUTHOR'S PROFILE
OTHER SIGNIFICANT MONARCH BOOKS
The Lhari spaceport didn't belong on Earth.
Bart Steele had thought that, a long time ago, when he first saw it. Hehad been just a kid then; twelve years old, and all excited about seeingEarth for the first time—Earth, the legendary home of mankind beforethe Age of Space, the planet of Bart's far-back ancestors. And the firstthing he'd seen on Earth, when he got off the starship, was the Lharispaceport.
And he'd thought, right then, It doesn't belong on Earth.
He'd said so to his father, and his father's face had gone strange,bitter and remote.
"A lot of people would agree with you, Son," Captain Rupert Steele hadsaid softly. "The trouble is, if the Lhari spaceport wasn't on Earth, wewouldn't be on Earth either. Remember th