Read The Fugitive Worlds Online

Authors: Bob Shaw

Tags: #Science fiction, #Fiction, #Science Fiction - General, #Fiction - Science Fiction, #General

The Fugitive Worlds

Table of Contents
Front

ATTACK FROM THE
FAR SIDE OF THE COSMOS
Toller raised his head, directing his gaze to
the south-east, to the part of the sky where the
meteor must have originated, and was intrigued
when he picked out what looked like a tiny
cloud of golden fireflies. The cloud was roughly
circular and was expanding rapidly, its individual
components brightening with each passing
second. He stared at it, bemused, unable to
recall having seen anything similar amid the
sky's sparkling treasures, and then—like the
abrupt clarification of an image in an optical
system—his sense of scale and perspective
returned, and there came a terrible realization.
He was looking at a swarm of meteors
which appeared to be heading directly towards
the fleet!
By the same author:

THE TWO-TIMERS

PALACE OF ETERNITY

ONE MILLION TOMORROWS

OTHER DAYS, OTHER EYES

TOMORROW LIES IN AMBUSH

ORBITSVILLE

NIGHT WALK

A WREATH OF STARS

COSMIC KALEIDOSCOPE

WHO GOES HERE?

SHIP OF STRANGERS

VERTIGO

DAGGER OF THE MIND

THE CERES SOLUTION

A BETTER MANTRAP

ORBITSVILLE DEPARTURE

FIRE PATTERN

THE PEACE MACHINE

THE RAGGED ASTRONAUTS

THE WOODEN SPACESHIPS

DARK NIGHT IN TOYLAND

BOB SHAW

THE FUGITIVE WORLDS

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events
portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance
to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

Copyright © 1990 by Bob Shaw

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form. Published by arrangement with Victor Collancz Ltd.

A Baen Book

Baen Publishing Enterprises
P.O. Box 1403
Riverdale, N.Y. 10471

ISBN: 0-671-72029-5

Cover art by Don Clavette

First Baen printing, December 1990

Distributed by
SIMON & SCHUSTER
1230 Avenue of the Americas New York, N.Y. 10020

Printed in the United States of America

Scanned and Proofed by eBookMan Version 0.0

Land and Overland Trilogy Volume 3

Contents

Front

PART I:
 
The Return to Land

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7

PART II:
 
Strategies of Despair

Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
End

Back

PART I:
 
The Return to Land
Chapter 1

The lone astronaut had fallen from the very edge of space,
down through thousands of miles of gradually thickening
atmosphere, a drop which had lasted more than a day. In
the later stages of the descent his body had been acted on by
wind forces which had carried him far to the west of the capital city. Perhaps through inexperience, perhaps from a
desire to be free of the restraints of the fallbag, he had
opened his parachute too soon. It had been deployed a good
ten miles above the planetary surface, and as a result was
being wafted even farther into the sparsely populated regions
which lay beyond the White River.

Toller Maraquine II, who had been patrolling the area for
eight days, examined the creamy fleck of the parachute
through powerful binoculars. It was an inconspicuous object,
hardly as bright as the daytime stars, seemingly fixed in
position beneath the great curving rim of the sister world
which filled the center of the sky. The movement of Toller's
airship made it difficult to keep the parachute centered in his
field of view, but he was able to pick out the tiny figure slung
beneath it and he felt a growing sense of anticipation.

What would the astronaut have to report?

The very fact that the expedition had lasted longer than expected was a good omen in Toller's eyes, but in any case
it would be a relief to pick the man up and transport him to Prad. Patrolling the near-featureless region, with nothing to
do but return the companionable waves of farm workers,
had been monotonous in the extreme, and Toller had a
craving to get back to the city where he could at least find congenial company and a glass of decent wine. There was
also some unfinished and highly pleasurable business with
Hariana, a blonde beauty in the Weavers' Guild. He had
been in ardent pursuit of her for many days, and he sensed
she had been on the verge of yielding when he had been sent
away on the current irksome duty.

The airship was running easily before the easterly breeze,
requiring only an occasional nudge from the jet engines to
keep pace with the parachutist's lateral motion. In spite of
the shade provided by the elliptical gasbag overhead, the
heat on the upper deck was becoming intense, and Toller
knew that the twelve men comprising his crew were as eager
as he to see the mission come to an end. Their saffron
airmen's blouses were dappled with sweat and their postures were as drooped as was compatible with observance of ship
board discipline.

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