Gap [1] The Real Story: The Gap into Conflict Read Online Free

ship apart, or that he would come out of the gap in a gravity well he couldn’t escape. But it worked. He got away.
    From the look of her, Bright Beauty would never have withstood that much pressure. In any case, she had no gap drive. Angus Thermopyle took a completely different approach. As soon as the first warning shots were fired, he started transmitting a distress call of his own.
    Every receiver in or around the Station picked that one up, too. There’s a short somewhere. Smoke. Controls are locked — I can’t navigate. Don’t shoot. I’m trying to come around.
    No one believed him, of course. But Center couldn’t afford to ignore the possibility that he might be telling the truth. That idea had to be considered, at least for a few seconds. And during those few seconds Angus cut in thrust boosters no one knew he had. No one thought he had them because no one believed Bright Beauty could survive that kind of acceleration.
    Like Nick, he got away.
    After that, there were no more answers for a while. The people who were following the story could speculate, but for two days they had nothing to base their speculations on.
    Then Bright Beauty came limping back. Her sides were scarred with matter cannon fire, and her thrust drive stuttered badly. Nevertheless she passed inspection. Angus Thermopyle faced down a board of inquiry. After a few hours, he brought Morn Hyland back to Mallorys. Neither of them gave anything away.
    Captain’s Fancy coasted into dock later the same day. She also had been hurt, but Nick Succorso didn’t seem to care. He talked her past inspection. He laughed circles around a board of inquiry. He and his crew also returned to Mallorys free and eager, ready to enjoy themselves.
    The official search was still going on. So far, no trace of the supply ship had been found. After this much time, there was little chance that any trace would ever be found.
    But that night Station Security broke into Mallorys to arrest Angus.
    They had evidence that a crime had been committed. So they said. That gave them the right to board Bright Beauty without permission and take the ship’s datacore. The datacore enabled them to find her secret holds. And in the secret holds were food, equipment, and medicine which could only have come from the missing supply ship.
    Arrests in DelSec were few. The people who frequented places like Mallorys Bar & Sleep were prone to resent the intrusion of overt law and order into their lives. Even in groups, Security couldn’t always pass through DelSec without harassment.
    But a supply ship had been robbed—presumably gutted. Com-Mine Station needed those supplies to live. DelSec needed those supplies. Every man and woman in Mallorys would have suffered for this particular crime. And every one of them disliked or feared or even hated Angus Thermopyle.
    At first, the arrest didn’t go smoothly. Before Angus was taken, he and Morn Hyland began to scuffle: he was apparently trying to hold her back. Nevertheless she managed to break away just as Security closed on him. At once, the crowd opened for her, pried apart by Nick Succorso’s crew. And then she and Nick were gone; they disappeared as effectively as a blink crossing.
    Captain’s Fancy was allowed to slip out of dock unmolested; but that wasn’t hard to explain. Nick must have done a certain amount of bargaining with Security before he handed over his evidence against Angus. Obviously, his right to leave was part of the bargain.
    So the fair maiden was rescued. The swashbuckling pirate bore her away with all her beauty. For weeks, the sots and relics in Mallorys could hardly talk about anything except what the maiden and the pirate were doing with each other. People who were accessible to romantic emotions contemplated what had happened with a lump in their throats. And even the cynics sitting in the corners were gratified by the outcome. Nick Succorso had done exactly what they expected of him.
    There were only two flaws in