The Project Gutenberg EBook of Conquest Over Time, by Michael Shaara

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Title: Conquest Over Time

Author: Michael Shaara

Release Date: March 15, 2010 [EBook #31652]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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Transcriber's Note:

This etext was produced from Fantastic Universe November 1956.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S.
copyright on this publication was renewed.

[_"Now this here planet," he said cautiously, "is whacky in
a lot of ways. First of all they call it Mert. Just plain Mert. And
they live in houses strictly from Dickens, all carriages, no sewers,
narrow streets, stuff like that." But that wasn't all.... Travis, in
reaching Diomed III before any others, found himself waging a one-man
fight against more than this; he was bucking the strangest way of life
you have ever heard of!_]

conquest over time

by ... Michael Shaara

What was the startling secret of Diomed III that almost
caused Travis to lose his life? And who was Lappy?...

* * * * *

When the radiogram came in it was 10:28 ship's time and old 29 was
exactly 3.4 light years away from Diomed III. Travis threw her wide
open and hoped for the best. By 4:10 that same afternoon, minus three
burned out generators and fronting a warped ion screen, old 29 touched
the atmosphere and began homing down. It was a very tense moment.
Somewhere down in that great blue disc below a Mapping Command ship
sat in an open field, sending up the beam which was guiding them down.
But it was not the Mapping Command that was important. The Mapping
Command was always first. What mattered now was to come in second, any
kind of second, close or wide, mile or eyelash, but second come hell
or high water.

The clouds peeled away. Travis staring anxiously down could see
nothing but mist and heavy cloud. He could not help sniffing