Recruit for Andromeda
by MILTON LESSER
ACE BOOKS, INC.
23 West 47th Street, New York 36, N. Y.
RECRUIT FOR ANDROMEDA
Copyright 1959, by Ace Books, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Printed in U.S.A.
[Transcriber's Note: Extensive research did not uncover any evidence
that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
TOURNAMENT UNDER NIGHTMARE SKIES
When Kit Temple was drafted for the Nowhere Journey, he figured thathe'd left his home, his girl, and the Earth for good. For though thosecalled were always promised "rotation," not a man had ever returnedfrom that mysterious flight into the unknown.
Kit's fellow-draftee Arkalion, the young man with the strange, old-maneyes, seemed to know more than he should. So when Kit twisted the tailof fate and followed Arkalion to the ends of space and time, he foundthe secret behind "Nowhere" and a personal challenge upon which theentire future of Earth depended.
Contents
| CHAPTER I |
| CHAPTER II |
| CHAPTER III |
| CHAPTER IV |
| CHAPTER V |
| CHAPTER VI |
| CHAPTER VII |
| CHAPTER VIII |
| CHAPTER IX |
| CHAPTER X |
CHAPTER I
When the first strong sunlight of May covered the tree-arched avenuesof Center City with green, the riots started.
The people gathered in angry knots outside the city hall, met in thepark and littered its walks with newspapers and magazines as theygobbled up editorial comment at a furious rate, slipped with dark ofnight through back alleys and planned things with furious futility.Center City's finest knew when to make themselves scarce: theiruniforms stood for everything objectionable at this time and they mightbe subjected to clubs, stones, taunts, threats, leers—and knives.
But Center City, like most communities in United North America,had survived the Riots before and would survive them again. Onpast performances, the damage could be estimated, too. Two-hundredfifty-seven plate glass windows would be broken, three-hundred twelvelimbs fractured. Several thousand people would be treated for minorbruises and abrasions, Center City would receive half that many damagesuits. The list had been drawn clearly and accurately; it hardly everdeviated.
And Center City would meet its quota. With a demonstration ofreluctance, of course. The healthy approved way to get over socialtrauma once every seven-hundred eighty days.
"Shut it off, Kit. Kit, please."
The telio blared in a cheaply feminine voice, "Oh, it's a long