The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Winds of Time, by James H. Schmitz

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Title: The Winds of Time

Author: James H. Schmitz

Illustrator: Adolph E. Brotman

Release Date: January 21, 2008 [EBook #24395]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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[Illustration]

The Winds of Time

He contracted for a charter trip--but the man
who hired his spacer wasn't quite a man, it
turned out--and he wanted more than service!

by James H. Schmitz

Illustrated by Brotman

Gefty Rammer came along the narrow passages between the _Silver Queen's_
control compartment and the staterooms, trying to exchange the haggard
look on his face for one of competent self-assurance. There was nothing
to gain by letting his two passengers suspect that during the past few
minutes their pilot, the owner of Rammer Spacelines, had been a bare
step away from plain and fancy gibbering.

He opened the door to Mr. Maulbow's stateroom and went inside. Mr.
Maulbow, face very pale, eyes closed, lay on his back on the couch,
still unconscious. He'd been knocked out when some unknown forces
suddenly started batting the _Silver Queen's_ turnip-shape around as the
_Queen_ had never been batted before in her eighteen years of
spacefaring. Kerim Ruse, Maulbow's secretary, knelt beside her employer,
checking his pulse. She looked anxiously up at Gefty.

"What did you find out?" she asked in a voice that was not very steady.

Gefty shrugged. "Nothing definite as yet. The ship hasn't been
damaged--she's a tough tub. That's one good point. Otherwise ... well, I
climbed into a suit and took a look out the escape hatch. And I saw the
same thing there that the screens show. Whatever that is."

"You've no idea then of what's happened to us, or where we are?" Miss
Ruse persisted. She was a rather small girl with large, beautiful gray
eyes and thick blue-black hair. At the moment, she was barefoot and in a
sleeping outfit which consisted of something soft wrapped around her
top, soft and floppy trouse