Earth transit

by Charles L. Fontenay

Earth Transit

By CHARLES L. FONTENAY

Illustrated by KLUGA

When murder occurs on a spaceship,
the number of suspects is at an absolute
minimum—and Lefler was that minimum!

[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Infinity September 1957.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]

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The centerdeck chronometer said 1840 hours.

That startled Lefler into full wakefulness. He was forty minutes overdue in relieving Makki in the control room.

That wasn't like Makki, he thought as he pulled on his coveralls hastily. Makki was as punctual—and as thorough—as the maze of machinery whose destiny he guided. He was as cold as that machinery, too, when others made a mistake. It made him an efficient spaceship captain and a disliked man.

Lefler shook his head to clear it of dream-haunted memories. He had awakened from a nightmare in which, somewhere, there was angry shouting, to find himself floating midway from floor to ceiling of the centerdeck of the Marsward IV. Somehow, his retaining straps had become unbuckled, letting him float free of his bunk in his sleep.