28 "Helm?" snapped North.
29 "Me, too, sir!" he stuttered.
30 "Damn!" cursed North. "Damn!" he punched out engineering on his
communicator. "This might sound crazy, Engineer," he began, but did you
have a Dream last night, a dream about an old ship?"
31 "VERY old," the Engineer laughed, "first series star drive. She'd
have to be at least five-thousand years old!"
32 "What was her name?" asked North.
33 "You won't believe it, sir," the Engineer continued, "The 'Ain't
Been There Yet'! But how did you find out about that? I just mentioned
it to a couple of my men. Hasn't had time to reach the command deck
yet!"
34 "Get up here!" ordered North. "Get up here right now! Firing
Control, plug into the library computer, ship's registry; the 'Ain't
Been There Yet. ' Think the serial number …."
35 "Never mind," interrupted Firing Control, "I remember it, sir!"
36 A short time later the Firing Control Officer cleared his throat.
"There is a record, sir. The "Ain't Been There Yet,'class A exploration
ship, crew of two-hundred. Not returned from mission and assumed lost.
Sir, the date of record was five-thousand-two-hundred-and-seven years
ago!"
37 North heard footsteps behind him and leaned around. "Engineer," he
snapped, "is that bus you're building usable yet?"
38 "Will be in about an hour," the Engineer replied.
39 "Get the secondary crew on this deck," ordered North. "Go to your
quarters. Get cold weather gear. We're going planet side. Shouldn't be
too hard to find the spot...big canyon near the equator, huge