making repairs. Getting weapon's parts from The
Goddens was like pulling teeth, but they reluctantly obliged. Their
Engineers even came over and helped work on The Great Mountain's
navigational equipment. It was decided that the ships would travel with
the three Republic ships leading, and the imperial ships bringing up
the rear.
66 "Let them go into danger first," said The Lord God, "if we find it
is something all of us can't handle we will turn and run. Let THEM buy
us time to escape!"
67 For three more systems they found nothing but barren moons, desolate
systems that seemed to have been swept, as almost all loose matter in
them was gone.
68 In the fourth system their radiation detectors went crazy. The Fleet
stopped dead on the outskirts of the system, while The Morning Star
went around it, getting readings from all angles.
69 "Two worlds seemed to have been completely destroyed," announced
Firing Control. "There's small chunks of radioactive debris everywhere.
The planets that survive have radiation counts six to seven hundred
times above normal. Only the outermost planetoid is relatively free of
excess radiation, though even ITS count is slightly higher."
70 North turned and looked at The Voice. "War?" he questioned.
71 "There's no other possibility," answered The Voice. "It would be
interesting if we could pick up some records. Can our shields protect
us against that radiation?"
72 "Yes, sir," explained Firing Control, "ships shields can. But we
couldn't go outside anywhere in there, even in sealed suits with full
body shields. We'd fry in five minutes. I can't imagine what type of
weaponry they used."
73 "Probably advanced nuclear," commented The Voice,