Starman's Quest

  STARMAN'S QUEST

  By Robert Silverberg

  The Lexman Spacedrive gave man the stars--but at a fantastic price.

  Interstellar exploration, colonization, and trade became things ofreality. The benefits to Earth were enormous. But because of theFitzgerald Contraction, a man who shipped out to space could never livea normal life on Earth again.

  Travelling at speeds close to that of light, spacemen lived at anaccelerated pace. A nine-year trip to Alpha Centauri and back seemed totake only six weeks to men on a spaceship. When they returned, theirfriends and relatives had aged enormously in comparison, old customs hadchanged, even the language was different.

  So they did the only thing they could do. They formed a guild ofSpacers, and lived their entire lives on the starships, raised theirfamilies there, and never set foot outside their own Enclave duringtheir landings on Earth. They grew to despise Earthers, and the Earthersgrew to despise them in turn. There was no logical reason for it, exceptthat they were--different. That was enough.

  But not all Starmen liked being different. Alan Donnell loved space, andthe ship, and life aboard it. His father, Captain of the VALHALLA, livedfor nothing but the traditions of the Spacers. But his twin brother,Steve, couldn't stand it, and so he jumped ship.

  It had happened only a few weeks before, as Alan experienced it. ForSteve, though, he knew it would have been nine years in the past. Now,while Alan was still only 17 years old, Steve would be 26!

  Thinking about it got under Alan's skin, finally. The bond between twinsis a strong one, and Alan couldn't stand to see it broken so abruptlyand permanently. There were other things, too. If Alan remained on theVALHALLA, he'd have to marry one of the girls of the ship, and thechoice of those his own age was pitifully small. And above all else, hewas convinced that the secret of the Cavour Hyperdrive was hiddensomewhere on Earth--the Cavour Hyperdrive, that would enable man to leapinterstellar distances almost instantaneously, and bring an end to thesharp differences between Earthers and Spacers.

  These forces worked quietly within him--and suddenly, without reallymeaning to, Alan in turn jumped ship and remained on Earth!

  There were many times when he regretted it. He found Earth a bewilderingand utterly hostile place. To stay alive, he had to play a ruthlessgame--and he couldn't even find anyone to tell him the rules. Within thefirst few hours, he came dangerously close to being murdered and then tobeing thrown in jail. He had no clues to the whereabouts of Steve, andcouldn't even be sure his nine-years-older twin brother was still alive.And the Cavour Hyperdrive was the merest will-o'-the-wisp, dancingwildly before him in his dreams.

  Somehow, he survived. It wasn't easy, and he didn't do it withoutserious sacrifices. He became a professional gambler, and almost becamea drug addict. He became involved in a monstrous criminal syndicate,knowing that no criminal could possibly escape punishment. He betrayedthe few friends he had, and fought furiously against everyone andeverything he encountered.

  He thought longingly, often, of the VALHALLA, and his lost life aboardher. But he never completely lost hope.

  STARMAN'S QUEST is Alan Donnell's story--a story that will keep you onthe edge of your chair until the very last page. It's the most excitingbook yet from one of the most exciting new writers ever to hit thescience-fiction field.

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