Saucer: Savage Planet Read Online Free PDF Page B

he didn’t pony up, even though they failed to deliver the saucer to the dock in Newark; Solo had played him for a sucker and robbed him; and the whole world was laughing at him.
    Well, that thief Solo wouldn’t laugh long, by God! Douglas grew up in Philly, and he still knew some guys. Hadn’t talked to them in years, but they knew him too. These were guys you didn’t screw with. They ate thieving little bastards like Solo for breakfast.
    After three telephone calls, Douglas was tired. He lay back in his seat and closed his eyes.
    *   *   *
    The news that the Roswell saucer was no longer on the floor of the Atlantic hit the White House like a small bomb. The news that the saucer had been stolen from a deepwater salvage ship and was out there … somewhere … flying around  … greatly enhanced the explosion.
    A horrified P. J. O’Reilly, the chief of staff, rushed into the presidential bedroom with the news. The presidential pooch hastily bestirred itself and shot into the president’s closet. O’Reilly ignored the dog, as he did all lesser creatures, which was almost everyone. He found the president eating breakfast at a small table. The morning newspapers were piled beside him, apparently as yet unread.
    “What’s the matter, O’Reilly? Did the Canadians invade?”
    “It’s a lot worse than that. That saucer that went into the Atlantic last month was salvaged, raised from the ocean, and someone stole it.”
    The president felt as if he had taken a punch. He seemed to shrink right where he sat. The color leaked from his face.
    “It’s out there now, God only knows where,” O’Reilly continued, digging in the knife. He enjoyed giving the president bad news, although he pretended he didn’t. Now he seized the remote control from the breakfast table and clicked on the television.
    The president found he had lost his appetite. Perhaps the fact that he had lived through two saucer crises in the last fourteen months had something to do with his bad humor.
    At least, he reflected as he watched the talking heads on CNN, Rip Cantrell and Charley Pine weren’t involved in this escapade. Or were they? “Have the FBI find Rip Cantrell and Charlotte Pine,” he growled at O’Reilly. “Just tell me where they are.” O’Reilly rushed off to make the call.
    Charley Pine was a real piece of work, a former fighter and test pilot who could fly anything, but Rip Cantrell was the one the president worried about. The kid single-handedly took on the world’s second-richest man, the president and the U.S. government … and beat them all. Just another all-American boy! Ai yi yi!
    The president decided not to rule out Rip until he saw a photo of Adam Solo.
    He opened his bottle of Rolaids and munched a handful. Then he reached for the waiting newspapers.

 
    3
    When Rip and Charley wandered off to the hangar to work on Rip’s airplane, Egg retrieved the computer from Rip’s saucer and opened the case reverently. Locked in its memory, he knew, was the scientific knowledge and philosophical framework of the civilization that had built the Sahara saucer, about 140,000 earth years ago, and sent it aboard a starship, the saucer that had reached earth.
    Egg carefully donned the headband, ensured it was plugged into the device and said aloud, “Good morning.” The computer came to life. Egg marveled again at the computer’s ability to read the brain waves of anyone wearing the band, and to respond with images that the user saw in his mind’s eye. There was no screen, no keyboard, no other way to communicate, nor was any other method needed. The computer’s memory and logic functions reminded Egg of a 3-D or holographic display … and the presentation occurred inside his head.
    Egg had learned to download information from the saucer’s computer onto his own PC and was experimenting with ways to manipulate the data. He hadn’t gotten a satisfactory system figured out yet. He had enlisted the help of several