Together they had organized over 500 men and attempted to
take control of the capital city of Mars in a sudden attack. Had they
succeeded, the pirates could have held the people of the Earth-Moon
system hostage to their demands. The Starmen and their allies had
thwarted the pirates' plan. Most of the pirates, including their
leader, had been captured. Zimbardo, however, had escaped with a few
others. With the Starmen in close pursuit, he was desperately trying to
outrun them and return to the pirates' base in the Asteroid Belt.
The Belt loomed up. The first few chunks of rock were visible now to
the unaided eyes of those on the deck of the Silver Spear. In seconds,
they were among them. The navigator screamed as the ship whipped by a
pitted rock a quarter of a mile long, missing it by a few yards.
"Fool!" shouted Zimbardo. "Turn on the automatic pilot!" The
navigator's eyes were the size of saucers. Immobile with terror, he
didn't respond to Zimbardo's command. The former second-in-command of
the pirates pushed him out of the chair, took over, and activated the
switch that cut in the automatic pilot. Lurton Zimbardo was not
physically imposing, but more than made up for his slight build with an
immensely strong will and a decisive nature that was merciless whenever
it served him.
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