《Grimes 033 Contraband From Otherspace 》作者：- A. Bertram Chand

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CONTRABAND FROM OTHERSPACEA. Bertram ChandlerITo a casual observer his seamed deeply tanned face would have appearedexpressionless-but those who knew him well could have read a certainregret in the lines of his craggy features in the almost imperceptiblesoftening of the hard slate-gray eyes.The king had abdicated.The Astronautical Superintendent of Rim Runners had resigned from theservice of the Rim Worlds Confederacy-both as a senior executive of thegovernment owned and operated shipping line and as Commodore of theRim Worlds Naval Reserve. His resignations were not yet effective-but theywould be so soon as Captain Trantor in Rim Kestrel came dropping downthrough the overcast to be relieved of his minor command prior to assumingthe greater one.On a day such as this there was little for Grimes to see. Save for FarawayQuest the Rim Worlds Government Survey Ship and for Rim Mamelute thespaceport was deserted. Soon enough it would resume its normal activitywith units of the Rim Runners fleet roaring in through the cloud blanketfrom Faraway Ultimo and Thule from the planets of the Eastern Circuitfrom the anti-matter systems to the Galactic West. And among themwould be Trantors ship inbound from Mellise. But now there were only theold Quest and the little battered space-tug in port silent and desertedthe survey ship a squat gray tower that looked as though it should havebeen lichen-coated half obscured by the snow squall the Mamelutehuddling at its base as though seeking shelter in the lee of the largervessel.Grimes sighed only half aware that he had done so. But he was not hetold himself a sentimental man. It was just that Faraway Quest had beenhis last spacegoing command and would be his last command ever out onthe Rim. In her he had discovered and charted the worlds of the EasternCircuit opened them up to trade. In her he had made the first contact withthe people of the antimatter systems. In her only short weeks ago with amixed crew of Rim Worlds Naval Reserve officers and Federation SurveyService personnel he had tried to solve the mystery of those weird andsometimes frightening phenomena known as Rim Ghosts. And whilst on thisWild Ghost Chase as his second in command referred to it he had found inSonya Verrill the cure for his lon