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Authors: Ron Miller
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switches, dials and levers. Just above the heads of the couches was a wide vertical panel of the same mesh that covered the floor, forming a band that circled the chamber. Beneath her feet, through the interstices, Bronwyn could see a mass of boxes, spheres, packages, cartons, cylinders and other semi-identifiable paraphernalia. The brilliant light came from a cluster of electric lamps suspended from the central column. The circular ports in the walls and nose were at the moment dark, covered by the outer carapace which would protect the life compartment from air friction during the takeoff.
“There’s not much room in here,” the princess commented.
“It’ll be different once we are on our way,” replied the professor. “As soon as the rockets cease firing, we shall all be in a state of free fall . . . ”
“ Free fall? I don’t much like the sound of that.”
“Well, I don’t know if I can explain it clearly since it’s a little outside my field, but the gist of it is that we’ll be weightless.”
“Because we’ll be beyond the earth’s gravity.”
“No, I don’t think that’s exactly the reason. But in any case, instead of being limited to the relatively small two-dimensional space of the floor, we will be able to utilize the three-dimensional space of the cabin’s volume.”
“You mean we’ll all be floating around in here, like . . . -like fish? I don’t know . . . “ Bronwyn thought back queasily to her few, usually disastrous, sea voyages and how little she had enjoyed those experiences.
“We have no idea how it’ll affect any of us,” offered Wittenoom. “If it proves to be a problem, we can rotate the compartment, setting it spinning on its axis. This will create a kind of artificial gravity and then this grill around the wall will become our floor and ‘up’ will be in the direction of the control column.”
Bronwyn looked around the interior, trying to imagine such weird upheavals in orientation and felt her stomach walls wobble in wary anticipation. I don’t know about this, she wavered. She wrenched her thoughts away from the disturbingly compelling subject of mal de cosmos and back to the professor, who had been meanwhile explaining the operation of the spaceship.
“All of the electrical ignition wires for all thousand-odd individual rockets come up through this central column, which also houses the coelostat (which will allow us to see out in case we have to rotate the ship), and connect with the appropriate controls. All of the firing sequences for the takeoff will be handled automatically, by this timer-switch.”
“Who’s going with us?” she asked. “Everyone in the Academy wants to go. Has the list been narrowed down at all yet?”
“Only a little. Needless to say, many of them only want to go out of sheer curiosity or a sense of adventure, while their scientific specialties are entirely inappropriate: ornithologists, oceanographers, topologists, that sort of thing. Of the remainder, I think that the only fair thing to do is to draw lots, I suppose. Not that that will make everyone happy.”
“Too bad,” she said unsympathetically.
“Not everyone is happy now,” he added, “with the idea that one of the three spaces available is being taken by you.”
“I’m beginning to wonder if perhaps it might not be better if a scientist goes in my place . . . ”
“Oh no, no, nonono, not at all!” the professor protested. “The whole idea was, after all, yours in the beginning . . . ”
“It was only a facetious suggestion . . . ”
“ . . . and, of course, without your influence I doubt that the king would have gone so far with our financing, which has gone so unfortunately beyond the original budget. For that, if for no other reason, you have as much right as anyone else to go. And we mustn’t underestimate or underappreciate the support we have gotten from the public! It seems that it is of the opinion that the lovely young princess is going to be
“There’s not much room in here,” the princess commented.
“It’ll be different once we are on our way,” replied the professor. “As soon as the rockets cease firing, we shall all be in a state of free fall . . . ”
“ Free fall? I don’t much like the sound of that.”
“Well, I don’t know if I can explain it clearly since it’s a little outside my field, but the gist of it is that we’ll be weightless.”
“Because we’ll be beyond the earth’s gravity.”
“No, I don’t think that’s exactly the reason. But in any case, instead of being limited to the relatively small two-dimensional space of the floor, we will be able to utilize the three-dimensional space of the cabin’s volume.”
“You mean we’ll all be floating around in here, like . . . -like fish? I don’t know . . . “ Bronwyn thought back queasily to her few, usually disastrous, sea voyages and how little she had enjoyed those experiences.
“We have no idea how it’ll affect any of us,” offered Wittenoom. “If it proves to be a problem, we can rotate the compartment, setting it spinning on its axis. This will create a kind of artificial gravity and then this grill around the wall will become our floor and ‘up’ will be in the direction of the control column.”
Bronwyn looked around the interior, trying to imagine such weird upheavals in orientation and felt her stomach walls wobble in wary anticipation. I don’t know about this, she wavered. She wrenched her thoughts away from the disturbingly compelling subject of mal de cosmos and back to the professor, who had been meanwhile explaining the operation of the spaceship.
“All of the electrical ignition wires for all thousand-odd individual rockets come up through this central column, which also houses the coelostat (which will allow us to see out in case we have to rotate the ship), and connect with the appropriate controls. All of the firing sequences for the takeoff will be handled automatically, by this timer-switch.”
“Who’s going with us?” she asked. “Everyone in the Academy wants to go. Has the list been narrowed down at all yet?”
“Only a little. Needless to say, many of them only want to go out of sheer curiosity or a sense of adventure, while their scientific specialties are entirely inappropriate: ornithologists, oceanographers, topologists, that sort of thing. Of the remainder, I think that the only fair thing to do is to draw lots, I suppose. Not that that will make everyone happy.”
“Too bad,” she said unsympathetically.
“Not everyone is happy now,” he added, “with the idea that one of the three spaces available is being taken by you.”
“I’m beginning to wonder if perhaps it might not be better if a scientist goes in my place . . . ”
“Oh no, no, nonono, not at all!” the professor protested. “The whole idea was, after all, yours in the beginning . . . ”
“It was only a facetious suggestion . . . ”
“ . . . and, of course, without your influence I doubt that the king would have gone so far with our financing, which has gone so unfortunately beyond the original budget. For that, if for no other reason, you have as much right as anyone else to go. And we mustn’t underestimate or underappreciate the support we have gotten from the public! It seems that it is of the opinion that the lovely young princess is going to be
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