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Authors: Space Pioneers
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the
trouble of scouting the Plato region. Nothing special."
Louise
bounced up from the bunk. She stood beside it, stiff, with her little fists
clenched tightly at her sides.
"They wouldn't let this long a time go
by without calling in and you know it!" she declared. "Even if they
did, there ought to be a tractor on the way to check."
"You might have a
point there," admitted Mike.
"It could always be
called back."
"It's probably been thought of,"
said Mike. "Look, Louise, why don't you calm down and let the worryin' get
done by the people supposed to do it?"
She
did not look at him. The darkness of her eyes surprised him, and he realized
how she had paled beneath her tan.
"I
can't help it," she said. "It's my fault, in a way. He only came
along because I got so excited about the expedition I couldn't stay down on
Earth. He didn't want to come, and now he's out there-"
Mike rose and shoved his chair aside with his
foot. He thought the girl was going to faint. Watching her narrowly, he reached
out to put his hand on her arm.
He sighed with relief as he heard Joey
whistling outside. Louise straightened and moved away from his hand as the
younger operator entered.
"Why
don't you go see Burney?" suggested Mike. "He'll explain how he
figures the odds; or if you want to argue, it's more sense to do it with him
than me. I got nothing to do with it."
The girl pulled herself
together with a visible effort.
"I know, Mike. Thanks
for listening, anyway."
"Joey, go along with
her to Burney's quarters!"
"That's
all right," said Louise. "I can find my way further than that."
They watched her leave.
Once
more, Joey took the chair before the set and the pair of them sat in glum
silence. The ventilation system came to life in one of its efforts to
homogenize the Base atmosphere, and its sigh partly drowned out the hiss of the
radio.
"You know something,
Joey?" grunted Mike.
"What?"
"I got a feelin' we're not gonna see
those guys again." "Hope you're wrong," said Joey. "It's
awful tough digging around here, after the first few inches."
Hansen trotted along steadily with the four
thousand foot mountain rising in a sheer sweep out of the lava "sea"
over to his right. There were three distinct peaks, he knew, but they ran in a
line away from him so that the whole thing appeared one towering mass to him.
Most of it, from his position, was black with the deepness of Lunar shadows, although he was gradually reaching a location
where he could see the splashes of earthlight on the tortured rocks.
"Pretty
soon I'll be out in the real flat, with nothing but a scattering of little
craters to steer by," he reflected. "If I don't want to stop, how had
I better head?"
Just
in case the problem should arise, he began to estimate the direction he should
take and the sort of ground he would find.
The first thing would be to bear slightly
left until he picked up the trail of the tractor once more. Then he could
expect a region of fairly frequent craterlets, leading up to Kirch, a modest but respectable seven miles in diameter. If he
passed to the right of Kirch, he would be kept from wandering aimlessly out
into the Mare
Imbrium by a
range of vein mountains. He might go farther astray by passing Kirch to the
left, but there the going would probably be easier.
"Then
what?" he murmured, trying to recall the map and the journey in the
tractor.
There
was another open area, he seemed to remember, and then the forty-mile string of
peaks called the Kirch Mountains, bordered on the right by an even longer
ridge of vein mountains which might once have been
part of the range.
And
then, another thirty miles or so would bring him to the ringwall of Archimedes!
Hansen shook his head.
"That would be going a
little too far," he muttered.
His
voice sounded husky to his own ears, and he paused to suck up a few swallows of
water through the hose. He must have been half-hypnotized by the steady
streaming of the gray surface under his feet, for he suddenly
trouble of scouting the Plato region. Nothing special."
Louise
bounced up from the bunk. She stood beside it, stiff, with her little fists
clenched tightly at her sides.
"They wouldn't let this long a time go
by without calling in and you know it!" she declared. "Even if they
did, there ought to be a tractor on the way to check."
"You might have a
point there," admitted Mike.
"It could always be
called back."
"It's probably been thought of,"
said Mike. "Look, Louise, why don't you calm down and let the worryin' get
done by the people supposed to do it?"
She
did not look at him. The darkness of her eyes surprised him, and he realized
how she had paled beneath her tan.
"I
can't help it," she said. "It's my fault, in a way. He only came
along because I got so excited about the expedition I couldn't stay down on
Earth. He didn't want to come, and now he's out there-"
Mike rose and shoved his chair aside with his
foot. He thought the girl was going to faint. Watching her narrowly, he reached
out to put his hand on her arm.
He sighed with relief as he heard Joey
whistling outside. Louise straightened and moved away from his hand as the
younger operator entered.
"Why
don't you go see Burney?" suggested Mike. "He'll explain how he
figures the odds; or if you want to argue, it's more sense to do it with him
than me. I got nothing to do with it."
The girl pulled herself
together with a visible effort.
"I know, Mike. Thanks
for listening, anyway."
"Joey, go along with
her to Burney's quarters!"
"That's
all right," said Louise. "I can find my way further than that."
They watched her leave.
Once
more, Joey took the chair before the set and the pair of them sat in glum
silence. The ventilation system came to life in one of its efforts to
homogenize the Base atmosphere, and its sigh partly drowned out the hiss of the
radio.
"You know something,
Joey?" grunted Mike.
"What?"
"I got a feelin' we're not gonna see
those guys again." "Hope you're wrong," said Joey. "It's
awful tough digging around here, after the first few inches."
Hansen trotted along steadily with the four
thousand foot mountain rising in a sheer sweep out of the lava "sea"
over to his right. There were three distinct peaks, he knew, but they ran in a
line away from him so that the whole thing appeared one towering mass to him.
Most of it, from his position, was black with the deepness of Lunar shadows, although he was gradually reaching a location
where he could see the splashes of earthlight on the tortured rocks.
"Pretty
soon I'll be out in the real flat, with nothing but a scattering of little
craters to steer by," he reflected. "If I don't want to stop, how had
I better head?"
Just
in case the problem should arise, he began to estimate the direction he should
take and the sort of ground he would find.
The first thing would be to bear slightly
left until he picked up the trail of the tractor once more. Then he could
expect a region of fairly frequent craterlets, leading up to Kirch, a modest but respectable seven miles in diameter. If he
passed to the right of Kirch, he would be kept from wandering aimlessly out
into the Mare
Imbrium by a
range of vein mountains. He might go farther astray by passing Kirch to the
left, but there the going would probably be easier.
"Then
what?" he murmured, trying to recall the map and the journey in the
tractor.
There
was another open area, he seemed to remember, and then the forty-mile string of
peaks called the Kirch Mountains, bordered on the right by an even longer
ridge of vein mountains which might once have been
part of the range.
And
then, another thirty miles or so would bring him to the ringwall of Archimedes!
Hansen shook his head.
"That would be going a
little too far," he muttered.
His
voice sounded husky to his own ears, and he paused to suck up a few swallows of
water through the hose. He must have been half-hypnotized by the steady
streaming of the gray surface under his feet, for he suddenly
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