Read Online The getaway special by Jerry Oltion - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jerry Oltion
Tags: Fiction, General, Science-Fiction, adventure, Science Fiction - General, Fiction - Science Fiction, Space Opera, Interplanetary voyages, Space ships, Scientists, Space flight
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spacesuits."
"I'd carry you in a rescue ball. Unless those are bogus, too." Rescue balls were another cost-and weight-saving idea: instead of providing spacesuits for the entire crew, the shuttle carried half a dozen yard-wide airtight balls. In an emergency, the odd men out climbed inside them with portable oxygen tanks, zipped them tight, and had the astronauts with spacesuits carry them through the airlock to safety. Gerry thought it over for a long moment, then he said, "All right. Let me go." Judy nodded. "Okay, just a minute." To Allen she said. "There, you see? He was lying. Put on your suit."
Allen looked once more at Gerry, clearly not convinced, but he began to suit up. Judy reached for the top half of her own suit and pulled it on, linking the waist rings, then putting on the gloves.
"Let me out first," Gerry said. "I'll get the rescue ball."
"Hold on," Judy told him. She helped Allen on with his own suit and gloves, then before she set his helmet in place she said, "Don't use the radio. Carl will overhear us if you do. I don't want him to know we're there until we're already out the airlock."
Allen nodded. Judy secured his helmet and helped him into the airlock, then started to follow him. She was lowering her own helmet into place when Gerry shouted, "Hey, let me out of here!" She twisted around to face him. "You lied to me, I lied to you. Consider us even, Gerry." He growled and tugged at the sliding panel that held him captive, but the wire tying it shut held fast.
"I wasn't lying about the descent modules!" he shouted. "I never planned to get that far! I was going to take over the ship again and fly it to Mir ."
Mir II was a duplicate of the old Soviet space station, launched by the Russians in a fit of nationalistic pride when they got kicked off the American project, but they had quickly run out of money to maintain it and had to sell it to the French. Judy supposed Gerry could still get political asylum there, if he ever made it that far. But he never would, and he knew it. He'd be a sitting duck for days while he transferred from Freedom 's orbit to Mir 's. If the U.S. didn't shoot him down, somebody else was sure to.
"Sorry, Gerry," she said as she pulled herself into the airlock, "but I just don't believe you."
"I hope you go down in flames!" he shouted. "I hope you feel it the whole way down! I hope you—"
She slammed the airlock door and cut him off.
8
Two people in an airlock made for a tight fit. "Are you sure about this?" Allen asked, his voice about half an octave higher than usual. Even with full air pressure around them he was barely audible with two layers of glass between his mouth and her ears; she read his lips as much as heard the words.
"Sure I'm sure," she said with exaggerated mouth motions. She turned the airlock depressurization control knob to 5 psi, held it a minute to make sure the suits weren't going to leak, then turned it to zero. While they waited for the air to bleed out, she turned her head until her face was right in front of his and said, "As soon as we get out, grab your hyperdrive canisters and follow me to the descent module." I can't hear you , he mouthed, leaning in to touch his helmet against hers.
"That doesn't work," she said. "You have to read lips." It doesn't work ? He looked like a kid who'd just learned that the Tooth Fairy wasn't real.
"Not enough surface area in contact," she said.
I'll be damned, it doesn't work. What did you say ?
She spoke slowly and enunciated each word separately. " I . . . said . . . get . . . your . . . hyperdrive . . . canisters . . . and . . . follow . . . me ." Right .
When the airlock pressure fell to half a psi, Judy opened the outer hatch. The last of the air puffed out in one final whoosh, and she let it pull her out. Swinging around the edge of the hatch, she helped Allen through, then pulled herself down onto a flat package in the cargo bay where she could get a good solid surface to kick off from toward the
"I'd carry you in a rescue ball. Unless those are bogus, too." Rescue balls were another cost-and weight-saving idea: instead of providing spacesuits for the entire crew, the shuttle carried half a dozen yard-wide airtight balls. In an emergency, the odd men out climbed inside them with portable oxygen tanks, zipped them tight, and had the astronauts with spacesuits carry them through the airlock to safety. Gerry thought it over for a long moment, then he said, "All right. Let me go." Judy nodded. "Okay, just a minute." To Allen she said. "There, you see? He was lying. Put on your suit."
Allen looked once more at Gerry, clearly not convinced, but he began to suit up. Judy reached for the top half of her own suit and pulled it on, linking the waist rings, then putting on the gloves.
"Let me out first," Gerry said. "I'll get the rescue ball."
"Hold on," Judy told him. She helped Allen on with his own suit and gloves, then before she set his helmet in place she said, "Don't use the radio. Carl will overhear us if you do. I don't want him to know we're there until we're already out the airlock."
Allen nodded. Judy secured his helmet and helped him into the airlock, then started to follow him. She was lowering her own helmet into place when Gerry shouted, "Hey, let me out of here!" She twisted around to face him. "You lied to me, I lied to you. Consider us even, Gerry." He growled and tugged at the sliding panel that held him captive, but the wire tying it shut held fast.
"I wasn't lying about the descent modules!" he shouted. "I never planned to get that far! I was going to take over the ship again and fly it to Mir ."
Mir II was a duplicate of the old Soviet space station, launched by the Russians in a fit of nationalistic pride when they got kicked off the American project, but they had quickly run out of money to maintain it and had to sell it to the French. Judy supposed Gerry could still get political asylum there, if he ever made it that far. But he never would, and he knew it. He'd be a sitting duck for days while he transferred from Freedom 's orbit to Mir 's. If the U.S. didn't shoot him down, somebody else was sure to.
"Sorry, Gerry," she said as she pulled herself into the airlock, "but I just don't believe you."
"I hope you go down in flames!" he shouted. "I hope you feel it the whole way down! I hope you—"
She slammed the airlock door and cut him off.
8
Two people in an airlock made for a tight fit. "Are you sure about this?" Allen asked, his voice about half an octave higher than usual. Even with full air pressure around them he was barely audible with two layers of glass between his mouth and her ears; she read his lips as much as heard the words.
"Sure I'm sure," she said with exaggerated mouth motions. She turned the airlock depressurization control knob to 5 psi, held it a minute to make sure the suits weren't going to leak, then turned it to zero. While they waited for the air to bleed out, she turned her head until her face was right in front of his and said, "As soon as we get out, grab your hyperdrive canisters and follow me to the descent module." I can't hear you , he mouthed, leaning in to touch his helmet against hers.
"That doesn't work," she said. "You have to read lips." It doesn't work ? He looked like a kid who'd just learned that the Tooth Fairy wasn't real.
"Not enough surface area in contact," she said.
I'll be damned, it doesn't work. What did you say ?
She spoke slowly and enunciated each word separately. " I . . . said . . . get . . . your . . . hyperdrive . . . canisters . . . and . . . follow . . . me ." Right .
When the airlock pressure fell to half a psi, Judy opened the outer hatch. The last of the air puffed out in one final whoosh, and she let it pull her out. Swinging around the edge of the hatch, she helped Allen through, then pulled herself down onto a flat package in the cargo bay where she could get a good solid surface to kick off from toward the
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