[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Ross floated face down and stared out at the desolation. They were speeding silently along, only
two hundred miles above the ground, and they were approaching the sunrise line of light and darkness.
The shadows were long on the barren wastes below them, the mountain peaks and the great gaping
craters more horrendous on that account. "It's scary," Ross decided. "I'm not sure I like it."
"Want off at the next corner?" Cargraves inquired.
"No, but I'm not dead certain I'm glad I came."
Morrie grasped his arm, to steady himself apparently, but quite as much for the comfort of solid
human companionship. "You know what I think, Ross," he began, as he stared out at the endless miles of
craters. "I think I know how it got that way. Those aren't volcanic craters, that's certain -- and it wasn't
done by meteors. They did it themselves!"
"Huh? Who?"
"The moon people. They did it. They wrecked themselves. They ruined themselves. They had one
atomic war too many."
"Huh? What the-" Ross stared, then looked back at the surface as if to read the grim mystery there.
Art stopped taking pictures.
"How about it, Doc?"
Cargraves wrinkled his brow. "Could be," he admitted. "None of the other theories for natural
causes hold water for one reason or another. It would account for the relatively smooth parts we call
`seas.' They really were seas; that's why they weren't hit very hard."
"And that's why they aren't seas any more," Morrie went on. "They blew their atmosphere off and
the seas boiled away at Tycho. That's where they set off the biggest ammunition dump on the planet. It
cracked the whole planet. I'll bet somebody worked out a counter-weapon that worked too well. It set off
every atom bomb on the moon all at once and it ruined them! I'm sure of it."
"Well," said Cargraves, "I'm not sure of it, but I admit the theory is attractive. Perhaps we'll find out
when we land. That notion of setting off all the bombs at once-there are strong theoretical objections to
that. Nobody has any idea how to do it."
"Nobody knew how to make an atom bomb a few years ago," Morrie pointed out.
"That's true." Cargraves wanted to change the subject; it was unpleasantly close to horrors that had
haunted his dreams since the beginning of World War II. "Ross, how do you feel about the other side of
file:///C|/Documents and Settings/hasi" i/Dokumenty/Mar" an...t A/%book %a Robert A Heinlein %t Rocket Ship Galileo.txt (65 of 102)16.11.2003 16:16:26
file:///C|/Documents and Settings/hasi" i/Dokumenty/Mar" anovi ptá" koviny/...Heinlein, Robert A/%book %a Robert A Heinlein %t Rocket Ship Galileo.txt
the moon now?"
"We'll know pretty soon," Ross chuckled. "Say -- this is the Other Side!"
And so it was. They had leveled off in their circular orbit near the left limb of the moon as seen
from the earth and were coasting over the mysterious other face. Ross scanned it closely. "Looks about
the same."
"Did you expect anything different?"
"No, I guess not. But I had hoped." Even as he spoke they crossed the sunrise line and the ground
below them was dark, not invisible, for it was still illuminated by faint starlight -- starlight only, for the
earthshine never reached this face. The suncapped peaks receded rapidly in the distance. At the rate they
were traveling, a speed of nearly 4000 miles per hour necessary to maintain them in a low-level circular
orbit, the complete circuit of the planet would take a little over an hour and a half.
"No more pictures, I guess," Art said sadly. "I wish it was a different time of the month."
"Yes," agreed Ross, still peering out, "it's a dirty shame to be this close and not see anything."
"Don't be impatient," Cargraves told him; "When we start back in eight or nine days, we swing
around again and you can stare and take pictures till you're cross-eyed."
"Why only eight or nine days? We've got more food than that."
"Two reasons. The first is, if we take off at new moon we won't have to stare into the sun on the
way back. The second is, I'm homesick and I haven't even landed yet." He grinned. In utter seriousness
he felt that it was not wise to stretch their luck by sticking around too long.
The trip across the lighted and familiar face of the moon was delightful, but so short that it was like
window shopping in a speeding car. The craters and the "seas" were old familiar friends, yet strange and
new. It reminded them of the always strange experience of seeing a famous television star on a personal
appearance tour-recognition with an odd feeling of unreality.
Art shifted over to the motion-picture camera once used to record the progress of the Starstruck
series, and got a complete sequence from Mare Fecunditatis to the crater Kepler, at which point
Cargraves ordered him emphatically to stop at once and strap himself down.
They were coming into their landing trajectory. Cargraves and Morrie had selected a flat, unnamed
area beyond Oceanus Procellarum for the landing because it was just on the border between the earth
side and the unknown side, and thereby fitted two plans: to attempt to establish radio contact with earth,
for which direct line-of-sight would be necessary, and to permit them to explore at least a portion of the
unknown side.
Joe the Robot was called again and told to consult a second cam concealed in his dark insides, a
cam which provided for the necessary braking drive and the final ticklish contact on maneuvering jets
and radar. Cargraves carefully leveled the ship at the exact altitude and speed Joe would need for the
approach and flipped over to automatic when Morrie signaled that they were at the exact, precalculated
distance necessary for the landing.
Joe took over. He ffipped the ship over, using the maneuvering rockets, then started backing in to a
landing, using the jet in the tail to kill their still tremendous speed. The moon was below them now and
Cargraves could see nothing but the stars, the stars and the crescent of the earth -- a quarter of a million
miles away and no help to him now.
He wondered if he would ever set foot on it again.
Morrie was studying the approach in the radar scope. "Checking out to nine zeros, Captain," he
announced proudly and with considerable exaggeration. "It's in the bag."
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The ground came up rapidly in the scope. When they were close and no longer, for the moment,
dropping at all, Joe cut the main jet and flipped them over. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl karpacz24.htw.pl
Ross floated face down and stared out at the desolation. They were speeding silently along, only
two hundred miles above the ground, and they were approaching the sunrise line of light and darkness.
The shadows were long on the barren wastes below them, the mountain peaks and the great gaping
craters more horrendous on that account. "It's scary," Ross decided. "I'm not sure I like it."
"Want off at the next corner?" Cargraves inquired.
"No, but I'm not dead certain I'm glad I came."
Morrie grasped his arm, to steady himself apparently, but quite as much for the comfort of solid
human companionship. "You know what I think, Ross," he began, as he stared out at the endless miles of
craters. "I think I know how it got that way. Those aren't volcanic craters, that's certain -- and it wasn't
done by meteors. They did it themselves!"
"Huh? Who?"
"The moon people. They did it. They wrecked themselves. They ruined themselves. They had one
atomic war too many."
"Huh? What the-" Ross stared, then looked back at the surface as if to read the grim mystery there.
Art stopped taking pictures.
"How about it, Doc?"
Cargraves wrinkled his brow. "Could be," he admitted. "None of the other theories for natural
causes hold water for one reason or another. It would account for the relatively smooth parts we call
`seas.' They really were seas; that's why they weren't hit very hard."
"And that's why they aren't seas any more," Morrie went on. "They blew their atmosphere off and
the seas boiled away at Tycho. That's where they set off the biggest ammunition dump on the planet. It
cracked the whole planet. I'll bet somebody worked out a counter-weapon that worked too well. It set off
every atom bomb on the moon all at once and it ruined them! I'm sure of it."
"Well," said Cargraves, "I'm not sure of it, but I admit the theory is attractive. Perhaps we'll find out
when we land. That notion of setting off all the bombs at once-there are strong theoretical objections to
that. Nobody has any idea how to do it."
"Nobody knew how to make an atom bomb a few years ago," Morrie pointed out.
"That's true." Cargraves wanted to change the subject; it was unpleasantly close to horrors that had
haunted his dreams since the beginning of World War II. "Ross, how do you feel about the other side of
file:///C|/Documents and Settings/hasi" i/Dokumenty/Mar" an...t A/%book %a Robert A Heinlein %t Rocket Ship Galileo.txt (65 of 102)16.11.2003 16:16:26
file:///C|/Documents and Settings/hasi" i/Dokumenty/Mar" anovi ptá" koviny/...Heinlein, Robert A/%book %a Robert A Heinlein %t Rocket Ship Galileo.txt
the moon now?"
"We'll know pretty soon," Ross chuckled. "Say -- this is the Other Side!"
And so it was. They had leveled off in their circular orbit near the left limb of the moon as seen
from the earth and were coasting over the mysterious other face. Ross scanned it closely. "Looks about
the same."
"Did you expect anything different?"
"No, I guess not. But I had hoped." Even as he spoke they crossed the sunrise line and the ground
below them was dark, not invisible, for it was still illuminated by faint starlight -- starlight only, for the
earthshine never reached this face. The suncapped peaks receded rapidly in the distance. At the rate they
were traveling, a speed of nearly 4000 miles per hour necessary to maintain them in a low-level circular
orbit, the complete circuit of the planet would take a little over an hour and a half.
"No more pictures, I guess," Art said sadly. "I wish it was a different time of the month."
"Yes," agreed Ross, still peering out, "it's a dirty shame to be this close and not see anything."
"Don't be impatient," Cargraves told him; "When we start back in eight or nine days, we swing
around again and you can stare and take pictures till you're cross-eyed."
"Why only eight or nine days? We've got more food than that."
"Two reasons. The first is, if we take off at new moon we won't have to stare into the sun on the
way back. The second is, I'm homesick and I haven't even landed yet." He grinned. In utter seriousness
he felt that it was not wise to stretch their luck by sticking around too long.
The trip across the lighted and familiar face of the moon was delightful, but so short that it was like
window shopping in a speeding car. The craters and the "seas" were old familiar friends, yet strange and
new. It reminded them of the always strange experience of seeing a famous television star on a personal
appearance tour-recognition with an odd feeling of unreality.
Art shifted over to the motion-picture camera once used to record the progress of the Starstruck
series, and got a complete sequence from Mare Fecunditatis to the crater Kepler, at which point
Cargraves ordered him emphatically to stop at once and strap himself down.
They were coming into their landing trajectory. Cargraves and Morrie had selected a flat, unnamed
area beyond Oceanus Procellarum for the landing because it was just on the border between the earth
side and the unknown side, and thereby fitted two plans: to attempt to establish radio contact with earth,
for which direct line-of-sight would be necessary, and to permit them to explore at least a portion of the
unknown side.
Joe the Robot was called again and told to consult a second cam concealed in his dark insides, a
cam which provided for the necessary braking drive and the final ticklish contact on maneuvering jets
and radar. Cargraves carefully leveled the ship at the exact altitude and speed Joe would need for the
approach and flipped over to automatic when Morrie signaled that they were at the exact, precalculated
distance necessary for the landing.
Joe took over. He ffipped the ship over, using the maneuvering rockets, then started backing in to a
landing, using the jet in the tail to kill their still tremendous speed. The moon was below them now and
Cargraves could see nothing but the stars, the stars and the crescent of the earth -- a quarter of a million
miles away and no help to him now.
He wondered if he would ever set foot on it again.
Morrie was studying the approach in the radar scope. "Checking out to nine zeros, Captain," he
announced proudly and with considerable exaggeration. "It's in the bag."
file:///C|/Documents and Settings/hasi" i/Dokumenty/Mar" an...t A/%book %a Robert A Heinlein %t Rocket Ship Galileo.txt (66 of 102)16.11.2003 16:16:26
file:///C|/Documents and Settings/hasi" i/Dokumenty/Mar" anovi ptá" koviny/...Heinlein, Robert A/%book %a Robert A Heinlein %t Rocket Ship Galileo.txt
The ground came up rapidly in the scope. When they were close and no longer, for the moment,
dropping at all, Joe cut the main jet and flipped them over. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]