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"Oh yes," Elka agreed, nodding emphatically. "There were all sorts of instruments and digital displays." "I should be asking these questions," stated Bran petulantly. Telson looked contemptuously at his son. "Why?" "Because I'm the commander of this spacecraft." "Right now no-one's the commander of anything," said Telson. "If you want responsibility, then go after Darv." "No," said Sharna. "He's got another fifteen minutes." "But that crazy hothead--' "Only takes calculated risks," said Sharna, finishing Telson's sentence. "We'll give him five minutes and then we'll send Tidy after him." "Oh thanks," said Tidy, who was hovering outside the observatory, eavesdropping as usual. "Thanks very much." * * * * Darv ran across the black floor of the docking terminal, weaving around Page 77 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html the debris of wrecked spacecraft as he made his way towards the Challenger's massive bulk. He had been sprinting for ten minutes and was badly winded. He was within a mile of the boarding steps that spiralled around one of the huge uprights of the system of cradles that supported the spacecraft when he spotted Tidy. The diminutive android was scooting across the artificial plain as if a creature that he particularly objected to was after him. A PD weapon was clutched in a manipulator. "Tidy!" The android veered off course and whirred to a standstill in front of Darv. "I'm supposed to be looking for you," he said accusingly. "Well," Darv gasped, fighting to get his breath back, "you've found me. I can't run another yard so you'll have to carry me." "What!" said Tidy, clearly aghast. "I can't carry you -- you're twice my weight." "And you're twice my strength and speed. If we're not back on the Challenger in ten minutes, I think that something very nasty's going to happen to the pair of us." Without further argument, Darv swung his leg over Tidy's trunk and hoisted his feet off the ground. "This is a disgrace," grumbled the android, bracing himself and moving sluggishly in the direction of the Challenger. "I'm not designed for carrying people." "Nor were you designed to be blown apart." "Is that what's going to happen?" "It's a possibility," Darv admitted. Tidy's acceleration was remarkable considering the bulk of his unwelcome burden. * * * * "From what I could make out of the diagrams," said Darv, "the traction beam generators are beneath the floor of this docking terminal." "Hang on," said Sharna. "If the beams created an artificial gravity field that hauled us in here, what will happen when they go into reverse? Surely the Challenger will smash into the roof of this terminal?" "There isn't a roof," Darv replied. "The reason we can't see the stars is simply because there's a light polarizing dome covering the entire terminal." Telson raised an eyebrow. "Then how come the docking terminal is pressurized?" "In the same way that the artificial atmosphere was retained on Solaria I suppose -- by gravity." There was a brief silence in the observatory. Bran was looking resentful over the initiatives that everyone seemed to be seizing without reference to him. "Two minutes," muttered Telson. He gave Darv a searching look. "Supposing someone goes into the control room and sees the altered settings?" Darv shrugged. "In that case they'll switch off the timers and zero the settings, and we'll be stuck here for good." Sharna frowned at Darv. "How long does the reversed gravity field take to build up?" "I've no idea," Darv admitted. "All I know is that I over-rode the safety interlocks and set every control in sight to their maximum values." "Does it matter?" inquired Telson. Sharna smiled. "I was just thinking that gravity working in reverse could result as an explosion if it operates fast enough." The tremor that shook the Challenger was followed by a series of distant, reverberating crashes. Sharna manually switched in the optical systems that displayed pictures of the spacecraft's surroundings on the various repeater screens. One picture showed the Challenger's vast girth separating from the cradles. The massive tubular columns were breaking free, some were rising with the spacecraft, others were beginning to describe slow circles that sent them crashing into Page 78 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html other columns. As the six stared in amazement at the screen, they all saw that the floor of the docking terminal was receding -- slowly at first and then with a steadily increasing velocity. The entire spacecraft gave a tremendous lurch that was beyond the ability of the compensators to even out. The shockwave sent them staggering. Loose items fell to the floor. "My God," breathed Telson. "We're back in space." It was true. All the repeater screens showed billion pinpricks of light of the firmament. Also on the screen were the crazily pirouetting shapes of derelict spacecraft which, like the Challenger, were being hurled out of the Spaceguard with a force equal to that which they had been drawn in. On one screen, Telson located the strange disc-like shape of what he presumed was the Spaceguard. He didn't know the size of the artificial black hole therefore it was impossible to tell at any given moment how far they were away from it, but what was obvious was that it was receding at a phenomenal velocity. He was about to try and pick out surface details when the screen suddenly turned to a blinding white light that illuminated the entire interior of the observatory. As the distance increased, so the image on the screen turned from a featureless whiteout to an expanding, glowing ball that resembled a miniature nova. After two minutes the light had shrunk to yet one more point of light against the background of the galaxy's millions of stars. "Darv," said Telson quietly. "Yes?" "Well done." Darv nodded and said nothing. He turned his attention back to the screen but it was no longer possible to pick out what had once been the mighty Spaceguard. Darv's expression was not one of pride in his achievement. * * * * Angel One was concerned. Although Angel Two was operational again, albeit with several higher function levels working at restricted efficiency until regeneration was complete, several of the optical fibre tracks that controlled some of the Challenger's automatic systems had been severely damaged during the forcible separation from the Spaceguard. A service android team responsible to Angel Two were sent out onto the outer hull to assess the damage. They reported back that a mass of debris from the Spaceguard's docking terminal had smashed through the skin and had wrecked an optical fibre trunking. At first the effect of the damage was not obvious - all the Challenger's complex systems appeared to be in working order. Fifty hours later, when Angel One and Angel Two were operating at vastly improved efficiency -- although still far short of maximum efficiency, they carried out a series of combined tests that quickly established the true magnitude of the disaster: all food, oxygen, and purified water production necessary to sustain a human crew on the Challenger had ceased. * * * * Astra was sitting up on the bed with her arms hooked around her knees while listening to Darv singing as he turned under the dryers after having taken a shower. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |