Part 8 (1/2)

”We'll get those. The orbit will not be exact, of course. We have only two reference points. But I think we'll come pretty close.”

O'Brine nodded. ”Do what you can, Chief. And when Foster gets down to doing his calculations, have your men run them through the electronic computer for him.”

Rip thanked them both, then stood up. ”Sir, I'm going back to my men. I want to be sure everything is ready. If there's a Connie cruiser headed this way, we don't want to lose any time.”

”Good idea. I think we'll dump you on the asteroid, Foster, and then blast off. Not too far, of course. Just enough to lead the Connie away from you if its screen picks us up.”

That sounded good to Rip. ”We'll be ready when you are, sir.”

The chief a.n.a.lyst took less than the estimated ten minutes for his next set of figures. Commander O'Brine called personally while Rip was still searching for the right landing-boat ports. The voice horn bellowed, ”Get it, Lieutenant Foster! The ma.s.s measurements are correct. This is your asteroid. Estimated twelve minutes before we reach it. Your data will be ready by the time you get back here. Show an exhaust!”

Rip found Koa and the men and asked the sergeant major for a report.

”We're ready, sir,” Koa told him. ”We can get out in three minutes. It will take us that long to get into s.p.a.ce gear. Your stuff is laid out, sir.”

”Get me the books and charts from the supplies,” Rip directed. ”Have Santos take them to the chief a.n.a.lyst. I'm going back and figure our course. No use doing it the hard way on the asteroid, when I can do it in a few minutes here with the s.h.i.+p's computer.”

He turned and hurried back, hauling himself along by handholds. The s.h.i.+p had stopped acceleration and was at no-weight again. As he neared the a.n.a.lysis section, it went into deceleration, but the pressure was not too bad. He made his way against it easily.

The chief a.n.a.lyst was waiting for him. ”We have everything you need, Lieutenant, except the orbital stuff. We'll do the best we can on that and have an estimate in a few minutes. Meanwhile you can mark up your figures. Incidentally, what power are you going to use to move the asteroid?”

”Nuclear explosions,” Rip said, and saw the chief's eyes pop. He added, ”With conventional chemical fuel for corrections.”

He felt rising excitement. The whole s.h.i.+p seemed to have come to life.

There was excited tension in the computer room when he went in with the chief. s.p.a.cemen, all mathematicians, were waiting for him. As the chief led him to a table, they gathered around him.

Rip took command. ”Here's what we're after. I need to plot an orbit that will get us out of the asteroid belt without collisions, take us as close to the sun as possible without having it capture us, and land us in s.p.a.ce about ten thousand miles from Earth. From then on I'll throw the asteroid into a braking ellipse around the earth, and I'll be able to make any small corrections necessary.”

He spread out a solar system chart and marked in the positions of the planets as of that moment, using the daily almanac. Then he put down the position of the asteroid, taking it from the paper the chief a.n.a.lyst handed him.

”Will you make a.s.signments, Chief?”

The chief shook his head. ”Make them yourself, Lieutenant. We're at your service.”

Rip felt a little ashamed of some of the unkind things he had said about s.p.a.cemen. ”Thank you.” He pointed to a s.p.a.ceman. ”Will you calculate the inertia of the asteroid, please?” The s.p.a.ceman hurried off. ”First thing to do is plot the orbit as though there were no other bodies in the system,” Rip said. ”Where's Santos?”

”Here, sir.” The corporal had come in unnoticed with Rip's reference books.

Rip had plotted orbits before, but never one for actual use. His palms were wet as he laid it out, using prepared tables. When he had finished he pointed to a s.p.a.ceman. ”That's it. Will you translate it into a.n.a.logue figures for the computer, please?” He a.s.signed to others the task of figuring out the effect Mercury, the sun, and Earth would have on the orbit, using an a.s.sumed speed for the asteroid.

To the chief a.n.a.lyst he gave the job of putting all the data together in proper form for feeding to the electronic brain.

It would have taken all s.p.a.cemen present about ten days to complete the job by regular methods, but the electronic computer produced the answer in three minutes.

”Thanks a million, Chief,” Rip said. ”I'll be calling on you again before this is over.” He tucked the sheets into his pocket.

”Anytime, Lieutenant. We'll keep rechecking the figures as we go along.

If there are any corrections, we'll send them to you. That will give you a check on your own figures.”