Atom Drive Page 3

couldintercept us, if that tug had gotten too far before we noticed it wasgone."

  He jabbed the white-faced doctor with the muzzle of the heat-gun.

  "Get below," he ordered. "I'll turn you over to Space Control at Mars."

  When Serj had left the control deck, Jonner turned to the others. Hisface was grave.

  "That tug picked up speed before I could shut off the engines, after thecable was cut," he said. "It's moving away from us slowly, and at atangent. And solar gravity's acting on both bodies now. By the time weget those controls repaired, the drift may be such that we'll wasteweeks maneuvering the tug back."

  "I could jet out to the tug in a spacesuit, before it gets too faraway," said T'an thoughtfully. "But that wouldn't do any good. There'sno way of controlling the engines, at the tug. It has to be done byradio."

  "If we get out of this, remind me to recommend that atomic ships alwayscarry a spare cable," said Jonner gloomily. "If we had one, we couldsplice them and hold the ship to the tug until the controls arerepaired."

  "Is cable in cargo strong enough, Jonner?" asked Qoqol.

  "That's right!" exclaimed Jonner, brightening. "Most of our cargo'scable! That 4,000-ton spool we're hauling back there is 6,000 miles ofcable to lay a television network between the Martian cities."

  "Television cable?" repeated T'an doubtfully. "Will that be strongenough?"

  "It's bound in flonite, that new fluorine compound. It's strong enoughto tow this whole cargo at a couple of Gs. There's nothing aboard thisship that would cut off a length of it--a heat-gun at full powerwouldn't even scorch it--but we can unwind enough of it, and block thespool. It'll hold the ship to the tug until the controls can berepaired, then we can reverse the tug and weld the cable."

  "You mean the whole 6,000 miles of it's in one piece?" demanded T'an inastonishment.

  "That's not so much. The cable-laying steamer _Dominia_ carried 3,000miles in one piece to lay Atlantic cables in the early 20th century."

  "But how'll we ever get 4,000 tons in one piece down to Mars?" askedT'an. "No G-boat can carry that load."

  Jonner chuckled.

  "Same way they got it up from Earth to the ship," he answered. "Theyattached one end of it to a G-boat and sent it up to orbit, then woundit up on a fast winch. Since the G-boat will be decelerating to Mars,the unwinding will have to be slowed or the cable would tangle itselfall over Syrtis."

  "Sounds like it's made to order," said T'an, grinning. "I'll get into myspacesuit."

  "You'll get to work on the radio controls," contradicted Jonner, gettingup. "That's something I can't do, and I can get into a spacesuit andhaul a length of cable out to the tug. Qoqol can handle the winch."

  * * * * *

  Deveet, the Atom-Star Company's representative at Mars City, and Krugerof the Space Control Commission were waiting when the _Radiant Hope_'sG-boat dropped down from the Phobos station and came to rest in a washof jets. They rode out to the G-boat together in a Commission groundcar.Jonner emerged from the G-boat, following the handcuffed Serj.

  "He's all yours," Jonner told Kruger, gesturing at Serj. "You have myradio reports on the cable-cutting, and I'll make my log available toyou."

  Kruger put his prisoner in the front seat of the groundcar beside him,and Jonner climbed in the back seat with Deveet.

  "I brought the crates of dies for the groundcar factory down this time,"Jonner told Deveet. "We'll bring down all the loose cargo beforeshooting the television cable down. While they're unloading the G-boat,I wish you'd get the tanks refilled with hydrazine and nitric acid.I've got enough to get back up, but not enough for a round trip."

  "What do you plan to do?" asked Deveet. He was a dark-skinned,long-faced man with a sardonic twist to his mouth.

  "I've got to sign on a new ship's doctor to replace Serj. When the_Marsward_ comes in, Marscorp will have a dozen G-boats working roundthe clock to unload and reload her. With only one G-boat, we've got tomake every hour count. We still have reaction mass to pick up onPhobos."

  "Right," agreed Deveet. "You can take the return cargo up in one load,though. It's just twenty tons of Martian relics for the Solar Museum.Mars-to-Earth cargos run light."

  At the administration building, Jonner took his leave of Deveet and wentup to the Space Control Commission's personnel office on the secondfloor. He was in luck. On the board as applying for a Mars-Earth run asship's doctor-psychologist was one name: Lana Elden.

  He looked up the name in the Mars City directory and dialed into thecity from a nearby telephone booth. A woman's voice answered.

  "Is Lana Elden there?" asked Jonner.

  "I'm Lana Elden," she said.

  Jonner swore under his breath. A woman! But if she weren't qualified,her name would not have been on the Commission board.

  The verbal contract was made quickly, and Jonner cut the Commissionmonitor into the line to make it binding. That was done often when rivalships, even of the same line, were bidding for the services of crewmen.

  "Blastoff time is 2100 tonight," he said, ending the interview. "Behere."

  Jonner left the personnel office and walked down the hall. At theelevator, Deveet and Kruger hurried out, almost colliding with him.

  "Jonner, we've run into trouble!" exclaimed Deveet. "Space Fuels won'tsell us any hydrazine and nitric acid to refill the tanks. They say theyhave a new contract with Marscorp that takes all their supply."

  "Contract, hell!" snorted Jonner. "Marscorp owns Space Fuels. What canbe done about it, Kruger?"

  Kruger shook his head.

  "I'm all for you, but Space Control has no jurisdiction," he said. "If aprivate firm wants to restrict its sales to a franchised line, there'snothing we can do about it. If you had a franchise, we could force themto allot fuel on the basis of cargo handled, since Space Fuels has amonopoly here. But you don't have a franchise yet."

  Jonner scratched his grey head thoughtfully.

  It was a serious situation. The atom-powered _Radiant Hope_ could nomore make a planetary landing than the chemically-powered ships. Itspower gave a low, sustained thrust that permitted it to accelerateconstantly over long periods of time. To beat the powerful pull ofplanetary surface gravity, the terrific burst of quick energy from thestreamlined G-boats, the planetary landing craft, was needed.

  "We can still handle it," Jonner said at last. "With only twenty tonsreturn cargo, we can take it up this trip. Add some large parachutes tothat, Deveet. We'll shoot the end of the cable down by signal rocket,out in the lowlands, and stop the winch when we've made contact, longenough to attach the rest of the cargo to the cable. Pull it down withthe cable and, with Mars' low gravity, the parachutes will keep it frombeing damaged."

  But when Jonner got back to the landing field to check on unloadingoperations, his plan was smashed. As he approached the G-boat, amechanic wearing an ill-concealed smirk came up to him.

  "Captain, looks like you sprung a leak in your fuel line," he said. "Allyour hydrazine's leaked out in the sand."

  Jonner swung from the waist and knocked the man flat. Then he turned onhis heel and went back to the administration building to pay the10-credit fine he would be assessed for assaulting a spaceport employee.

  * * * * *

  The Space Control Commission's hearing room in Mars City was almostempty. The examiner sat on the bench, resting his chin on his hand as helistened to testimony. In the plaintiff's section sat Jonner, flanked byDeveet and Lana Elden. In the defense box were the Mars Corporationattorney and Captain Russo Baat of the _Marsward XVIII_. Kruger, seatednear the rear of the room, was the only spectator.

  The Mars Corporation attorney had succeeded in delaying the finalhearing more than a 42-day Martian month by legal maneuvers. Meanwhile,the _Marsward XVIII_ had blasted down to Phobos, and G-boats had beenshuttling back and forth unloading the vessel and reloading it for thereturn trip to Earth.

  When testimony had been completed, the examiner shuffled through hispap
ers. He put on his spectacles and peered over them at the litigants.

  "It is the ruling of this court," he said formally, "that the plaintiffshave not presented sufficient evidence to prove tampering with the fuelline of the G-boat of the spaceship _Radiant Hope_. There is no evidencethat it was cut or burned, but only that it was broken. The court mustremind the plaintiffs that this could have been done accidentally,through inept handling of cargo.

  "Since the plaintiffs have not been able to