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'Well, there was no use in letting the matter get cluttered up with a side issue.'
'What matter? Speak up.'
Castor said worriedly, 'Look, Dad, we aren't unreasonable. We can compromise. How about this: you
and Mother and Buster and Meade go to Venus in theWar God . Captain Van would love to have you
do it you know that. And '
'Slow up. And what would you be doing? And Hazel? Mother, are you in on this?'
'Not that I know of. But I'm getting interested.'
'Castor, what's on your mind? Speak up.'
Well, I will if you'll just let me, sir. You and the rest of the family could have a pleasant trip back home
in a luxury liner. Hazel and Pol and I well, I suppose you know that Mars will be in a favorable
position for the Hallelujah Node in about six weeks?'
'For a cometary-type orbit, that is,' Pollux added.
'So it's the Asteroids again,' their father said slowly. 'We settled that about a year ago.'
'But we're a year older now.'
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'More experienced.'
'You're still not old enough for unlimited licenses. I suppose that is why you included your grandmother.'
'Oh, no! Hazel is an asset.'
'Thank you, boys.'
'Hazel, you had no inkling of this latest wild scheme?'
'No. But I don't think it's so wild. I'm caught up and then some on my episodes and I'm tired of this
place. I've seen the Martian ruins; they're in a poor state of repair. I've seen a canal; it has water in it. I
understand that the rest of the planet is much the same, right through to chapter eighty-eight. And I've
seen Venus. I've never seen the Asteroids.'
'Right!' agreed Castor. 'We don't like Mars. The place is one big clip joint'
'Sharp operators,' added Pollux.
'Sharper than you are, you mean,' said Hazel.
'Never mind, Mother. Boys, it is out of the question. I brought my ship out from Luna; I intend to take
her back.' He stood up. 'You can give Mr d'Avril notice, dear.'
'Dad!"
'Yes, Castor?'
'That was just a compromise offer. What we really hoped you would do what we wanted you to do
was for all of us to go out to the Hallelujah.'
'Eh? Why, that's silly! I'm no meteor miner.'
'You could learn to be. Or you could just go for the ride. And make a profit on it, too.'
'Yes? How?'
Castor wet his lips. 'The sand rats are offering fabulous prices just for cold-sleep space. We could carry
about twenty of them at least And we could put them down on Ceres on the way, let them outfit there'.
'Cas! I suppose you are aware that only seven out of ten cold-sleep passengers arrive alive in a long
orbit?'
'Well... they know that. That's the risk they are taking.'
Roger Stone shook his head. 'We aren't going, so I won't have to find out if you are as cold-blooded as
you sound. Have you ever seen a burial in space?'
'No, sir.'
'I have. Let's hear no more about cold-sleep freight.'
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
Castor passed it to Pollux, who took over: 'Dad, if you won't listen to us all going, do you have any
objections to Cas and me going?'
'Eh? How do you mean?'
'As Asteroid miners, of course. We're not afraid of cold-sleep. If we haven't got a ship, that's how we
would have to go.'
'Bravo!' said Hazel. 'I'm going with you, boys.'
'Please, Mother!' He turned to his wife. 'Edith, I sometimes wonder if we brought the right twins back
from the hospital.'
'They may not be yours,' said Hazel, 'but they are my grandsons, I'm sure of that. Hallelujah, here I
come! Anybody coming with me?'
Dr Stone said quietly, 'You know, dear, I don't much care for Venus, either. And it would give you
leisure for your book'
TheRolling Stone shaped orbit from Phobos outward bound for the Asteroids six weeks later. This was
no easy lift like the one from Luna to Mars; in choosing to take a 'cometary' or fast orbit to the Hallelujah
the Stones had perforce to accept an expensive change-of-motion of twelve and a half miles per second
for the departure maneuver. A fast orbit differs from a maximum-economy orbit in that it cuts the orbit
being abandoned at an angle instead of being smoothly tangent to it... much more expensive in reaction
mass. The far end of the cometary orbit would be tangent to the orbit of the Hallelujah; matching at that
point would be about the same for either orbit; it was the departure from Phobos-circum-Mars that
would be rugged.
The choice of a cometary orbit was not a frivolous one. In the first place, it would have been necessary
to wait more than one Earth year for Mars to be in the proper relation, orbit-wise, with the Hallelujah
Node for the economical orbit; secondly, the travel time itself would be more than doubled five
hundred and eighty days for the economical orbit versus two hundred and sixty-nine days for the
cometary orbit (a mere three days longer than the Luna-Mars trip).
Auxiliary tanks for single-H were fitted around the Stone's middle, giving her a fat and sloppy
appearance, but greatly improving her mass-ratio for the ordeal. Port Pilot Jason Thomas supervised the
refitting; the twins helped. Castor got up his nerve to ask Thomas how he had managed to conn the
Stone in to a landing on their arrival. 'Did you figure a ballistic before you came aboard, sir?'
Thomas put down his welding torch. 'A ballistic? Shucks, no, son, I've been doing it so long that I know
every little bit of space hereabouts by its freckles.'
Which was all the satisfaction Cas could get out of him. The twins talked it over and concluded that
piloting must be something more than a mathematical science.
In addition to more space for single-H certain modifications were made inside the ship. The weather
outside the orbit of Mars is a steady 'clear but cold'; no longer would they need reflecting foil against the
Sun's rays. Instead one side of the ship was painted with carbon black and the capacity of the air-heating
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
system was increased by two coils. In the control room a time-delay variable-baseline stereoscopic radar
was installed by means of which they would be able to see the actual shape of the Hallelujah when they
reached it.
All of which was extremely expensive and the Galactic Overlord had to work overtime to pay for it.
Hazel did not help with the refitting. She stayed in her room and ground out, with Lowell's critical help,
more episodes in the gory but virtuous career of Captain John Sterling alternating this activity with
sending insulting messages and threats of blackmail and/or sit-down strike to her producers back in New
York; she wanted an unreasonably large advance and she wanted it right now. She got it, by sending on
episodes equal to the advance. She had to write the episodes in advance anyhow; this time theRolling [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl szamanka888.keep.pl
'Well, there was no use in letting the matter get cluttered up with a side issue.'
'What matter? Speak up.'
Castor said worriedly, 'Look, Dad, we aren't unreasonable. We can compromise. How about this: you
and Mother and Buster and Meade go to Venus in theWar God . Captain Van would love to have you
do it you know that. And '
'Slow up. And what would you be doing? And Hazel? Mother, are you in on this?'
'Not that I know of. But I'm getting interested.'
'Castor, what's on your mind? Speak up.'
Well, I will if you'll just let me, sir. You and the rest of the family could have a pleasant trip back home
in a luxury liner. Hazel and Pol and I well, I suppose you know that Mars will be in a favorable
position for the Hallelujah Node in about six weeks?'
'For a cometary-type orbit, that is,' Pollux added.
'So it's the Asteroids again,' their father said slowly. 'We settled that about a year ago.'
'But we're a year older now.'
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
'More experienced.'
'You're still not old enough for unlimited licenses. I suppose that is why you included your grandmother.'
'Oh, no! Hazel is an asset.'
'Thank you, boys.'
'Hazel, you had no inkling of this latest wild scheme?'
'No. But I don't think it's so wild. I'm caught up and then some on my episodes and I'm tired of this
place. I've seen the Martian ruins; they're in a poor state of repair. I've seen a canal; it has water in it. I
understand that the rest of the planet is much the same, right through to chapter eighty-eight. And I've
seen Venus. I've never seen the Asteroids.'
'Right!' agreed Castor. 'We don't like Mars. The place is one big clip joint'
'Sharp operators,' added Pollux.
'Sharper than you are, you mean,' said Hazel.
'Never mind, Mother. Boys, it is out of the question. I brought my ship out from Luna; I intend to take
her back.' He stood up. 'You can give Mr d'Avril notice, dear.'
'Dad!"
'Yes, Castor?'
'That was just a compromise offer. What we really hoped you would do what we wanted you to do
was for all of us to go out to the Hallelujah.'
'Eh? Why, that's silly! I'm no meteor miner.'
'You could learn to be. Or you could just go for the ride. And make a profit on it, too.'
'Yes? How?'
Castor wet his lips. 'The sand rats are offering fabulous prices just for cold-sleep space. We could carry
about twenty of them at least And we could put them down on Ceres on the way, let them outfit there'.
'Cas! I suppose you are aware that only seven out of ten cold-sleep passengers arrive alive in a long
orbit?'
'Well... they know that. That's the risk they are taking.'
Roger Stone shook his head. 'We aren't going, so I won't have to find out if you are as cold-blooded as
you sound. Have you ever seen a burial in space?'
'No, sir.'
'I have. Let's hear no more about cold-sleep freight.'
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
Castor passed it to Pollux, who took over: 'Dad, if you won't listen to us all going, do you have any
objections to Cas and me going?'
'Eh? How do you mean?'
'As Asteroid miners, of course. We're not afraid of cold-sleep. If we haven't got a ship, that's how we
would have to go.'
'Bravo!' said Hazel. 'I'm going with you, boys.'
'Please, Mother!' He turned to his wife. 'Edith, I sometimes wonder if we brought the right twins back
from the hospital.'
'They may not be yours,' said Hazel, 'but they are my grandsons, I'm sure of that. Hallelujah, here I
come! Anybody coming with me?'
Dr Stone said quietly, 'You know, dear, I don't much care for Venus, either. And it would give you
leisure for your book'
TheRolling Stone shaped orbit from Phobos outward bound for the Asteroids six weeks later. This was
no easy lift like the one from Luna to Mars; in choosing to take a 'cometary' or fast orbit to the Hallelujah
the Stones had perforce to accept an expensive change-of-motion of twelve and a half miles per second
for the departure maneuver. A fast orbit differs from a maximum-economy orbit in that it cuts the orbit
being abandoned at an angle instead of being smoothly tangent to it... much more expensive in reaction
mass. The far end of the cometary orbit would be tangent to the orbit of the Hallelujah; matching at that
point would be about the same for either orbit; it was the departure from Phobos-circum-Mars that
would be rugged.
The choice of a cometary orbit was not a frivolous one. In the first place, it would have been necessary
to wait more than one Earth year for Mars to be in the proper relation, orbit-wise, with the Hallelujah
Node for the economical orbit; secondly, the travel time itself would be more than doubled five
hundred and eighty days for the economical orbit versus two hundred and sixty-nine days for the
cometary orbit (a mere three days longer than the Luna-Mars trip).
Auxiliary tanks for single-H were fitted around the Stone's middle, giving her a fat and sloppy
appearance, but greatly improving her mass-ratio for the ordeal. Port Pilot Jason Thomas supervised the
refitting; the twins helped. Castor got up his nerve to ask Thomas how he had managed to conn the
Stone in to a landing on their arrival. 'Did you figure a ballistic before you came aboard, sir?'
Thomas put down his welding torch. 'A ballistic? Shucks, no, son, I've been doing it so long that I know
every little bit of space hereabouts by its freckles.'
Which was all the satisfaction Cas could get out of him. The twins talked it over and concluded that
piloting must be something more than a mathematical science.
In addition to more space for single-H certain modifications were made inside the ship. The weather
outside the orbit of Mars is a steady 'clear but cold'; no longer would they need reflecting foil against the
Sun's rays. Instead one side of the ship was painted with carbon black and the capacity of the air-heating
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
system was increased by two coils. In the control room a time-delay variable-baseline stereoscopic radar
was installed by means of which they would be able to see the actual shape of the Hallelujah when they
reached it.
All of which was extremely expensive and the Galactic Overlord had to work overtime to pay for it.
Hazel did not help with the refitting. She stayed in her room and ground out, with Lowell's critical help,
more episodes in the gory but virtuous career of Captain John Sterling alternating this activity with
sending insulting messages and threats of blackmail and/or sit-down strike to her producers back in New
York; she wanted an unreasonably large advance and she wanted it right now. She got it, by sending on
episodes equal to the advance. She had to write the episodes in advance anyhow; this time theRolling [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]