Выбрать главу

When the green light on Dolf's panel flared, it was greeted with cheers from the entire crew. That light meant that Dolf had control of the canister's attitude jets. When queried, the canister's computer reported what David called "adequate" fuel supplies for the steering jets, and nearly full fuel supplies for the rocket drive engine.

Dolf flipped a switch on his panel. "It's all yours, Captain," he called up to David.

"I have control," David replied. He spent several minutes studying the orbital data of the cargo canister. "Turnover in approximately one hour," he reported. As the clock ticked down, the entire crew crossed fingers and hoped. David activated his controls, and after a moment, released a huge sigh. "Canister has responded to controls," he reported, to more cheers from his crewmates.

A few minutes later, David activated the canister's drive engine, to begin slowing its approach to the comet. "Intercept is now in twelve hours," he reported crisply.

It was a long twelve hours. Everyone but David tried to get some sleep, but it was nearly hopeless. Every man aboard spent the time worrying about whether they would be able to easily capture their supply shipment, or whether they would have to watch helplessly as it blew past them and headed for interstellar space, dooming them to a slow death.

David spent the twelve hours ceaselessly monitoring the canister's approach. Twice he made tiny adjustments to its course or speed.

Finally David told Yuri to suit up and go up to the surface. He would make the actual capture of the canister. The others hovered over the surface cameras as Yuri appeared, tether and rocket piton in hand. For a long time, nothing seemed to happen.

Then, suddenly, the dark cylinder appeared in the cameras. It looked as though it would overshoot, but David applied a momentary shot from the canister's drive motor, and it slowed. Now it appeared to be drifting slowly past them, some two meters out.

David touched the aft steering jets, and the canister slowed even more. Suddenly, Yuri raised his arm, and there was a flash as he fired the rocket piton.

The piton was designed to drive into ice or rock to secure something. But Yuri had realized that it also made an admirable grapple. The momentary drive pulled the tether line up to the canister. For a moment, it seemed it would miss, but they soon realized that Yuri had been aiming for a steering jet projection. Inertia caused the line to wrap around the steering jet, and suddenly Yuri was lifted from the surface of the comet.

But his tether held, and for a few moments, he hung suspended between the canister and the comet. He gave a very gentle tug on the tether, and slowly, slowly began descending to the surface.

The others had been scrambling to don their helmets and head for the personnel lock. David's voice stopped them. "Raoul, Dolf, you go help Yuri. Ron, you decompress the cargo hold and open the cargo doors. We're going to want to bring it inside. We have room, now."

As they started for the cargo hold, David shouted, "And don't forget that damned thing masses five tonnes. Everything in slow motion!"

"Should we use the arm to bring it in, Captain?" Ron asked.

There was silence for a few moments as David thought about it. "Yes, I suppose that would be the safest way to go. Unlimber the arm, and get it ready to use. Yuri, Dolf, Raoul, be very careful. We want to get it within reach of the arm, but we don't want it moving so fast it damages the arm." He was answered by a chorus of "yes, sirs."

"Yuri," he continued, "Do you think you have it under control?"

"Yes, sir," replied the laconic Russian.

"Good. Then I'm going out the hatch. I'm going to monitor the ice plug. When Ron starts using the arm, it's going to cause vibrations. I want to make sure we don't lose the ice plug. I'm also going to take Yoshi a suit. So, Ron, don't start moving the arm until I tell you."

Ron cursed. "I never even thought about that," he admitted. "I'll wait for your permission, Captain."

With everyone suited, David gave Ron permission to operate the arm. He prowled around and around the ice-bound ship, looking for spreading cracks.

Some fine cracks did appear, and David watched them carefully for signs of spreading or enlarging.

But finally Ron reported, "I have the canister, sir."

This was followed by Yuri's voice. "Releasing tether line, sir."

But David didn't breathe until he heard, "Canister aboard, sir. Stowing the arm," and a few seconds later, "Arm stowed aboard, sir, Cargo doors closing."

David's breath exploded from his lungs. "Good job, guys. Yuri, we do have a some small cracks, I can't tell whether they're leaking. I'd like you and Raoul to check them and seal them, if necessary. Dolf, please report to Alcântara Control that we have the cargo canister."

The cargo canister fit easily into the nearly empty cargo hold, but there was not a lot of room to move around it. Fortunately, someone on Earth had foreseen this; one end of the cylindrical canister was removable, giving easy access to the contents.

The crew was delighted to receive the new supplies, but David was almost as happy with the canister itself. It was a great improvement on the one that had preceded them to the comet. The whole thing was designed to be easily disassembled, and the steering jets and main engine seemed to be in perfect condition for reuse.

The crew threw another party that "night." They knew they could stay alive for months on the contents of the shipment.

Another party was prompted by Dolf's report that they were crossing the orbit of Mars, and officially approaching the asteroid belt.

Their duties changed somewhat, too. They began affixing the six small rocket engines to the comet, and began stabilizing the comet as Dolf had long ago suggested, stopping the rotation and spin that had characterized it. It was Dolf's responsibility to calculate the comet's center of mass, and determine where the engines should be located to truly turn the comet into an "ice space ship."

This was the first time the team had ventured more than a few minutes' distance from their "base." The risk of being caught by the eruption of an ice vent had been considered too high to risk it.

Now, though, each of the six motors had to be placed precisely into position. David dispatched them in pairs, with orders to remain tethered together. If one of the pair were to be blown off the comet by a vent, the other would instantly fire a rocket piton into the ice, anchoring them both. Besides, it took two of them to handle the bulky, massy rocket engines and the even bulkier and massier fuel tanks.

Eventually, though, Dolf pronounced himself satisfied with the placement of the engines, and David began using them and Man's Hope's own steering jets to stabilize the comet. David and Dolf each scrutinized their own set of instruments until they agreed that the comet was stabilized, and the engines were properly aligned. Comet Carter IV was now spaceship Carter IV, and David was confident that he could maneuver it using combinations of the six restartable engines. All that remained was to select a destination.

The closer to the asteroid belt they approached, the better the information they received from their sensors. Dolf and David spent many hours discussing and arguing over this asteroid or that one.

Finally, David threw up his hands. "I give up. You're the asteroid expert, Dolf. You pick one, and if I think we can get it home, I'll go along. But you're the one that'll have to explain to Frank if it's a dud!"

Dolf smiled. "That's a deal, Captain. I think we wasted a lot of time. I think our best bet is 433 Eros."

David's eyebrows lifted. "Eros? That damned thing's over 34 kilometers long!"

Dof nodded. "Yes, but it's rather potato-shaped. It would be easy to mount rockets along the center of mass. Also, we wouldn't have to modify the orbit too much. It's already a near-Earth orbiter. And it's S-type."

"I thought we'd want an M-type. More metal."