“I think we are. Let’s go and dump somethin’ expendable—or maybe not so expendable. When in doubt, throw it out.”
Hans Rebka left, leaving only Louis and Atvar H’sial in the room.
“How about you, At? What’s the problem, too proud to work?”
“When my personal existence is at stake? Not at all. I wish to draw to your attention a factor which seems to have been overlooked. But first, a question. In terms of the rotational axis of Marglot, what is the Have-It-All’s current location?”
“We’re almost at what used to be the Hot Pole, which puts us just about smack on the rotational equator. What’s your point, At? It’s a bit late for a geography lesson.”
“But not, perhaps, for one in elementary mechanics. The acceleration due to gravity on the rotational equator of Marglot is 8.411 meters per second per second. With a rotational period of 39.36 hours, as it was when we first arrived here, and a radius of 5,286 kilometers, the centripetal acceleration on the equator was 0.01 meters per second per second. That is negligible when compared with the acceleration of gravity, little more than a thousandth of it. With a shorter period of rotation, equal to its present value of about 14.4 hours, the centripetal acceleration has increased to 0.08 meters per second squared. This is still a small value, an outward force equal to only about one percent of the gravitational force. It is insignificant when compared to the large reduction of mass needed by the Have-It-All in order to achieve orbit. However, the rotation rate is still increasing. Let us suppose, as a theoretical exercise, that it continues to increase at its current rate. This will have three effects, two of them undesirable and one desirable. The first undesirable effect will result from atmospheric inertia. The air of Marglot will resist being dragged around with the body of the planet. We must anticipate huge winds from the east, which I note are already arising. Second, the balance of forces on the planet will force it to assume a different shape. Marglot will become increasingly oblate, bulging more at the equator. That will undoubtedly induce major structural changes. We must expect great earthquakes, of unknown magnitude.”
“Wonderful. Just one more reason to get the hell out of here—if only we could.”
“We already had reasons enough to leave. But the undesirable consequences are perhaps outweighed by the desirable effect of more rapid rotation. As the planet continues to spin faster and faster, the centripetal acceleration at the equator will increase. Furthermore, that acceleration increases quadratically, proportional to the square of the angular rate. Eighteen hours from now, the outward centripetal force at the equator will equal 12.3 percent of the inward gravitational force. The total downward force on an object on the surface at that time will equal the difference of those gravitational and centripetal forces. If the Have-It-All still exists then, and if there is a surface that permits a take-off, and if the thrustors perform at their estimated levels when we are in the air, we should be able to leave the surface and ascend to orbit.”
“That’s a whole lot of ifs you got there.”
“True. But which would you prefer, Louis Nenda?” Atvar H’sial rose from her crouched position. “A substantial set of contingent possibilities, or a single unpleasant certainty?”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
The end of Marglot
Darya Lang normally worked alone. She did not like to be in charge of others, even when her own safety was involved. Today she was particularly happy to let someone else make the decisions.
On the other hand, those decisions had so far practically made themselves. In order to take maximum advantage of Marglot’s rotation, the Have-It-All had to be launched to the east, and from as close to the equator as possible. It also had to be launched soon. The speeded-up planetary rotation was producing ground tremors that shook the ship, and bigger earthquakes were clearly on the way.
Darya was standing up, although that was never the way you prepared for a lift-off. It was not a matter of choice. Every chair in the cabin had been removed except the one at the controls where Louis Nenda was sitting. Lacking the service of his usual automatic sensor systems, Nenda had assigned Darya and everyone else on board to monitor some aspect of navigation or signals. The only exception was Claudius, off his radiation high and once again a stone-cold corkscrew of green misery.
Nenda might have the only seat, but he was not a happy man. Darya saw him take a last look around at his ship. The Have-It-All had been stripped to the bones. With all interior bulkheads gone the entire interior length was visible. Darya could see them all—Julian Graves, Teri Dahl, Sinara Bellstock, Kallik, Atvar H’sial, everyone, in what had once been luxurious cabins and were now ragged metal frames. The aliens were as inscrutable as ever. The humans looked pale as ghosts. No one had slept for more than thirty-six hours.
The ship’s intercom had been stripped out. Nenda had to shout to be heard above the howl of wind on the hull. His voice echoed along the bare walls. “We’re all inside, and the hatches are closed. Hold on to somethin’. It’s gonna be bumpy as hell ’til we’re high enough to be above the worst of these winds.”
Tally had been assigned to the display that looked aft from the ship. He said, “Beetlebacks. I see silvery reflections from a group of them. They are heading for the ship, but the winds severely inhibit their movements. Some are being swept off their feet and carried backwards.”
“My heart bleeds. I wish we had a few in front, then I could run over ’em.”
“But if we could capture one—any one. They share data, and our information gain could be enormous. A delay of a few minutes, until the nearest one reaches the Have-It-All—”
“—would be a lousy idea. Sorry, E.C. Say bye-bye to beetlebacks, and hello to a bump or two.”
Nenda initiated the sequence for atmospheric take-off. Bump wasn’t the word for it. Hans Rebka clung to a metal stanchion, while Darya hung on to him. First there was the bone-rattling run over hard ice. That ended at the moment of lift-off, but a few meters up the winds hit the ship with full force. The retractable wings fluttered and shook and seemed ready to break off. The ship tilted, and Darya thought one of the wingtips was going to hit the snowy surface. For a horrible moment there was no space at all between the wingtip and its own shadow on the ground.
The Have-It-All shivered and righted itself. As it gained altitude, Darya had a view of a bigger area of the changing planet. Patterns of dark lines crisscrossed the snow. The ground was already fracturing, breaking open into fissures that widened as she watched. Subterranean stresses were growing faster than anyone had expected.
A little higher, and they reached a region where the winds were less affected by local ground contours. The Have-It-All steadied. Nenda said, “I’m takin’ us to three thousand meters, an’ I’m goin’ to hold it there for a while. We’re not shakin’ to bits anymore, but we want to gain all the speed we can as the planet spins faster. The air gets dragged around with everythin’ else, so it will boost us.” He was inspecting read-outs. “I hate to say this too soon, but you know what? We may make it. If I turned on the orbital thrustors right now, we have enough speed to take us to space. No hurry, though. Let’s build up a good margin before we move.”
Hans Rebka left Darya behind at the stanchion and dived forward to stand behind Louis Nenda. He said, “I’m not sure there’s no hurry. Suppose that the rotation speed of Marglot goes on increasing?”