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Kincaide, my second officer, turned and smiled as I entered the navigating room. "L-472 now registers maximum attraction, sir," he reported. "Dead ahead, and coming up nicely. My last figures, completed about five minutes ago, indicate that we should reach the gaseous envelope in about ten hours." Kincaide was a native of Earth, and we commonly used Earth time-measurements in our conversation.
Kincaide, watching me, spoke up: "I have already given orders to dry out, sir," he said. "Very good, Mr. Kincaide. It's a long trip, and I want the crew in good condition." I studied the two charts, one showing our surroundings laterally, the other vertically, all bodies about us represented as glowing spots of green light, of varying sizes; the ship itself as a tiny scarlet spark.
"Turn it to maximum, sir." I glanced at him curiously, but obeyed. New streams of thought poured in upon me. Kincaide ... the guard at the exit ... and something else. I blanked out Kincaide and the men, feeling Dival's eyes searching my face. There was something else, something
Will you call me should there be any developments of interest?" I assured him that he would be called as he requested, and he left. "Decent sort of a chap, sir," observed Kincaide, glancing at the door through which Dival had just departed.
The attraction meter, as Kincaide had said, registered several degrees of attraction, and the red slide on the rim of the dial was squarely at the top, showing that the attraction was coming from the world at which our nose was pointed. The surface-temperature gauge was at normal. Internal pressure, normal. Internal moisture-content, a little high.
It took generations of training to perfect that ability. "Open the exit," I ordered Kincaide, who was standing by the switch, key in the lock. "Yes, sir," he thought promptly, and unlocking the switch, released the lever.
My menore, free from the interference of the great atomic generators of the Kalid, emanated the moment the generators ceased functioning. "Enough. Hanson! Cut the rays; we're coming." "We have ceased action; come on!" I hurried to the still open exit. Kincaide and his guards were staring at what had been the forest; they were so intent that they did not notice I had joined them and no wonder!
I waited grimly while an hour, two hours, went by. My field narrowed down to one continent, to a part of one continent. I glanced up at the surface temperature gauge and noted that the hand was registering a few degrees above normal. Correy, who had relieved Kincaide as navigating officer, followed my gaze. "Shall we reduce speed, sir?" he asked crisply. "To twice atmospheric speed," I nodded.
Science can revitalize air, take out impurities and replace used-up constituents, but if cannot give it the freshness of pure natural air. Even the science of to-day. "Mr. Kincaide, you will stand by with five men. Under no circumstances are you to leave your post until ordered to do so. No rescue parties, under any circumstances, are to be sent out unless you have those orders directly from me.
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