United States or Togo ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
"No wonder the astronomers think you birds are the ones who are gumming up their dope. Well, it's about time to plug in on E2. Here's where the fireworks start!" He closed the connections which transferred the central portion of the upper lookout screen to a small micrometer screen at Breckenridge's desk and plugged it into the first check-station.
"All this may have been coincidence, Breck, but we'll find out pretty quick now," the computer remarked when the flying vessel was nearing the third check-station. "Unless I'm all out of control we'll check in almost fourteen seconds minus on W41, and we may not even find him on the center block of the screen." When he plugged in W41 was on the block, but was in the extreme upper right corner.
I think I'll turn in my badge I've cocked our perfect curve already, before we got to the first check-station!" His hands moved toward the controls, to correct their course and acceleration. "As you were hold everything! Lay off those controls!" snapped the computer. "There's something screwy, just as I thought and it isn't you, either.
"They figure like astronomers, not navigators. They've made no allowances for anything, not even the reversal and I figure four thousands for that and for minor detours. Then there's check station errors...." "Check-station errors! Why, they're always right that's what they're for!" "Don't fool yourself they've got troubles of their own, the same as anybody else.
To make things worse, we've got to take orders at every check-station, and yet we get the blame for everything that happens as a consequence of obeying those orders!
Of course, I know as well as you do that it's rotten technique to change acceleration at every check-station; but we've told 'em over and over that we can't do any better until they put a real computer on every ship and tell the check-stations to report meteorites and other obstructions to us and then to let us alone. So you'd better recommend us some computers!"
If so, when you corrected for E2, which was wrong, it'd throw you all off on P6, which was right, and so on a bad hump at almost every check-station. See?" True to prediction, the pilot ray of P6 came in almost upon the exact center of the micrometer screen, and Breckenridge smiled in relief as he began really to enjoy the trip.
Word Of The Day