The Black Star Passes John W. Campbell (good novels to read in english TXT) đ
- Author: John W. Campbell
Book online «The Black Star Passes John W. Campbell (good novels to read in english TXT) đ». Author John W. Campbell
âDick, why is it he didnât use all his rockets at first instead of gradually increasing the power this way?â
âIf you were operating the ship, Morey, youâd understand. Look at the speedometer a moment and see if you can figure it out.â
âHmmmâ â4.5 miles per secondâ âbuzzing right alongâ âbut I donât see what thatâ âgood Lord! We never will get him at this rate! How do you expect to get him?â
âI have no ideaâ âyet. But you missed the important point. He is going 4.5 miles a second. When he reaches 5 miles a second he will never come down from his hundred and fifty mile high perch! He will establish an orbit! He has so much centrifugal force already that he has very little weight. We are staying right beneath him, so we donât have much either. Well, there he goes in a last spurt. We are falling behind pretty fastâ âthere we are catching up nowâ ânoâ âwe are just holding parallel! Heâs done it! Look!â
Arcot pulled out his watch and let go of it. It floated motionless in the air for a moment, then slowly drifted back toward the rear of the room. âI am using a bit of accelerationâ âa bit more than we need to maintain our speed. We are up high enough to make the air resistance almost nothing, even at this velocity, but we still require some power. I donât knowâ ââ
There was a low buzz, repeated twice. Instantly Morey turned the dials of the radio receiving setâ âagain the call signal sounded. In a moment a voice came inâ âlow, but distinct. The power seemed fading rapidly.
âIâm Wadeâ âthe Pirateâ âhelp if you can. Can you get outside the atmosphere? Exceed orbital speed and fall out? Am in an orbit and canât get out. Fuel reserve gage stuck, and used all my rockets. No more power. Can not slow down and fall. I am running out of compressed air and the generator for this set is goingâ âwill take animation suspending gasâ âwill you be able to reach me before entering night?â
âQuick, Moreyâ âanswer that we will.â
âWe will try, Pirateâ âthink we can make it!â
âOKâ âpower about goneâ ââ
The last of his power had failed! The pirate was marooned in space! They had seen his rockets go out, leaving the exhaust tube glowing for a moment before it, too, was dark, and only the sun shining on the silvery ship made it visible.
âWe have to hurry if we want to do anything before he reaches night! Radio the San Francisco fields that we will be coming in soon, and we need a large electromagnetâ âone designed to work on about 500 volts DC, and some good sized storage cells; how many will have to be decided later, depending on the room we will have for them. Iâll start decelerating now so we can make the turn and circle back. We are somewhere west of Hawaii, I believe, but we ought to be able to do the trick if we use all the power we can.â
Morey at once set to work with the radio set to raise San Francisco airport. He was soon in communication with them, and told them that he would be there in about an hour. They promised all the necessary materials; also that they would get ready to receive the pirate once he was finally brought in to them.
It was nearer an hour and a quarter later that the machine fell to the great San Francisco landing field, where the mechanics at once set to work bolting a huge electromagnet on the landing skids on the bottom of the machine. The most serious problem was connecting the terminals electrically without making holes in the hull of the ship. Finally one terminal was grounded, and the radio aerial used as the other. Fuller was left behind on this trip, and a large number of cells were installed in every possible position. In the power room, a hastily arranged motor generator set was arranged, making it possible to run the entire ship from the batteries. Scarcely had these been battened down to prevent sliding under the accelerations necessary, than Arcot and Morey were off. The entire operation had required but fifteen minutes.
âHow are you going to catch him, Arcot?â
âIâll overtake him going west. If I went the other way Iâd meet him going at over 10 miles a second in relation to his machine. He had the right idea. He told me to fall out to him at a greater than orbital speed. I will go just within the Earthâs atmosphere till I get just under him, holding myself in the air by means of a downward acceleration on the part of the regular lifting power units. I am going to try to reach eight miles a second. We will be overhauling him at three a second, and the ship will slow down to the right speed while falling out to him. We must reach him before he gets into the shadow of the Earth, though, for if he reaches ânightâ he will be without heat, and heâll die of cold. I think we can reach him, Dick!â
âI hope so. Those spare cells are all right, arenât they? Weâll need them! If they donât function when we get out there, weâll fall clear off into space! At eight miles a second, we would leave Earth forever!â
The ship was accelerating steadily at the highest value the men aboard could stand. The needle of the speedometer crept steadily across the dial. They were flying at a height of forty miles that they might have enough air and still not be too greatly hindered by air resistance. The black sky above them was spotted with points of glowing light, the blazing stars of space. But as they flew along, the sensation of weight was lost; they had reached orbital speed, and as the car steadily increased its velocity, there came a strange sensation! The Earth loomed gigantic above them! Below them shone the sun! The direction of up and down was changed by
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