diff options
Diffstat (limited to '58748-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 58748-0.txt | 1205 |
1 files changed, 1205 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/58748-0.txt b/58748-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..50f2ff6 --- /dev/null +++ b/58748-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1205 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 58748 *** + + + + + + + + + + + + + ESCAPE VELOCITY + + BY CHARLES L. FONTENAY + + _It was a duel to the death and Kraag had all + the advantages, including offense and defense. + Jonner had neither, but he employed an old equation + peculiarly adaptable to the situation. And the + proper equation properly worked...._ + + [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from + Worlds of If Science Fiction, October 1954. + Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that + the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] + + +Murdering Stein was easy. Kraag waited until Jonner donned his +spacesuit and went out to have a personal look at the asteroid. Even +then Kraag held his patience, because he wanted Jonner to come back to +the ship unsuspecting. + +Kraag sat tensely at the back of the control room while Stein, the +navigator and communications man, operated the radio. There was a brief +period when Stein talked with Marsport, then he got in touch with +Jonner. Until Jonner got some distance from the wrecked ship, most of +their conversation was an argument. + +"I still think two of us ought to go out and one stay at the ship," +argued Stein. "Kraag agrees with me. What if you fall into a crevice?" + +"There's not much danger, and you've got a directional fix on me," +replied Jonner's voice through the loudspeaker. "If we had a large +crew, I'd agree we ought to explore in pairs. Since there are just +three of us, only one ought to be endangered at a time. I'm the +captain, so I'm it." + +"Well, don't get out of sight," warned Stein. "We don't have an +atmosphere here to bounce radio waves over the horizon." + +Through the glassite port, Kraag could see Jonner poking around at +the asteroid's surface with his steel probe. Against the incredibly +curved horizon, Jonner's suited figure leaned at a slight angle under +the black, star-studded sky. The distant sun gleamed from the sphere of +his helmet. + +"Pretty smooth terrain," remarked Jonner. "It's not much of a planet, +but it seems to have enough mass to pull down any mountains. Looks like +there should be some hills, though. It must have been in a molten state +when the original trans-Martian planet was broken up." + +"That ought to mean high albedo," said Stein. "Higher than it ought to +be." + +"Sounds more like Vesta," said Jonner. "Sure we're on Ceres?" + +Stein looked at the notes he had made from the ship's instruments, +before the crash. + +"The escape velocity was 1,552.41 feet per second," he said, "and the +diameter 0.06. I figure the mass at .000108." + +"All those figures are off according to the latest table for Ceres," +said Jonner. + +"The fellows that made that table were on Mars," reminded Stein. "Vesta +doesn't have a 480-mile diameter. It must be Ceres." + +"You're the navigator," surrendered Jonner. "I'll take your word for +it." + +The personnel sphere of the ship rested on the ground, tilted at almost +a 20-degree angle from the horizontal. The tilt was no inconvenience, +however. Each of the men weighed only five or six pounds here, and +slippage was hardly noticeable. + +"I'll turn you over to Kraag," said Stein at last, glancing up at the +chronometer. "It's my day to fix supper, you know." + +It was the signal Kraag had been waiting for. He reached behind him and +fumbled in the rack for a gun. + +The one he brought out was Jonner's, and it wasn't a heat-gun but the +ancient pistol Jonner swore by. Kraag put it back hurriedly, but not +before Stein had turned in his chair and seen it. + +"What's up, Kraag?" asked Stein without alarm. "Why the gun?" + +Kraag pulled a heat-gun from the rack. + +"Nothing's up," he said, and shot Stein. + +The ray burned into Stein's shoulder, and Kraag swung it down across +Stein's chest to his stomach before relaxing his pressure on the +trigger. + +"My God, Kraag!" gurgled Stein. Summoning a last effort, he croaked +into the microphone: "Jonner! Watch out! Kraag shot...." + +Kraag blasted him in the face, cutting him off. Stein's body floated +forward and upward out of the chair and began to settle slowly toward +the slanting floor. + +"What's going on, Stein?" came Jonner's alarmed voice over the +loudspeaker. "Stein? Stein!" + +"It's all right, Jonner," said Kraag as calmly as he could, when he +could reach the microphone. "Stein just fainted." + +There was silence from Jonner. + +"I'll take care of Stein and then take over the mike till you get ready +to come in," said Kraag into the microphone. + +"I want to talk to Stein when he comes around," said Jonner. His voice +sounded cold. + +So Jonner suspected something. Well, that couldn't be helped. Maybe he +could be talked around. + +"All right, Jonner," agreed Kraag soothingly. + +Stein's body had to be hidden from Jonner, just in case. Jonner got +into the personnel sphere alive--something Kraag did not intend for +him to do. When he had taken care of Jonner, he could dispose of both +bodies before the rescue ship got there. + +Dragging Stein's body was like towing someone through water. It floated +through the air of the sphere at Kraag's tug, settling slowly. His only +problem was getting good leverage for pushing. After some cogitation, +he jammed the body into an empty food compartment two decks below the +control room. + +Back in the control room, Kraag looked out the port. Jonner was closer +to the personnel sphere now, looking toward it but not moving. + +Other portions of the ship, some jettisoned, some crumpled and broken +apart by its crash, lay at varying distances from the personnel sphere. +Some of the parts were scattered out of sight beyond the horizon, a +mile away. + +Kraag had not wanted to fool with the asteroid. There had been no +question that they had to swing back off their original orbit toward +Titan when the meteorite slashed open both of their hydrazine tanks. +But Kraag's idea had been to stay in space and try to turn back toward +Mars before the fuel gave out. + +As the engineer, Kraag resented Jonner overruling him. Jonner had felt +it safer to take an orbit around the asteroid and wait for rescue. But +the fuel pumps had failed before they could adjust to the orbit. Kraag +would never forget that helpless waiting as they circled and circled, +spiraling downward to the inevitable crash. + +He went back to the microphone. + +"Okay, Jonner," he said. "What's going on out there now?" + +"Where's Stein?" countered Jonner. "I want to talk to him." + +"He's not feeling so good. Said he'd rather not try to get back up to +the control room right now." + +"Tell him to come to the mike anyhow. I don't want to talk to you till +I talk to Stein." + +"Stein can't talk, I tell you. If you don't want to talk to me, then +are you ready to come in?" + +"And get shot?" retorted Jonner. + +So Jonner's suspicions were that definite. It was to be expected after +the words Stein had been able to shout into the microphone. Jonner was +nobody's dumbbell. + +Kraag tired once more. + +"That's a ridiculous idea, Jonner," he said. "I can't figure why you'd +say such a thing." + +"You shot Stein," said Jonner positively. "There's no use your denying +it. I know you shot Stein, and I'll know it until Stein himself tells +me it isn't so." + +Kraag knew Jonner too well to try to keep up the pretense any longer. +He tried another tack. + +"Okay, so I shot Stein," he admitted. "That doesn't mean I'll shoot +you. Come on in and talk it over. We can make a deal." + +"If you shot Stein, why wouldn't you shoot me?" asked Jonner logically. + +"There wasn't enough air for three. There is for two." + +Jonner was silent for a moment. + +"So that's why you did it," he said then. "Figured it pretty close, +didn't you, Kraag?" + +"I'm the guy who has to watch supplies on this boat. I checked the +oxygen after the crash broke open those three compartments on the +supply deck. There's 3800 pounds of oxygen left. It'll take about 22 +months for the rescue ship to get here from Mars. At 2.8 pounds of +oxygen a day, you and I can make it, but it would have lasted the three +of us only 15 months." + +Jonner cursed him for a full minute, not loudly but with such intensity +that Kraag felt his face getting warm. + +"You damn murderer!" finished Jonner. "You damn cold-blooded murderer!" + +"Cut it out, Jonner," growled Kraag. "I can't understand you and Stein. +What were you expecting to save us? A miracle?" + +"I don't feel like talking about it now," said Jonner warily. "If you +had only ... Hell, Kraag, we'd been together a long time. Even if all +of us had thought we were going to die, I didn't think we'd kill each +other off like animals." + +"Self-preservation is the first law of nature," said Kraag cynically. +"Better that two should die than three. Come on in, Jonner." + +"That's self-preservation? No thanks, Kraag. You know I'll turn you in +as a murderer when the rescue ship gets here. I have no hankering to +walk up where you can burn me down." + +"Okay, stay out there till your air gives out." + +The airlock was not a comfortable place to spend one of the asteroid's +seven-hour nights, but Kraag was afraid not to stand guard there with +his heat-gun. He was afraid to sleep, too, for the airlock combination +was virtually noiseless and Jonner could open it from the outside. +Jonner was unarmed, but Kraag had no hankering for a hand-to-hand fight +with the powerfully built captain inside the personnel sphere. Because +the air would swish out of the lock instantly if Jonner opened it, +Kraag had to wear a spacesuit. + +He tried to talk to Jonner several times, but got no answer. Toward +dawn, Kraag dozed off, only to be brought awake with a start by +Jonner's voice in his earphones. + +"Good morning, Kraag," said Jonner. There was iron in his voice. "Have +a good night's sleep?" + +"About as good as yours, I'd say," retorted Kraag, wishing he could get +his hands inside his helmet to rub his eyes. + +"I slept fine. Found me a good foxhole just beyond the horizon." + +"Damn you, Jonner! Where are you now?" + +"Go on and have breakfast, Kraag. I'm far enough away for you to see +me. Take a look." + +Kraag peered out of the uppermost airlock ports, one by one. They +slanted at a bad angle, but through one of them he made out Jonner, +standing half a mile away. Uncannily, as though he could see Kraag's +helmet at the port, Jonner waved. + +Kraag was afraid to take off the spacesuit now because the supply deck +had no ports and Jonner could get to the ship in a hurry if he wanted +to. He took off the helmet, though, and went up to the center deck. +Hurriedly, he opened the cover of the port in the direction he had seen +Jonner. Jonner was still in the same place, sitting down. + +Kraag heated breakfast and ate it with an eye on the port. Jonner +didn't move. Kraag felt better when he had eaten, and went up to the +control room. + +"Why don't you give it up and come on in, Jonner?" he asked. "The +oxygen in that suit's not good for more than another 15 hours." + +"That's where you're wrong, Kraag, and that's what's so tragic about +your murdering Stein," said Jonner quietly. "You either forgot that we +carried oxygen instead of nitric acid as the fuel oxidizer this trip +or, being an engineer, you didn't think of it except as fuel. + +"There's enough oxygen in the tanks scattered over the landscape to +keep a dozen men alive until the rescue ship gets here. It's hard for +me to get at, but I've already found I can manage it." + +Kraag was profoundly shocked. For a moment the enormity of what he had +done in killing Stein almost overwhelmed him. It had been completely +unnecessary. + +Then his self-reproach turned into a growing anger against Jonner. +Jonner was always so reticent, always required his orders to be obeyed +without explanation. During the whole argument about taking an orbit +around the asteroid, during the whole time it had taken to spiral down +to a crash, he had not told Kraag how he expected them to stay alive +until they were rescued. + +Kraag hadn't asked him, of course. Kraag had assumed Jonner was +thinking in terms of his own figures. + +"I'm sorry about Stein," said Kraag, and meant it. "But it can't be +helped now, Jonner. There's enough air for both of us, if you'll keep +your mouth shut when the rescue ship gets here." + +"If I promised, I still wouldn't trust you and you wouldn't trust me. +No, Kraag. The only way it'll work is for you to come out unarmed and +let me go in and get the guns. Then I'll lock you in the control room +till the rescue ship gets here." + +"One of us is a fool, Jonner, and you seem to think it's me. I'm not +going to burn for murder. I've got the whip hand. You may have oxygen, +but you've got to have food and water, too." + +Jonner laughed, without humor. + +"I've got enough of that for three Earth days and I can last longer," +he said. "Before that time, I'll come and get you, Kraag. Don't go to +sleep!" + +Kraag cursed and switched off the loudspeaker. But he kept an eye on +Jonner through the glassite. Always, he had to watch Jonner--or stay on +guard in the airlock. + +If there were only some way to lock Jonner out! But the only real lock +was on the control room, and a man couldn't live in the control room +with an enemy below who could cut the water and oxygen lines. + +Kraag would have to sleep some time. Jonner couldn't know when, but +Jonner already was seven hours sleep up on him. Jonner could pick his +own time to slip up to the sphere under cover of darkness, he could +pick his own time to come through the lock. Maybe Kraag would be awake +and could burn him down--but maybe not. + +There was only one thing to do. He'd have to take the attack to Jonner. + + * * * * * + +Still watching Jonner through every port he passed, always watching +Jonner, Kraag hung a heat-gun on one of the hooks at his spacesuit's +belt. He went back below, put the helmet on, and went out through the +airlock. + +The shadow of the sphere stretched away toward his left. He was in +sunlight. + +Jonner, still in the same spot, got to his feet but made no move to +approach. + +"Welcome to the great outdoors," said Jonner. + +"I'm going to get you, Jonner," said Kraag grimly. "One way or another, +I'm going to get you." + +He moved toward Jonner. Each step was a long, floating leap and it was +hard to stay balanced before landing. Jonner moved, not away from him +but sidewise. + +Kraag stopped. The effective range of the heat-gun was no more than 100 +feet. If he tried to get close enough to Jonner to use it, Jonner could +circle and get to the personnel sphere. + +There were the oxygen tanks, the big ones used for fuel. If Kraag could +get to them and burn them open, Jonner couldn't last long outside. But +they were scattered pretty far from the personnel sphere. Jonner would +get to the sphere for sure if he tried that. + +"Okay, Jonner, I know when I'm licked," said Kraag. "Come on in." + +"I'm not too far away to see the gun, Kraag." + +"I'll take it back to the sphere and leave it." + +"Why not just toss it away?" + +"And have you beat me to it and get the drop on me? We'll leave the +guns in the sphere and I'll meet you on even terms." + +"I'll believe it when I see it." + +Kraag went back to the sphere. He couldn't stand in shadow without +looking suspicious, but he took the heat-gun from his belt +ostentatiously and swung it in an arc, apparently tossing it through +the open outer lock. Instead, he held onto it and hung it by the +trigger guard to a belt hook at the back of his suit. + +"I'm all clean, Jonner. Come on up," he invited. + +"Let's see the hooks, Kraag," said Jonner. + +Kraag held his arms aloft, wriggling the empty steel fingers of the +spacesuit. Jonner came toward him, floating high above the surface with +each step. At just about the extreme range of the heat-gun, he stopped. +Kraag kept his arms outspread, but tensed himself. + +"Clean, so far," said Jonner drily. "Now turn around, Kraag." + +"And have you jump me from behind? Not hardly." + +"Gun on the back hook, eh, Kraag?" + +"Damn you, Jonner!" Kraag reached behind him for the gun and at the +same time leaped toward Jonner. Jonner, ready, jumped back, and Jonner +was a more powerful man. Handling a heat-gun with the hand-hooks of a +spacesuit is awkward business, and by the time Kraag could bring the +weapon to bear on Jonner and press the trigger, Jonner's distance was +such that the ray obviously did no worse than make things uncomfortably +warm for him. + +"I didn't think that surrender rang true," commented Jonner. "If you'd +been level, you'd have tossed away the heat-gun." + +Then Jonner revealed that he was not entirely weaponless. As he hit the +surface, his arm moved in an arc and a good-sized rock came hurtling +through space toward Kraag. + +Kraag writhed frantically, two feet off the ground, and the stone +missed him by inches. Kraag landed on his side and bounced again. +Jonner hit once more and hurled another rock. Evidently he was armed +with several of them. This one ricocheted off the ground near Kraag +just as Kraag finally slid to rest. + +Getting to his feet and turning to flee was agonizingly slow, when +every frantic movement lifted him off the ground. Another stone came +sailing by, to strike the personnel sphere and rebound at an angle, +before Kraag could jump back, away from Jonner. + +Perspiring and panting, he clambered hastily back into the safety of +the airlock. + +Jonner's rocks were a better weapon than a heat-gun, Kraag realized. +They weighed only a fraction of an ounce and Jonner could fling them +an amazing distance. But their mass was just the same as ever, and a +jagged one could rip a fatal hole in a spacesuit. He had no intention +of engaging in a stone-throwing duel with Jonner, in which Jonner would +be at least on equal terms with him. + +On the other hand, it was even more imperative than before that he +eliminate Jonner as soon as possible. A rock could be a deadly weapon +if Jonner got inside the sphere, too. + +At any rate, there was no point in concealing Stein's body from +Jonner any longer and Kraag couldn't take chances on it polluting +the atmosphere of the sphere. He dragged the corpse from the food +compartment, down to the airlock, and pushed it out onto the surface of +Ceres. The body settled stiffly to the ground a few feet away. + +Kraag removed his helmet and hand-hooks, went back up to the control +room and settled himself to watch Jonner. Jonner walked around freely, +periodically hurling rocks at the sphere. The rocks bounced off without +damage, but every time one of them hit the hull, the sound of it rang +through the sphere. + +Kraag switched on the communications system. + +"Do you have to do that?" he demanded in irritation. "It's not doing +you any good." + +"Keeping me in practice," replied Jonner cheerfully. "I developed a +pretty good arm throwing grenades in the Charax Uprising." + +Jonner was a veteran of that brief but savage war on Mars, and +sometimes reminisced about it. It was there he had developed his +preference for the old-style projectile pistol over the heat-gun. + + * * * * * + +Kraag's eyes lingered on Jonner's pistol, hanging in the rack with the +heat-guns, and slowly an idea spread through his mind. The heat-gun +range was the same anywhere, but the range of a projectile weapon +should be greater here than on Mars or Earth. Its range should be far +greater than Jonner's rocks. + +Kraag took it from the rack and turned it over in his hand, studying +it. He wasn't sure of its principle, but thought it was something on +the order of rocket fuel. It should fire without an atmosphere around +it. + +There were some figures stamped on the barrel: "COLT 1985, Cal-.45, +MV-1100, Ser-45617298." Kraag puzzled over them. He knew the first +one was the make and year and the last undoubtedly was the serial +number. He deduced that "MV-1100" probably was a figure showing the +relationship between the projectile's mass and velocity. But it had +been a long time since projectile weapons were common. + +He called on the memory of a demonstration of the weapon Jonner had +given his companions once on Mars. There was something that had to be +done to prepare it for firing. Holding it in his right hand, Kraag +grasped the barrel with his left. After a moment of hesitant tugging, +he hit the right movement and the whole outer casing of the barrel slid +backward and clicked. It snapped back into position as Kraag released +it, and he remembered. + +The gun was primed now. All he had to do was press the trigger and it +would fire. It would automatically prime itself again after firing. It +would fire each time he pressed the trigger now, until it exhausted its +projectiles. + +Exultant, he laid it carefully in a contour chair, where it wouldn't +slide out. He put his helmet back on and replaced the hand-hooks of his +spacesuit. + +He looked out several ports before he found Jonner. The captain was not +more than 150 feet away, casually lobbing rocks at the sphere. + +Kraag picked up Jonner's pistol and made his way down to the airlock. +He emerged and walked around the sphere to the side where he had +located Jonner. + +Jonner was moving away now, though he couldn't have known Kraag was +coming out. He was about 300 feet away--too far for a heat-gun, but +certainly within range of the projectile weapon. He seemed to be headed +toward one of the big fuel tanks. + +Kraag levelled the pistol toward Jonner and pulled the trigger. To his +astonishment, he was hurtled backward, heels over head. + +The kick of a .45 on an asteroid is pretty powerful. Kraag must have +bounced 50 feet backward over the terrain before he slid to rest on his +stomach. But he held on to the pistol--and, since he never had a chance +to release the pressure of his hand-hook on the trigger, it did not +fire again. + +When he struggled upright, Jonner was standing at the edge of the fuel +tank, watching him. + +"Using my gun now, eh, Kraag?" Jonner said. "You'd better stick to +weapons you know something about." + +With that, he disappeared behind the fuel tank. + +Kraag got to his feet and advanced confidently. His heat-gun was still +hanging at his belt if he got close enough to Jonner to use it, and +he could fire the projectile weapon at Jonner when Jonner was out of +heat-gun range. + +He was learning. One had to point the projectile gun accurately before +firing. It couldn't be swung around and focused while pressing the +trigger, like a heat-gun. He might miss a few times, but he ought to be +able to hit Jonner at least once before the ammunition was exhausted. +Once should be enough. + +Heat-gun ready in his left hand, projectile gun in his right, Kraag +circled the fuel tank. Keeping it between them, Jonner had headed +straight for the horizon, running in long, shallow leaps. He was at +least half a mile away. + +Kraag pointed the projectile pistol and pulled the trigger. Nothing +happened. Then he realized that he had never released the pressure of +his hand-hook on the trigger after firing the first time. He let up on +it and pressed it down. + +And again Kraag was hurled backward, but this time he was smashed +against the fuel tank and rebounded forward, falling on his face. +By the time he reached his feet again, Jonner had vanished over the +horizon. + +Cursing softly, Kraag made his way back to the personnel sphere. He had +hoped to get Jonner with that shot. He was very sleepy, and now he was +faced with another night on guard. + +He entered the airlock, pushed himself gently upward to catch the rungs +of the metal ladder and turned the wheel of the airlock's inner door. + +Nothing happened. The door did not open. + +Fear gripped him like a paralyzing hand. For a moment he thought Jonner +had managed to get to the sphere ahead of him and somehow had locked +him out. But that was impossible. Then he thought the inner door might +be jammed, and he and Jonner locked out together. + +He glanced frantically below him, then broke into relieved laughter. He +had left the outer airlock door open. As a safety measure against the +sphere's accidentally losing its air, neither door would open unless +the other was shut. + +And that meant he could lock Jonner out of the sphere simply by leaving +the inner door of the airlock open! + +His laugh was full and genuine now as he pulled the outer door closed. + +"Having fun, Kraag?" asked Jonner in his earphones. + +"Just looking forward to a good night's sleep, for a change," retorted +Kraag triumphantly. "Prowl around all you want to, Jonner. I can wait +you out, now." + +"The airlock, eh? I wondered when your guilty conscience would +settle down and let you remember about that airlock," said Jonner +phlegmatically. "You know, Kraag, I had no idea you wouldn't think +about a simple thing like that, till I looked through the airlock port +last night and saw you huddled up there with a heat-gun. You should +have turned out the light." + +Jonner was silent for a few minutes. Then he added: + +"I don't think I'd laugh yet, though, Kraag. Remember, you're fighting +with my weapons." + +Kraag wasn't sure what he meant by that: whether he was talking about +Kraag's using the projectile pistol or the fact that they were in +space, Jonner's natural element. Kraag himself had been in space 10 +years, most of it with Jonner, but before then he had never left +Earth. Jonner had been born and raised on Mars, where a man needed a +suit to go to the next settlement, and he had been on a ship since he +was 15. + +As for using the pistol, Kraag could see danger for no one but Jonner. +He had proved, twice, that he could fire it. He was quite sure the +old-fashioned weapon was no more likely to explode than a heat-gun. The +only trouble he foresaw was figuring how to reload it if he used up all +its projectiles before hitting Jonner. + +Kraag shrugged and removed his suit. He was hungry, and he was +looking forward to a supper better than Jonner had available in the +concentrated supplies in his spacesuit. Jonner's food and water by now +had dwindled to less than 60 hours' supply, unless he was weakening +himself by going on slim rations. + + * * * * * + +As he wolfed down his supper, Kraag took stock of his situation. He +could see no flaw in his position. All he had to do was sit back and +wait. + +He decided not to destroy the tanks that were Jonner's supply of extra +oxygen. After all, Jonner could not last beyond his food and water +supply. The presence of the oxygen made his case airtight. He could +dispose of the bodies of Stein and Jonner and tell the crew of the +rescue ship they had wandered off on an exploration tour and never +returned. With plenty of oxygen for the three of them, no motive could +be established against him for the murders. + +He began to feel rather sorry for Jonner. They had been companions, +and Stein with them, for a long time. + +After eating, he went up to the control room and turned Jonner in on +the communications system. He was genuinely regretful that Jonner had +to die so soon. It would be lonesome on the asteroid with no one to +talk to. + +"I hope you've been keeping the radio open to Marsport, in case there +were any inquiries," said Jonner. "If they get the idea we're all dead +out here, they may call off the rescue." + +"The last time they called was right after you left the ship," said +Kraag. "Stein was going to tell you, but I suppose he forgot it. +Marsport knows where we are. A rescue ship should have blasted off by +now." + +"That's the advantage of being on Ceres instead of in space," Jonner +pointed out. "They know Ceres' orbit, but they'd have to have several +directional fixes on us, spaced several days apart, to pinpoint us if +the ship were in space. What did Stein say the escape velocity here is?" + +Surprised at the unexpected question, Kraag consulted the notes Stein +had left lying in the control room. + +"EV 1,552.41 feet per second," he replied. "Not figuring on jumping off +the planet, are you, Jonner?" + +"Maybe," said Jonner. + +"Well, don't wake me up if you do. I'm really going to pound the pillow +tonight." + +Jonner laughed shortly, and Kraag heard the click as the captain +switched off his helmet radio. He grinned. + +Kraag was asleep almost as soon as he hit the bunk. + +He came awake slowly, reluctantly, knowing he had not had all the sleep +he needed. Something was pounding noisily somewhere, ringing through +his head. + +He shook his head to clear it. For just an instant there was silence in +the utter darkness. Then: + +CRASH! + +Like a clap of thunder the noise reverberated through the metal hull of +the sphere. + +Kraag started violently, and only the bunk straps kept him from +rocketing to the ceiling. Again: + +CRASH! + +And Kraag could feel the sphere shiver with the blow. + +He switched on the lights just as another terrific crash sounded. This +time he could see everything on the central deck quiver with the impact. + +One of the four small ports around the central deck was uncovered, +and the light threw a beam out into the black night of the asteroid. +It brought a temporary cessation of the regular blows. During the +interval, Kraag unstrapped himself and tumbled up to the control room, +to switch on the communications system. + +"Jonner!" he shouted. "Jonner, what in hell?" + +"I'm not deaf," said the loudspeaker resentfully. "Give me a chance to +turn down my volume, if you're going to holler." + +"What the devil are you doing out there, Jonner?" + +"What I promised you. I'm coming in after you." + +Kraag swore. + +"I'm going to blow you off the damned planet," he threatened, and +leaped for the gun rack. + +"You'll have to come outside to do it," reminded Jonner. "If you try to +shoot through the ports, you'll save me a lot of work." + +Kraag raced up and down the sphere twice before he had sense enough +to turn out all the lights and use the searchlight. Then he located +Jonner, clinging to the sphere outside the astrodome on the navigation +deck. Jonner had a sledge hammer from the ship's cargo section in his +hand. + +Jonner grinned at him and moved quickly out of the searchlight's beam. +Ten seconds later, another thunderous crash sounded, apparently from +the other side of the sphere. Kraag swung the light in a circle, but +Jonner could move faster than the beam. + +Hastily, Kraag made another tour of the sphere, this time closing all +the metal covers over the ports. When he reached the control room, +Jonner's voice was calling him over the loudspeaker, repeating his name +every few seconds. + +"What do you want?" demanded Kraag, panting. + +"Just wanted to tell you I could have knocked out the astrodome or one +of the ports before you woke up," said Jonner cheerfully. "I don't want +to kill you, Kraag. I just want you to surrender, and if you don't I +can eventually batter through the meteor shield and the hull, and ruin +the sphere for you." + +"We'll see about that," gritted Kraag. Hurriedly he donned a spacesuit. +Hanging Jonner's pistol at his belt, he took a heat-gun in his right +hand and a flashlight in his left and ventured out through the +airlock. He did not make the mistake of switching on the airlock light, +but Jonner seemed to know when he emerged, possibly from the vibration +when the lock opened. + +"Nice night out, isn't it, Kraag?" Jonner welcomed him. + +Kraag grunted. The night was black as pitch. The only way he could tell +where the ground ended and the sky began was that the sky was jewelled +with stars. + +He turned the light on and flashed it over the sphere. No sign of +Jonner. But a rock struck his helmet and bounced off with a clang that +nearly knocked him down and left him momentarily dizzy. + +"I'm behind you, Kraag," said Jonner pleasantly. "Better go back +inside. I promise not to break your shell open tonight." + +Kraag twisted around and fired the heat-gun even as he searched for +Jonner with the flashlight. Both beams pierced emptiness. Jonner just +laughed at him. + +Afraid now that Jonner would get into the sphere, Kraag scuttled back +around to the airlock. Heat-gun ready, he turned on the light before +closing the outer door, and breathed a sigh of relief at finding it +empty. + +Trembling with reaction, he closed the outer lock, left the inner one +open and made his way up to the center deck. He needed coffee. + +"I see you've gone back to the heat-gun," said Jonner. "That's smart." + +"You'd like to see me exhaust the fuel tank of your pistol shooting it +in the dark, when I can't hit you, wouldn't you?" retorted Kraag. "No, +thanks. I'll keep it for long distances." + +"Fuel tank? Oh, you mean the magazine." Jonner laughed. "I'd stay away +from that old .45 of mine if I were you, Kraag. It's been with me too +long. It's a lot more likely to turn on my enemies than to do me any +harm." + +"Rot!" snapped Kraag. "It's a gun. All I have to do is get the hang of +aiming it properly." + +"I wouldn't use too much power tonight, either," warned Jonner. "You +don't get much with the solar mirror this far out. Anyhow, I took the +mirror off while you were having your nap. The batteries should give +out in a few hours." + +Without answering, Kraag switched off his radio and removed his +helmet. That last bit of information was a blow. Gradually, Jonner was +stripping Kraag down to his own subsistence level. + +Power or not, Kraag was determined to have his coffee. But first he +went over the sphere again and switched off all unnecessary lights. + +Jonner was a man who kept his word, but Kraag couldn't afford to trust +him. Jonner might change his mind and try to break open the sphere +again before morning. Kraag kept his spacesuit on. He did not sleep too +well, for about once every 30 or 40 minutes something--either a large +rock or Jonner's sledge hammer--would strike the sphere a resounding +blow. + + * * * * * + +When Kraag's watch told him it was morning, he opened the ports of the +center deck and let the weak sunlight stream into the sphere. Off to +the east, he saw Jonner digging with a pick from the cargo. Jonner was +far enough away for his legs from the knees down to be hidden by the +extreme curvature of the little planet. + +Kraag's first impulse was to go out and take a pot shot at him. +Instead, he switched on the short-wave cooker and prepared some +breakfast. Taking it up to the control room, where he could switch +on the communications system, he opened the eastern port and watched +Jonner. This high, he could see Jonner's feet and the hole he was +digging--and Stein's body. + +Jonner had taken Stein's body from the spot outside the sphere where +Kraag had pushed it. He was burying Stein. + +Jonner finished his excavation and laid Stein gently to rest in it. He +pushed rocks back in to fill it up, and wrested a boulder that would +have weighed a ton over it for a monument. Then he murmured a brief +prayer over the grave. + +Kraag was ashamed and then, unaccountably, angry. But he stood at the +port, drinking his coffee and watching Jonner, and said nothing. + +Either with chalk or with some soft rock he had found--Kraag could not +tell which--Jonner wrote something on the big stone that was Stein's +monument. Then he stood up and turned toward the sphere. + +"Kraag," he said. "Kraag, are you tuned in?" + +"Yes," replied Kraag shortly. + +"You have today to surrender. Tonight I'm going to hatch you out of +your comfortable egg." + +Kraag switched off the communications system and paced the room, anger +burning slowly inside him. This was ridiculous. He held all the cards. +He had the guns, he had the sphere. Jonner was outside, weaponless, +with a limited supply of food and water. Yet Jonner had him on the +defensive. + +How had it happened? How could it happen? Kraag lit a cigarette and +puffed at it slowly, applying his mind coldly to the situation. + +He didn't doubt that Jonner would do as he threatened, but he didn't +think it was the recklessness of desperation. More likely, Jonner +deliberately, calculatingly, planned to reduce his own chances for +comfort, in order to bring Kraag down to more even terms with him. + +If Jonner broke the hull of the sphere, it could be repaired--by +someone working outside, free from interruption by an enemy. Until it +was repaired, it would mean that Kraag, too, would have to live in +a spacesuit. And Jonner might knock open a hole, or more than one, +big enough to permit him to enter the sphere and attack Kraag in the +darkness. + +If only he could surround the sphere with light at night, he could keep +Jonner at a distance. But with the solar mirror gone, the searchlight, +on top of the sphere's other electrical requirements, would discharge +the batteries before the night was half gone. + +Kraag knew Jonner's stubbornness, his resourcefulness, his raw courage. +Jonner was the one of them who was really at bay, when you considered +it. Yet Kraag felt that Jonner was closing in on him, gradually, +inexorably. + +Facing this, Kraag felt the steel enter his own will. He wasn't a +coward. He had just been expecting this to be too easy. If Jonner would +force him to fight, he would fight. He still had the advantage. + +He must abandon the sphere as an asset. Jonner could take that away +from him anyhow. On the other hand, if Jonner took over the sphere, +Kraag could use the same weapon against him. He could break open the +sphere. + +So the sphere was no longer a factor. The food and water were no longer +a factor, for food and water went with the sphere. He would admit +Jonner to equality in those supplies--not full equality, for he could +provision himself now more fully than Jonner had been provisioned two +Ceres days earlier. He still might pin Jonner down as Jonner tried to +get to the sphere for more supplies. + +Then Kraag's remaining advantage lay in the guns. They should be +enough. If he could get close enough to use a heat-gun, he could +blast Jonner. Jonner's own projectile weapon would keep Jonner out of +rock-throwing range, and sooner or later he would hit Jonner with it. +He couldn't keep on missing; the law of average would give him a hit +sooner or later. And all he needed was just one.... + +Kraag provisioned his spacesuit and hung all three of the heat-guns +at his belt. In one of the capacious outside pockets he put two spare +flashlights and half a dozen of the extra fuel packets--What was it +Jonner had called them? Magazines, that was it--for Jonner's projectile +pistol. He took that pistol in his right hand and sallied forth to do +battle. + + * * * * * + +Jonner was nowhere in sight. Kraag shut the outer lock to make it +appear he might be still in the sphere if Jonner happened not to spot +him. He went over to Stein's new grave. + +Jonner had written on the stone: REST IN PEACE. R. STEIN MURDERED BY A. +KRAAG. DEC. 12, 2057. + +Angrily, Kraag burned the lettering off in a 30-second blast with his +heat-gun that left the face of Stein's gravestone cherry red. + +He turned to survey the terrain, and saw Jonner. The captain was +crouched half a mile away, apparently writing more on a flat rock or on +the ground itself. + +Jonner was facing him, but his head was down and he hadn't seen Kraag. +If Kraag fired the projectile pistol, he probably would miss and might +warn Jonner with the shot. He was sure of his accuracy with a heat-gun. +Kraag took a heat-gun in his left hand and ran toward Jonner. + +Possibly the vibration of the ground warned Jonner. He looked up, +jumped to his feet and fled. As soon as he could stop and get his feet +planted firmly on the ground, Kraag fired the projectile pistol after +him. He was still shooting low and to one side. + +Kraag picked himself up from the ground, where the backlash of the +weapon had knocked him, and went up to the spot where Jonner had been +writing. A mathematical problem had been scratched on the surface with +a sharp rock. Kraag had interrupted Jonner in the middle of it. + +The figures that had been written were: + + 11 + ------ + 1.141 ) 1552.41 + 141 + --- + 142 + 141 + --- + 1 + +[Transcriber's note: figures are long division of 1552.41 divided by +1.141] + +Kraag stared at it, carrying out the rest of the simple mathematics in +his head. The answer was 1101. But what was the problem? + +The figure "1.41" was familiar enough. It was the square root of two, +carried to two decimal places. But what was Jonner dividing by it, and +why? + +He frowned in concentration. There was something familiar about the +numbers, something that had to do with him and Jonner, and Jonner +wouldn't be working arithmetic just for amusement. + +He saw Jonner moving on the horizon, just his head visible against +the black sky, his body hidden by the curve of the planet. Jonner was +circling. + +The sudden realization of danger wiped other thoughts from his mind. +Until he saw the epitaph Jonner had written for Stein, Kraag had +thought Jonner looked at this as he did: one man against the other, and +winner take all. But Jonner intended to win even if he lost, because +Jonner was not fighting just for Jonner's survival but for due process +of law. + +Jonner was trying to make certain that, even if Kraag killed him, +Martian law would punish Kraag for Stein's death. And if Jonner got +into the sphere, he could get his message to Marsport or the rescue +ship simply by turning on the radio. + +Kraag turned and raced back to the sphere. He arrived, panting +heavily. Jonner was nowhere in sight, but he knew Jonner, circling, +could not have gotten there ahead of him. + +He must kill Jonner before nightfall, if he could, but he must not get +far enough from the sphere to let Jonner slip in behind him. He was not +ready, yet, to destroy the radio to keep Jonner from it. + +He walked around the sphere. There was Jonner on the other side, only +his head above the horizon, moving clockwise. The sun flashed and +gleamed from Jonner's helmet. + +There was no sense in shooting at so small a target as a head. A mile +away, Jonner's whole body was a small enough target. A carefully gauged +leap carried Kraag to the top of the sphere. Here, 40 feet higher, his +range of view was increased considerably. He could see Jonner well. + +Jonner could see him, too. Jonner stopped to hurl a stone. It took a +while for the missile to cover the distance. It passed below Kraag's +level, some distance away from him. + +"Why don't you give it up, Jonner?" asked Kraag. "You can't hurt me +with a rock, at this distance." + +"Why should I?" retorted Jonner. "All I have to do is wait till night." + +"Sure, wait. But I'm not waiting, Jonner. One of us is going to win +this thing before night, or I'm going to blast the radio so you can't +reach Marsport. If I have to do that, I'll track you down tomorrow--and +I think I can stay outside and fight you away from the sphere tonight." + +"Getting desperate enough to fight like a man now, aren't you, Kraag? +If you want a showdown today, I'm willing." + +Kraag's mind was clear now. He had the situation under control. He +glanced around the landscape at the scattered portions of the wrecked +ship. There was the cargo hull, burst open, where Jonner had gotten his +sledge hammer and the pick to bury Stein. Over there was a red sphere, +ripped by the jagged gash of the meteor collision--one of the two +hydrazine fuel tanks. The yellow sphere 30 degrees away from it was an +oxygen fuel tank. + +Kraag leveled Jonner's gun and fired at the yellow sphere. The kick +knocked him off the sphere, but as he somersaulted backwards he saw the +projectile hit the ground. Still low and to one side. But he noticed +something on the gun, he hadn't seen before. + +There were ridges for sighting along the barrel of Jonner's pistol. +Regaining his position atop the sphere, Kraag pressed his back against +the observatory dome, to brace himself against the gun's backlash. He +aimed carefully at the yellow sphere and fired again. + +The yellow tank jumped--not from the impact, but from the spout of +freed, expanding oxygen through the hole the bullet made. It moved +and wobbled about in the weak gravity, like a dying balloon. When it +stopped, Kraag knew he had destroyed half of Jonner's oxygen supply. + +"Good shot, Kraag," congratulated Jonner, with fatalistic irony in his +tone. "Of course, I'm not as big a target as the tanks." + +"Each target in its own time," replied Kraag triumphantly, and looked +around for the other yellow sphere. + +He had been afraid it might be one of the parts that had fallen over +the horizon, but it wasn't. It was behind him, a little closer than the +first. He hit it with one shot. + +Now Jonner had only the oxygen in his spacesuit tanks. + +Jonner had made no effort to move farther away. He was still visible +on the horizon, from the knees up, moving in a great circle around the +personnel sphere. + +Kraag aimed carefully and fired. He did not know the projectile's +speed, but certainly it would be much faster than Jonner's rocks. After +half a minute had passed, he knew he had missed. + +There was only one thing to do. He settled himself and fired again, +trying to lead Jonner slightly. Again he missed. + +Methodically, taking his time, Kraag fired. Jonner walked on +unconcernedly, circling. Kraag tried to fire so the path of his +projectile would strike at the top of Jonner's strides, for then Jonner +rose several feet into the air and his whole body was visible. + +Occasionally, Jonner would stop and hurl a stone at Kraag. One man was +as inaccurate as the other. Jonner's stones went wide at that distance, +and Kraag obviously had not hit Jonner with a bullet. + +At last Jonner stopped. He seemed to be fiddling with something +that was right on the ground, below Kraag's line of vision. Then a +tremendous stone, bigger than Kraag's head, came hurtling toward the +sphere. Kraag ducked instinctively, but the missile passed 10 feet +above him, still going well. + +"What in the devil!" exclaimed Kraag. + +"A little innovation of mine, to make things more interesting," +said Jonner. "In case you ever want to use the idea, I made me a +super-slingshot out of two of the jeep inner tubes from the cargo, and +a couple of crowbars I could drive into crevices. Fixed it up yesterday +for bombardment purposes." + +The duel went on. + +There came the time when the hammer of the pistol clicked on an empty +chamber. + +"How do you refuel this thing, Jonner?" asked Kraag pleasantly. The +sun was still high. He could retreat to the interior of the sphere and +figure it out if he had to. + +"It's pretty hard to do with spacesuit hooks," replied Jonner. "Be glad +to demonstrate, if you'll toss me the gun." + +Kraag laughed, a laugh with more triumph in it than humor, because in +his fumbling he had just hit the button that ejected the magazine. To +push in a fresh one was the matter of a moment. + +He had hoped Jonner would move in closer when he knew the pistol was +empty, but no such luck. Jonner stayed put. + +Kraag's first effort with the new magazine brought no results, for he +had neglected to prime the weapon by pushing the outer covering back on +the barrel. He did this, and resumed his methodical firing. + +As the time wore on, Kraag began to appreciate the difficulties +involved in hitting a moving target, even a slowly moving one, when the +marksman was as inexperienced as he was. The trouble was that, at that +distance, he could not see where the bullets were striking and had no +way of knowing how wide of his mark he was shooting. + +He was on the fourth magazine and the sun had passed the meridian +when he felt the sphere vibrate faintly and momentarily beneath him. +He twisted around, alarmed. He could see nothing. It wasn't one of +Jonner's rocks, because a big one had just missed. + +His eye detected a shining streak that stretched a few inches along the +curve of the sphere's meteor shield, at about the level of his feet. He +bent to examine it. Something had struck it at high speed, a glancing +blow. + +It couldn't be one of Jonner's rocks. Small meteor? + +A jagged hole suddenly appeared in the observatory dome near him. +Kraag moved up and examined it closely. It had been made by some small +object. Through the glassite he could see a similar hole in the other +side of the dome. + +Did Jonner have some sort of new weapon? He couldn't. Even Jonner +wasn't resourceful enough to invent a high-powered weapon with the +innocuous cargo they were carrying for the Titan colony. + +Something struck Kraag a powerful blow in the left chest, a blow that +hurled him sideways, to tumble off the sphere and fall slowly to the +ground below. There was a great pain in his chest, and he released his +hand-hooks in agony, so that the pistol fell away from him. + +Kraag gasped for breath as he struck the ground and bounced. He coughed +up blood. + +He fell slowly again, and bounced again. The third time he settled +jarringly, prone on his back. + +He couldn't understand what had happened to him. He pulled his right +arm inside the suit with an effort and probed the painful area on his +chest. He felt the hot wetness of flowing blood. + +He would have to get to the sphere. He tried to move. He couldn't get +off his back. He lay there and writhed in pain. + +Jonner's voice was in his ears, saying something. + +"I knew it would get you," Jonner said. "It was my only chance. But it +got you at last, Kraag." + +"Come help me, Jonner," whimpered Kraag weakly. "I've been hit by ... I +don't know. It must have been a meteor." + +"I'm coming as fast as I can, Kraag, but it was no meteor. It was my +gun." + +"Gun?" repeated Kraag wonderingly. + +"I warned you about that gun of mine, Kraag. If you'd looked at the +figures on the barrel, the muzzle velocity of those .45-calibre bullets +is 1100 feet a second. With Ceres' escape velocity, that's almost +exactly the circular velocity at the asteroid's surface." + +Jonner was standing over him, and then was lifting him gently, to +carry him to the sphere. + +"I deliberately got just out of your range of vision, from the ground, +so you'd climb to a high spot," said Jonner. "You had to be high, so +the bullet would clear the irregularities on the planet's surface, and +I knew that sooner or later you'd shoot a bullet or two high enough not +to hit the ground. + +"When you were firing at me, your bullets weren't describing a +trajectory and falling to the surface, as they would on Earth or Mars. +They were taking an orbit that brought them all the way around the +planet to the same spot, to hit you from the other side two hours +later." + +Kraag tried to look up at him. Something was going wrong with his +sight, and everything outside his face plate was a blur. Must be the +oxygen ... maybe his suit didn't seal the bullet hole properly. + +"I thought...." Kraag began, and choked. He coughed, slowly and +painfully, then tried again: "I thought that ... problem on the +rocks ... looked familiar." + +"You've always done it with a slide rule. That's probably why the +long division didn't register," said Jonner. "The equation is one +every spaceman knows: the circular velocity equals the escape velocity +divided by the square root of two." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Escape Velocity, by Charles L. Fontenay + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 58748 *** |