Spacehounds of IPC

turus Sets

k and lined with hard-packed bumper-layers of hemp and fibre. High into the air extended the upper half of the ship of space-a sullen gray expanse of fifty-inch hardened steel armor, curving smoothly upward to a needle prow. Countless hundred of fine vertical scratches marre

ors of the double air-lock and down a corridor to the center of the vessel. However, instead of entering one of the elevators which were whisking the passengers up to their st

the chief pilot and tossed his bag carelessly into a corner. "Behold your c

anything, but some things just aren't being done. We have been yelling, and yelling hard, for trained computers ever since they started riding us about every one

this trip to see what I could see. I'm to check the observatory data-they don't know I'm aboard-take the peaks and valleys off your acceleration curve, if possible, and report to Newton just what I find out and what I think should be done about it. How early am I?" While the newcomer was talking, he had stripped

bent over his computations, and a tender, almost fath

dope is due right now." He plugged the automatic recorder and speaker into a circuit

mber forty-three twenty-nine. Ready for final sup

imeters between initial and final check stations. Your take-off will be practically unobstructed, but you will have to use the utmost caution in landing upon Mars, because in order to avoid a weightless detour and a loss of thirty-one minutes, you must pass very close to both the Martian sate

hen unplugged and glanced around the control room, in various par

t-Hipe!" he barked. "Drivin

oint switch in a flashing arc. "Converter efficiency 100, projector r

ble pro

ojector reactivity 100, dirigibility 100, on each of numbers one to thirty-two, incl

osco

equilibrium at ten d

ts and look

m the prow of the great vessel. The air above them was full of aircraft of all shapes and sizes, and occasionally the image of one of that flying h

second assistant reported, and other assistan

ts and look

ound in its supporting brackets, illuminating every recess of the dark depths of the bot

d vertical

-all x. Vertical

epto

kilofran

mulat

ilofrank-h

of his department, Breckenridge plugged into

k-out-all x," he

emained, during which time one department head after another would report to the ca

the computer. "How do you check accel

s, not navigators. They've made no allowances for anything, not even the reversal-and I f

hy, they're always right

l displacement that's simply fierce. I'm going to check up, and argue with them about it as we pass. Then there's another thing-they figure to only two places, and we've got to have the third place almost solid if we expect to get a smooth curve. A hundredth of a centimeter of acceleration means a lot on a long trip when they

Breckenridge set his exceedingly delicate excess power potentiometer exactly upon the indi

mmotion about? Dish

e acceleration as long as we checked in somewhere near zero time-we used to spin 'em dizzy when we reversed at the half-way station-but that kind of stuff doesn't go any more. We've got to hold the acceleration constant and close to normal, got to hold our schedule on zero, plus or minus ten seconds, and yet we've got to make any detours they tell us to, such as this seven-million kilometer thing they handed us just now. To make things worse, we've got to take orders at ev

the right answer. I can't help but think that the astronomers are lying down on the job. They are so sure that you pilots are to blame

much plus equilibrium power. Remember, we've got to hit

et out of the way, and I know just what the manager will do if we check in minus thirty-one minutes. Wow! He'll swell up and bust, sure. Bu

re in the world, isn't it? You'd think the passengers would enjoy a little weightlessness occasionally-especially the fat ones-but they don't. But say, while I think

ek. As for solving mysteries, laugh while you can, old hyena. You and a lot of other dim bulbs think that Roeser's Rays are the last word-that there's nothing left to discover

inuendo blast of sound, and two minutes remained. In every stat

ult, as everything on board will apparently increase in weight by about one-fifth of its present amount. Please remain

-the fifteen-thousand-and-odd kilofranks of energy that exactly counterbalanced the pull of gravity upon the mass of the cruiser. Simultaneously there was added from the potentiometer, already set to the exact figure given by the computer, the plus-equilibrium power-which would not be changed throughout the journey if the idea

g power," which it would be necessary to employ for sixty-nine minutes-for, without the acceleration given by this additional power, they would lose ma

tion became constant. Weight no longer increased, but remained constant at a value of plus twenty three and six-tenths percent. For a few moments there had been uneasy stomachs among the passengers-perhaps a few of the

nervous reaction and of the highest degree of manual dexterity and control. Under his right and left hands were the double-series potentiometers actuating the variable-speed drives of the flight-angle directors in the hour and declination ranges; before his eyes was the finely marked micrometer screen upon which the guiding goniometer threw its needle-point of light; powerful optic

action and other perturbing forces comparatively slight, the signals no longer sounded and the point of light ceased its irregular motion, becoming almost stationary. The chief pilot brought both cross-hairs directly upon the brilliant point, which for some time they had been approaching more and more nearly, adjusted the photo-cells and amplifiers which

we're on our way. I'm always gl

ere'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

, and missed it ten divisions. I think I'll turn in my badge-I've cocked our perfect curve already, before we

pilot, of course, but I do know good compensation when I see it, and if you weren't compensating that point I never saw it done. Besides, with your skill

I still think, Steve, that you're playing with dyna

nce this fuss has just started, nobody has tried

ention!" came from

eckenridge," from

a minute. Why are you not corr

ull control of course and acceleration,"

ive me your present supposed location, and your latest precision goniometer bearings on the sun, the moon, Mars, Venu

Observatory," E2 answered loftily, paying no

thin seven thousand kilometers. And speaking of reporting-I know already that a lot of you astronomical guessers have only the faintest possible idea of where you really are, plus, minus, or lateral; and if you don't get yo

hold him for a

The older man was plainly ill at ease at this open d

ckel that right now he's working his goniometer so hard that it's pivots are getting hot. He'll sne

ight, then, probably, by

eck. He won't tell anybody anything-he do

u dope this out, with on

know about you. Another thing-the next station, P6, I think is keeping himself all x. If so, when you corrected for E2,

n the exact center of the micrometer screen, and Breckenri

en Stevens had been introduced. "By my time yo

riding on 981.286 centimeters, to allow fo

when the flying vessel was nearing the third check-station. "Unless I'm all out of control we'll check i

hirteen and eight-tenths seconds minus on the station, and a fiery dialogue ensued when the computer

bum reference points. I'm going to report to Newton-he'll rock the Observatory on its foundations!" He plugged

n resolved itself into the likeness of a keen-eyed, gray-haired man, seated at his desk in the remote office of the Interp

your investigation

see, you don't need special computers on these ships any more than a hen needs teeth. You've got all

ing was al

course, all the pilots can't be as good as Breckenridge, but give them good computation

ork for the trip is done, you might show my little girl, Nadia, around the Ar

ton-I'll be a reg

tor, I'll speak to C

ll crown you with a proof-bar!" the chief pil

ave such a complex, you'd know that you're the crack pilot of the outfit and wouldn't care who else knew it." Stevens ca

acquainted with them long ago. Of course I don't know him very well, since I

all the rest of the trip?" Breckenridge as

down a well. Why, a kid-any kid-and I team up just like grace and poise.... What's gnawing on you anyway, to make you turn Cheshire cat all of a sudden? By the l

prised,'" and Breckenridge, though making no eff

d four-striper. Almost hidden behind his massive form there was a girl,

e both kept after him long enough Dad would let

ve-feet-eleven of stature and the hundred and ninety pounds of rawhide and whalebone that was his body, but child she certainly was not. Her thick, fair hair, cut in the square bob that was the mode of the moment, indicated that Nature had intended her to be a creamy blonde, but as she turned to be introduced to him, Stevens

officers who are not actually tied down at their posts are anxious to do the honors of the vessel, but a

bit against such an order. I'm mi

ng to do. I want to meet Doctor Brandon and Doctor Westfall, too," and her hand met his in a firm and friendly clasp. She turned to the

hissed, and the grinning Breckenridge nodded assent to th

ee the whole works," Stevens addressed the girl. "Where do

ches, heavy stockings, and shoes were of the one shade of smooth, lustrous silk; and as they strolled together down the passage-wa

-do you know it?" he asked,

to me what it is. We're both in fine condition and in hard training. You're an athlete of some kind,

wi

hysicist, with the King of the Springboard. Say, ever since I quit being afraid of the water I've had a yen to do that two-and-a-half twist of

ointers on diving, and you can show me how to make a golf ball behave. Next to Norman Brandon, I've got the most vicious hook in captivity-and Norm can't help himself. He's

ain! What do

ch, being out in space most of the time, you know-sometimes, whe

ntered an elevator and were borne upward, towar