"
"Thanks, Roger," said Connel. He turned to the intercom. "Power deck,
check in!"
"Power deck, aye," said Astro.
"Loring and Mason there?" asked Connel.
"Yes, sir. I'm putting them right to work in the radiation chamber, sir.
I'm piling all emergency fuel into the reaction chambers to try for one
big push!"
"Why?" asked Connel.
"I heard what Roger said, sir," replied Astro. "This'll give us enough
thrust to clear the sun's gravity, but there's something else that might
not take it."
"What?" asked Connel.
"The cooling pumps, sir," said Astro. "They may not be able to handle a
load as hot as this. We might blow up."
Connel considered this a moment. "Do what you can, Astro. I have
absolute faith in you."
"Aye, aye, sir," said Astro. "And thank you. If this wagon holds
together, I'll get her off."
Connel turned to Tom who stood ready at the control panel.
"All set, sir," said Tom. "Roger's given me a clear trajectory forward
and up. All we need is Astro's push!"
"Unless Astro can build enough pressure in those cooling pumps to handle
the overload of reactant fuel, we're done for.
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