His eyes cleared, and the gauge swam
into view. He read the figures aloud:
"Distance in miles since departure--fourteen thousand, five hundred ..."
Something clicked. He let out a yell.
"We made it! We made it!" He turned and began to pound Connel on the
back. "Major Connel! Major, wake up, sir! We made it. We're in free
fall! Junior's far behind us!"
"Uh--ah--what--Tom? What?" Connel said, rolling his eyes. In all his
experience he had never felt such acceleration. He glanced at the gauge.
"Distance," he read, "fifteen thousand miles." The gauge ticked on.
"We made it, sir!" said Tom. "Astro gave us a kick in the pants we'll
never forget!"
Connel grinned at Tom's excitement. There was reason to be excited. They
were free. He turned to the intercom, but before he could speak, Astro's
voice roared into his ears.
"Report from the power deck, sir," said Astro. "Acceleration normal.
Request permission to open up on hyperdrive."
"Permission granted!" said Connel.
"Look, sir," said Tom, "on the teleceiver screen. Junior is getting his
bumps!"
Connel glanced up at the screen. One by one the white puffs of dust from
the reactor units were exploding on the surface of the planetoid.
Pages:
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250