Next Door Next World, Page 2
Robert Donald Locke
to some weather satellite."
"Is it, Lance? When one or two ships out of every ten never make it backat all. Just disappear ... somewhere ... while the others--"
"One out of thirty or forty, you mean. So hyperspace is a littletricky."
"And there's always pilot error to blame, too, I suppose?"
"Now that you mention it."
"Only my man is immune from everything?"
Lance smiled, a little wryly. "Any pilot can make boo-boos, Carolyn. I'mdetermined to try awfully hard not to." He added a slight qualificationto his statement. "I've always been pretty lucky up to now, at notgetting lost."
"I thought the guidance systems and the autopilot computers took care ofall the astrogation corrections?"
"On a theoretically perfect flight, yes. It's equally true, however,that hyperspace's geometry doesn't always resemble the sort of lines andangles you find in our own universe--"
* * * * *
Lance abruptly stopped, realizing he was quoting text; his mind gropedfor a better way to explain. But Carolyn plunged in first:
"You see, there do sometimes develop special situations."
"Sure, sometimes." An exasperation crept into Lance Cooper's voice,despite his effort to keep it out. Hell, he was just a pilot; not arated mathematician. He'd fly hyperspace by the seat of his pants, if hehad to.
"Lance," said Carolyn.
"Yes?"
"You feel it too, don't you?"
"Feel what?"
"That there is danger involved. That something dreadfully, dreadfullywrong _can_ happen to you while you're out there. No matter what theeggheads say about it." A paroxysm of sobs suddenly racked the girl'sslender body. "Oh, darling, don't go!"
"Honey, honey!" Lance patted her thin shoulders.
"I love you so much."
"Love you, too, Carolyn. You know that."
"We shouldn't have postponed the wedding. It was wrong to set the dateback."
Lance shook his head. "Sorry. I couldn't see it any other way."
He hugged the girl to him; she seemed more desperately frightened thanhe had realized. And again, as always when it came to comfortingsomebody, he felt as awkward and clumsy as some big lumbering repair-tugout in space--say--trying to patch a small trim patrol craft.
But especially, he felt helpless in the presence of this frail,clinging, lovely piece of femininity he wanted so dearly. Neverthelesshe could keep on trying--blundering though his words and gestures mightbe.
"Carolyn, you think I wanted to chance making you a widow twenty-fourhours after you became a bride?" Lance took a deep breath. "So I didmaintain the percentage wasn't great. Still, it does exist. I'm aware ofthat. I just don't let it concern me. But you, Carolyn--don't you see,hon? Lance Cooper couldn't let anything bad happen to his best girl."
"I'm trying to understand," said Carolyn.
Lance's blunt, serious face peered into hers. "Tell you what I willpromise to do."
Hope cleared away some of the mistiness in Carolyn's eyes. She looked upat him. "What, Lance?"
"Once I've knocked off my shell-back trip through the hype, we'll stagethe fanciest wedding this old space base ever goggled its eyes over.I'll even see to it, the chaplain samples the spiked punch. And youremember what a raconteur the padre proved to be when Light-ColonelGalache got spliced?"
Carolyn Sagen managed a wan smile.
Lance revved his pep-talk up a few hundred r.p.m. "After all, think ofit this way. Suppose I hadn't beat my brains out to get intohype-training? I'd never have wound up at this base. You and me wouldnever have met. I'd never have fallen for you like a ton ofspace-ballast."
"Oh, I know you're right," said Carolyn, clinging more tightly than everto Lance's solid frame. "You're always right, just like the SpaceService is always right. But I have a woman's intuition. And I ... Isense--"
Unable to finish, she released her grasp and once more withdrew intoherself.
* * * * *
Lance's big muscular hand reached out, tilted the girl's chin upward.Her face was tear-stained for sure, now.
"Honey, this won't ever do."
"I can't help it."
"You're torturing yourself with useless premonitions." Lance wiped thebriny shine from the girl's cheeks as he talked, his own voice gettinghoarser. "Carolyn, I love you so much that I ... well, you know I happento hunger for you more than I do that Christmas tree on my control deck.But I just couldn't give up a chance to solo out to the stars. Icouldn't, baby. I'd probably be court-martialed, anyhow," he added.
"No, Lance. They wouldn't do that. Not unless you actually got intospace, then turned back. I asked Major Carmody."
"Carolyn! You didn't?"
The girl nodded, affirming the truth of what she said. "Lance, I had to.T-there are some things I know about that you don't." A note of suddenurgency now tinged her voice. "Strange unfathomable things. Many of theother pilots who've come back have not been right. I think it hassomething to do with their having been outside of normal space--"
He stared at her. "I just now realize you're trying to tell mesomething."
"Lance, I happened to overhear Dad telling Mother something one night.Apparently, he'd been rolling and tossing in bed, couldn't sleep. AndMother's looked after him so long, she just had to know what was wrong.They went downstairs and she poured him a stiff drink. Then in return,Dad poured out his troubled soul to her. And Lance--"
"Yes, Carolyn?"
"The most probable reason why some hype-pilots never quite make it backto our world is that the men involved--"
"The men? You mean, the pilots?"
"No, the brass. They haven't told the pilots about the fissioning ofanything that gets into hyperspace--"
Carolyn's breath gave out in a sudden gasp. Her eyes moved away alarmed,and Lance's own glance turned simultaneously. He saw Colonel "Hard-Head"Sagen and two other officers coming across the area.
Time had run out on them.
"Carolyn," Lance said, hurriedly. "I've gabbed with quite a few vets ofhyperspace. At the Club and in my training, both. Sure, a man feels likehe's been crammed into a concrete mixer when he's burning up light-yearsin a hyper ship. But after a while, I'm told, even your brains get usedto being bounced around." Lance took the girl's hands and squeezed thembetween his. "So let's not worry, huh?"
Carolyn started to say something in rebuttal, but her father and hisaides were already upon them.
Colonel Sagen was a tall thin man of erect military carriage. Hisfeatures were crisscrossed with radiation scars and his voice boomed outlike a military drum. Yet when one got to know him, he wasn't so gruff.On the base, he commanded two thousand military personnel and half thatmany scientists and techs: a tough job, and one that he was giving hisbest.
After returning Major Lance Cooper's brisk salute, the colonel unbentand gave his prospective son-in-law a hardy handshake.
"Lance, I hope you'll be able to keep more of a rein on this littlespace-filly of mine, than I've been able to. She was determined to seeyou off."
"I was glad to see her, colonel."
The colonel smiled. "Can't think of a man on this base I'd rather turnCarolyn over to."
"Thank you, sir," said Lance.
"Been counting the minutes to take-off, I suppose?"
"He's hardly had a chance to, Dad," Carolyn broke in. "What with me inhis hair!"
One of the colonel's aides glanced at his watch, then opened up a briefcase and took out a sealed envelope. The colonel relieved him of it andhanded it to Lance.
"Your flight orders, Lance. Got the preset tapes installed and checked?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well, you should know your onions now, if you're ever going to. Best ofluck, son."
"Thank you, colonel."
Lance turned. "Good-by, Carolyn. Just four weeks now, like I said."
"I'll be waiting."
"First jump's always the hardest, I hear," spoke up the second
aide,cheerily. Like a great many other execs, the officer boasted no activespace rating, though he did wear the winged moons of an observer.
But Lance and Carolyn were again quite busy, and did not hear.
* * * * *
Inside the shell of the _Cosmos XII_, Lance, sitting flat on his backagainst gravity, looked up at the sweep hands on the
"Is it, Lance? When one or two ships out of every ten never make it backat all. Just disappear ... somewhere ... while the others--"
"One out of thirty or forty, you mean. So hyperspace is a littletricky."
"And there's always pilot error to blame, too, I suppose?"
"Now that you mention it."
"Only my man is immune from everything?"
Lance smiled, a little wryly. "Any pilot can make boo-boos, Carolyn. I'mdetermined to try awfully hard not to." He added a slight qualificationto his statement. "I've always been pretty lucky up to now, at notgetting lost."
"I thought the guidance systems and the autopilot computers took care ofall the astrogation corrections?"
"On a theoretically perfect flight, yes. It's equally true, however,that hyperspace's geometry doesn't always resemble the sort of lines andangles you find in our own universe--"
* * * * *
Lance abruptly stopped, realizing he was quoting text; his mind gropedfor a better way to explain. But Carolyn plunged in first:
"You see, there do sometimes develop special situations."
"Sure, sometimes." An exasperation crept into Lance Cooper's voice,despite his effort to keep it out. Hell, he was just a pilot; not arated mathematician. He'd fly hyperspace by the seat of his pants, if hehad to.
"Lance," said Carolyn.
"Yes?"
"You feel it too, don't you?"
"Feel what?"
"That there is danger involved. That something dreadfully, dreadfullywrong _can_ happen to you while you're out there. No matter what theeggheads say about it." A paroxysm of sobs suddenly racked the girl'sslender body. "Oh, darling, don't go!"
"Honey, honey!" Lance patted her thin shoulders.
"I love you so much."
"Love you, too, Carolyn. You know that."
"We shouldn't have postponed the wedding. It was wrong to set the dateback."
Lance shook his head. "Sorry. I couldn't see it any other way."
He hugged the girl to him; she seemed more desperately frightened thanhe had realized. And again, as always when it came to comfortingsomebody, he felt as awkward and clumsy as some big lumbering repair-tugout in space--say--trying to patch a small trim patrol craft.
But especially, he felt helpless in the presence of this frail,clinging, lovely piece of femininity he wanted so dearly. Neverthelesshe could keep on trying--blundering though his words and gestures mightbe.
"Carolyn, you think I wanted to chance making you a widow twenty-fourhours after you became a bride?" Lance took a deep breath. "So I didmaintain the percentage wasn't great. Still, it does exist. I'm aware ofthat. I just don't let it concern me. But you, Carolyn--don't you see,hon? Lance Cooper couldn't let anything bad happen to his best girl."
"I'm trying to understand," said Carolyn.
Lance's blunt, serious face peered into hers. "Tell you what I willpromise to do."
Hope cleared away some of the mistiness in Carolyn's eyes. She looked upat him. "What, Lance?"
"Once I've knocked off my shell-back trip through the hype, we'll stagethe fanciest wedding this old space base ever goggled its eyes over.I'll even see to it, the chaplain samples the spiked punch. And youremember what a raconteur the padre proved to be when Light-ColonelGalache got spliced?"
Carolyn Sagen managed a wan smile.
Lance revved his pep-talk up a few hundred r.p.m. "After all, think ofit this way. Suppose I hadn't beat my brains out to get intohype-training? I'd never have wound up at this base. You and me wouldnever have met. I'd never have fallen for you like a ton ofspace-ballast."
"Oh, I know you're right," said Carolyn, clinging more tightly than everto Lance's solid frame. "You're always right, just like the SpaceService is always right. But I have a woman's intuition. And I ... Isense--"
Unable to finish, she released her grasp and once more withdrew intoherself.
* * * * *
Lance's big muscular hand reached out, tilted the girl's chin upward.Her face was tear-stained for sure, now.
"Honey, this won't ever do."
"I can't help it."
"You're torturing yourself with useless premonitions." Lance wiped thebriny shine from the girl's cheeks as he talked, his own voice gettinghoarser. "Carolyn, I love you so much that I ... well, you know I happento hunger for you more than I do that Christmas tree on my control deck.But I just couldn't give up a chance to solo out to the stars. Icouldn't, baby. I'd probably be court-martialed, anyhow," he added.
"No, Lance. They wouldn't do that. Not unless you actually got intospace, then turned back. I asked Major Carmody."
"Carolyn! You didn't?"
The girl nodded, affirming the truth of what she said. "Lance, I had to.T-there are some things I know about that you don't." A note of suddenurgency now tinged her voice. "Strange unfathomable things. Many of theother pilots who've come back have not been right. I think it hassomething to do with their having been outside of normal space--"
He stared at her. "I just now realize you're trying to tell mesomething."
"Lance, I happened to overhear Dad telling Mother something one night.Apparently, he'd been rolling and tossing in bed, couldn't sleep. AndMother's looked after him so long, she just had to know what was wrong.They went downstairs and she poured him a stiff drink. Then in return,Dad poured out his troubled soul to her. And Lance--"
"Yes, Carolyn?"
"The most probable reason why some hype-pilots never quite make it backto our world is that the men involved--"
"The men? You mean, the pilots?"
"No, the brass. They haven't told the pilots about the fissioning ofanything that gets into hyperspace--"
Carolyn's breath gave out in a sudden gasp. Her eyes moved away alarmed,and Lance's own glance turned simultaneously. He saw Colonel "Hard-Head"Sagen and two other officers coming across the area.
Time had run out on them.
"Carolyn," Lance said, hurriedly. "I've gabbed with quite a few vets ofhyperspace. At the Club and in my training, both. Sure, a man feels likehe's been crammed into a concrete mixer when he's burning up light-yearsin a hyper ship. But after a while, I'm told, even your brains get usedto being bounced around." Lance took the girl's hands and squeezed thembetween his. "So let's not worry, huh?"
Carolyn started to say something in rebuttal, but her father and hisaides were already upon them.
Colonel Sagen was a tall thin man of erect military carriage. Hisfeatures were crisscrossed with radiation scars and his voice boomed outlike a military drum. Yet when one got to know him, he wasn't so gruff.On the base, he commanded two thousand military personnel and half thatmany scientists and techs: a tough job, and one that he was giving hisbest.
After returning Major Lance Cooper's brisk salute, the colonel unbentand gave his prospective son-in-law a hardy handshake.
"Lance, I hope you'll be able to keep more of a rein on this littlespace-filly of mine, than I've been able to. She was determined to seeyou off."
"I was glad to see her, colonel."
The colonel smiled. "Can't think of a man on this base I'd rather turnCarolyn over to."
"Thank you, sir," said Lance.
"Been counting the minutes to take-off, I suppose?"
"He's hardly had a chance to, Dad," Carolyn broke in. "What with me inhis hair!"
One of the colonel's aides glanced at his watch, then opened up a briefcase and took out a sealed envelope. The colonel relieved him of it andhanded it to Lance.
"Your flight orders, Lance. Got the preset tapes installed and checked?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well, you should know your onions now, if you're ever going to. Best ofluck, son."
"Thank you, colonel."
Lance turned. "Good-by, Carolyn. Just four weeks now, like I said."
"I'll be waiting."
"First jump's always the hardest, I hear," spoke up the second
aide,cheerily. Like a great many other execs, the officer boasted no activespace rating, though he did wear the winged moons of an observer.
But Lance and Carolyn were again quite busy, and did not hear.
* * * * *
Inside the shell of the _Cosmos XII_, Lance, sitting flat on his backagainst gravity, looked up at the sweep hands on the
