“Hullo, Number Six--Morgan here. Go ahead with your message. We can hear you.”
But no message came. Only a great surge of static, louder than before.
Again Jet called and then a third time. “It’s no good, mate,” said Lemmy. “With all that row going on, how can you expect to hear anything?”
But, to everyone’s surprise, Number Six’s voice suddenly came through, quite loud and almost perfectly clear. “Hullo, Flagship, hullo. For heaven’s sake, answer me, do you hear? Answer me!” The last two words were shouted.
“Blimey!” exclaimed Lemmy. “What’s happening to him?”
Jet ignored the question and called the freighter again. “Hullo, Number Six. We can hear you. What’s the trouble? Over.”
More static, but no further word from Peterson.
“There” said Lemmy, “he’s gone again. He seemed pretty upset, too, didn’t he?”
Jet tried once more. “Hullo, Number Six--Flagship calling. Come in please and send your message.”
This time there was a reply. Very faint, very distorted, audible and recognisable. Only now it wasn’t Peterson’s voice. It was Whitaker’s.
“Hullo, Whitaker,” said Jet. “What’s the trouble over here?”
“Hullo, Captain Morgan,” said Whitaker, slowly and deliberately, “there is no trouble. Everything is normal.”
“What do you mean, everything is normal? What was Peterson panicking about?”
“And you’re ten minutes late with your radar report,” put in Lemmy, glad to get a dig at the man he disliked so much.
“I have the radar report all ready,” said Whitaker flatly. “Are you prepared to take it?”
“No, not yet I’m not,” said Jet. “I want to speak to Peterson. Put him on.”
There was quite a long pause before Whitaker spoke again. “Radar report number nine,” he said. “Signals powerful and indicate object now less than twenty thousand miles distant.”
“He’s reading it just the same,” said Lemmy. “He didn’t hear you.”
Jet shouted this time. “I don’t want that report for the moment, do you hear? I want to speak to Peterson. Now put him on. At once.”
If Whitaker had heard Jet he gave no indication of the fact. He carried on reading the report as though he had not been interrupted for, when Jet ceased speaking, we heard him say: “End of message. Will keep listening watch and call again in ten minutes as per routine.”
“He couldn’t have heard you,” suggested Lemmy. “Otherwise he would--”
“I’m not so sure he didn’t hear me,” said Jet. “Hullo, Whitaker. I want to talk to Peterson immediately.”
Whitaker’s voice came back coldly. “He cannot talk to you. He is asleep.”
“That’s exactly what he said about Rogers, Jet, remember?” said Lemmy.
“Asleep?” asked Jet. “At a time like this?”
“I cannot wake him,” said Whitaker. “He must remain asleep. Orders must be obeyed without question at times.”
“Orders? What orders?” Jet demanded angrily. “I’ve given no orders about sleeping. Wake him up, do you hear?”
We waited for a reply, but none came.
“There’s something fishy going on over there, Jet,” said Lemmy. “Wherever that geyser is there’s trouble.”
“Even if he was answering,” said the Captain, “we’d never hear him with all that row going on.”
Any further attempt Jet might have made to get in touch with Whitaker was prevented by a cry from Mitch who asked him to go over to the televiewer immediately. Jet went over to the motor engineer and left it to Lemmy to try and re-establish contact with No 6.
Mitch wanted to report that the televiewer was hopeless. It was absolutely impossible to see anything on it. “That meteor swarm or ionised gas,” said Mitch, “is now close enough to blanket out all our electronic equipment. I don’t see that there’s any point in trying to use it anymore.”
“Yes,” said Jet wearily, “I think you’re right. It can only get worse now. It will be impossible when we get into the
But no message came. Only a great surge of static, louder than before.
Again Jet called and then a third time. “It’s no good, mate,” said Lemmy. “With all that row going on, how can you expect to hear anything?”
But, to everyone’s surprise, Number Six’s voice suddenly came through, quite loud and almost perfectly clear. “Hullo, Flagship, hullo. For heaven’s sake, answer me, do you hear? Answer me!” The last two words were shouted.
“Blimey!” exclaimed Lemmy. “What’s happening to him?”
Jet ignored the question and called the freighter again. “Hullo, Number Six. We can hear you. What’s the trouble? Over.”
More static, but no further word from Peterson.
“There” said Lemmy, “he’s gone again. He seemed pretty upset, too, didn’t he?”
Jet tried once more. “Hullo, Number Six--Flagship calling. Come in please and send your message.”
This time there was a reply. Very faint, very distorted, audible and recognisable. Only now it wasn’t Peterson’s voice. It was Whitaker’s.
“Hullo, Whitaker,” said Jet. “What’s the trouble over here?”
“Hullo, Captain Morgan,” said Whitaker, slowly and deliberately, “there is no trouble. Everything is normal.”
“What do you mean, everything is normal? What was Peterson panicking about?”
“And you’re ten minutes late with your radar report,” put in Lemmy, glad to get a dig at the man he disliked so much.
“I have the radar report all ready,” said Whitaker flatly. “Are you prepared to take it?”
“No, not yet I’m not,” said Jet. “I want to speak to Peterson. Put him on.”
There was quite a long pause before Whitaker spoke again. “Radar report number nine,” he said. “Signals powerful and indicate object now less than twenty thousand miles distant.”
“He’s reading it just the same,” said Lemmy. “He didn’t hear you.”
Jet shouted this time. “I don’t want that report for the moment, do you hear? I want to speak to Peterson. Now put him on. At once.”
If Whitaker had heard Jet he gave no indication of the fact. He carried on reading the report as though he had not been interrupted for, when Jet ceased speaking, we heard him say: “End of message. Will keep listening watch and call again in ten minutes as per routine.”
“He couldn’t have heard you,” suggested Lemmy. “Otherwise he would--”
“I’m not so sure he didn’t hear me,” said Jet. “Hullo, Whitaker. I want to talk to Peterson immediately.”
Whitaker’s voice came back coldly. “He cannot talk to you. He is asleep.”
“That’s exactly what he said about Rogers, Jet, remember?” said Lemmy.
“Asleep?” asked Jet. “At a time like this?”
“I cannot wake him,” said Whitaker. “He must remain asleep. Orders must be obeyed without question at times.”
“Orders? What orders?” Jet demanded angrily. “I’ve given no orders about sleeping. Wake him up, do you hear?”
We waited for a reply, but none came.
“There’s something fishy going on over there, Jet,” said Lemmy. “Wherever that geyser is there’s trouble.”
“Even if he was answering,” said the Captain, “we’d never hear him with all that row going on.”
Any further attempt Jet might have made to get in touch with Whitaker was prevented by a cry from Mitch who asked him to go over to the televiewer immediately. Jet went over to the motor engineer and left it to Lemmy to try and re-establish contact with No 6.
Mitch wanted to report that the televiewer was hopeless. It was absolutely impossible to see anything on it. “That meteor swarm or ionised gas,” said Mitch, “is now close enough to blanket out all our electronic equipment. I don’t see that there’s any point in trying to use it anymore.”
“Yes,” said Jet wearily, “I think you’re right. It can only get worse now. It will be impossible when we get into the
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