case-hardened,
shell-snatching Scavengers would take time to feel that sort of emotion. But
they did. And they were proud.
Two men and a half-buried ship slid up the moving horizon as
he walked.
He called crisply, "Hello, there!"
Rioz answered, "That you, Ted?"
"You bet. Is that Dick with you?"
"Sure. Come on, sit down. We were just getting ready to
ice in and we were looking for an excuse to delay."
"I'm not," said Swenson promptly. "When will
we be leaving, Ted?"
"As soon as we get through. That's no answer, is
it?"
Swenson said dispiritedly, "I suppose there isn't any
other answer."
Long looked up, staring at the irregular bright splotch in
the sky.
Rioz followed his glance. "What's the matter?"
For a moment, Long did not reply. The sky was black
otherwise and the ring fragments were an orange dust against it. Saturn was
more than three fourths below the horizon and the rings were going with it.
Half a mile away a ship bounded past the icy rim of the planetoid into the sky,
was orange-lit by Saturn-light, and sank down again.
The ground trembled gently.
Rioz said, "Something bothering you about the
Shadow?"
They called it that. It was the nearest fragment of the
rings, quite close considering that they were at the outer rim of the rings,
where the pieces spread themselves relatively thin. It was perhaps twenty miles
off, a jagged mountain, its shape clearly visible.
"How does it look to you?" asked Long.
Rioz shrugged. "Okay, I guess. I don't see anything
wrong."
"Doesn't it seem to be getting larger?"
"Why should it?"
"Well, doesn't it?" Long insisted.
Rioz and Swenson stared at it thoughtfully.
"It does look bigger," said Swenson.
"You're just putting the notion into our minds," Rioz
argued. "If it were getting bigger, it would be coming closer."
"What's impossible about that?"
"These things are on stable orbits."
"They were when we came here," said Long.
"There, did you feel that?"
The ground had trembled again.
Long said, "We've been blasting this thing for a week
now. First, twenty-five ships landed on it, which changed its momentum right
there. Not much, of course. Then we've been melting parts of it away and our
ships have been blasting in and out of it—all at one end, too. In a week, we
may have changed its orbit just a bit. The two fragments, this one and the
Shadow, might be converging."
"It's got plenty of room to miss us in." Rioz
watched it thoughtfully. "Besides, if we can't even tell for sure that
it's getting bigger, how quickly can it be moving? Relative to us, I
mean."
"It doesn't have to be moving quickly. Its momentum is
as large as ours, so that, however gently it hits, we'll be nudged completely
out of our orbit, maybe in toward Saturn, where we don't want to go. As a
matter of fact, ice has a very low tensile strength, so that both planetoids
might break up into gravel."
Swenson rose to his feet. "Damn it, if I can tell how a
shell is moving a thousand miles away, I can tell what a mountain is doing
twenty miles away." He turned toward the ship.
Long didn't stop him.
Rioz said, "There's a nervous guy."
The neighboring planetoid rose to zenith, passed overhead,
began sinking. Twenty minutes later, the horizon opposite that portion behind
which Saturn had disappeared burst into orange flame as its bulk began lifting
again.
Rioz called into his radio, "Hey Dick, are you dead in
there?"
"I'm checking," came the muffled response.
"Is it moving?" asked Long.
"Yes."
"Toward us?"
There was a pause. Swenson's voice was a sick one. "On
the nose, Ted. Intersection of orbits will take place in three days."
"You're crazy!" yelled Rioz.
"I checked four times," said Swenson.
Long thought blankly, What do we do now?
9
Some of the men were having trouble with the cables. They
had to be laid precisely; their geometry had to be very nearly perfect for the
magnetic field to attain maximum strength. In space, or even in air, it
wouldn't have mattered. The cables would have
shell-snatching Scavengers would take time to feel that sort of emotion. But
they did. And they were proud.
Two men and a half-buried ship slid up the moving horizon as
he walked.
He called crisply, "Hello, there!"
Rioz answered, "That you, Ted?"
"You bet. Is that Dick with you?"
"Sure. Come on, sit down. We were just getting ready to
ice in and we were looking for an excuse to delay."
"I'm not," said Swenson promptly. "When will
we be leaving, Ted?"
"As soon as we get through. That's no answer, is
it?"
Swenson said dispiritedly, "I suppose there isn't any
other answer."
Long looked up, staring at the irregular bright splotch in
the sky.
Rioz followed his glance. "What's the matter?"
For a moment, Long did not reply. The sky was black
otherwise and the ring fragments were an orange dust against it. Saturn was
more than three fourths below the horizon and the rings were going with it.
Half a mile away a ship bounded past the icy rim of the planetoid into the sky,
was orange-lit by Saturn-light, and sank down again.
The ground trembled gently.
Rioz said, "Something bothering you about the
Shadow?"
They called it that. It was the nearest fragment of the
rings, quite close considering that they were at the outer rim of the rings,
where the pieces spread themselves relatively thin. It was perhaps twenty miles
off, a jagged mountain, its shape clearly visible.
"How does it look to you?" asked Long.
Rioz shrugged. "Okay, I guess. I don't see anything
wrong."
"Doesn't it seem to be getting larger?"
"Why should it?"
"Well, doesn't it?" Long insisted.
Rioz and Swenson stared at it thoughtfully.
"It does look bigger," said Swenson.
"You're just putting the notion into our minds," Rioz
argued. "If it were getting bigger, it would be coming closer."
"What's impossible about that?"
"These things are on stable orbits."
"They were when we came here," said Long.
"There, did you feel that?"
The ground had trembled again.
Long said, "We've been blasting this thing for a week
now. First, twenty-five ships landed on it, which changed its momentum right
there. Not much, of course. Then we've been melting parts of it away and our
ships have been blasting in and out of it—all at one end, too. In a week, we
may have changed its orbit just a bit. The two fragments, this one and the
Shadow, might be converging."
"It's got plenty of room to miss us in." Rioz
watched it thoughtfully. "Besides, if we can't even tell for sure that
it's getting bigger, how quickly can it be moving? Relative to us, I
mean."
"It doesn't have to be moving quickly. Its momentum is
as large as ours, so that, however gently it hits, we'll be nudged completely
out of our orbit, maybe in toward Saturn, where we don't want to go. As a
matter of fact, ice has a very low tensile strength, so that both planetoids
might break up into gravel."
Swenson rose to his feet. "Damn it, if I can tell how a
shell is moving a thousand miles away, I can tell what a mountain is doing
twenty miles away." He turned toward the ship.
Long didn't stop him.
Rioz said, "There's a nervous guy."
The neighboring planetoid rose to zenith, passed overhead,
began sinking. Twenty minutes later, the horizon opposite that portion behind
which Saturn had disappeared burst into orange flame as its bulk began lifting
again.
Rioz called into his radio, "Hey Dick, are you dead in
there?"
"I'm checking," came the muffled response.
"Is it moving?" asked Long.
"Yes."
"Toward us?"
There was a pause. Swenson's voice was a sick one. "On
the nose, Ted. Intersection of orbits will take place in three days."
"You're crazy!" yelled Rioz.
"I checked four times," said Swenson.
Long thought blankly, What do we do now?
9
Some of the men were having trouble with the cables. They
had to be laid precisely; their geometry had to be very nearly perfect for the
magnetic field to attain maximum strength. In space, or even in air, it
wouldn't have mattered. The cables would have
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