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command ship, at that moment orbiting over two thousand miles up
over Ganymede.
"All channels positive and ready to proceed, sir," Cameron called
to Mills.
"Carry on, then, Lieutenant."
"Aye, aye, sir."
Cameron passed the order to Stracey, and out by the hull the
ponderous figures lumbered into action, swinging forward a
rockdrill supported from an overhead gantry. The group by the
window watched in silence as the bit chewed relentlessly into the
inner wall. Eventually the drill was swung back.
"Initial penetration complete," Stracey's voice informed them.
"Nothing visible inside."
An hour later, a pattern of holes adorned the exposed expanse of
metal. When lights were shone through and a TV probe in-
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serted, the screen showed snatches of a large compartment crammed
with ducts and machinery. Shortl3~ afterward, Stracey's team began
cutting out the panel with torches. Mills invited Peters and
Stanislow to come and observe the operations first-hand. The trio
left the control room, descended to the lower floor, and a few
minutes later emerged, clad in spacesuits, through the airlock onto
the tunnel floor. As they arrived at the aperture, the rectangle of
metal was just being swung aside.
The spotlights confirmed the general impression obtained via the
drill holes. When preliminary visual examinations were completed,
two sergeants who had been standing by stepped forward.
Communications lines were plugged into their backpacks and they
were handed TV cameras trailing cables, flashlights, and a pouch of
tools and accessories. At the same time, other members of the team
were smoothing over the jagged edges of the hole with pads of
adhesive plastic to prevent tearing of the lines. An extending
aluminum ladder was lowered into the hole and secured. The first
sergeant to enter turned about on the edge of the hole, carefully
located the top rung with his feet, and inch by inch disappeared
down into the chamber. When he had found a firm footing, the second
followed.
For twenty minutes they clambered through the mechanical jungle,
twisting and turning among the chaotic shadows cast by the lights
pouring in through the hole above. Progress was slow; they had
difficulty finding level surfaces to move on, since the ship
appeared to be lying on its side. But foot by foot, the lines
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continued to snake spor~dically down into the darkness. Eventually
the sergeants stopped before the noseward bulkhead of the
compartment. The screens outside showed their way barred by a door
leading through to whatever lay forward; it was made of a
steely-gray metal and looked solid. It was also about ten feet high
by four wide. A long conference produced the decision that there
was no alternative but for them to return to where the hole had
been cut to collect drills, torches, and all the other gadgetry
needed to go through the whole drilling, purging, argon-filling,
and cutting routine all over again. From the look of the door, it
could be a long job. Mills, Stanislow, and Peters went back to the
control room, collected the remainder of their party, and went to
the surface installations for lunch. They returned three hours
later.
Behind the bulkhead was another machinery compartment, as
confusing as the first but larger. This one had many doors leading
from it-all closed. The two sergeants selected one at random in the
ceiling above their heads, and while they were cutting through it,
others descended into the first and second compartments to position
rollers for minimizing the drag of their trailing cables, which was
beginning to slow them down appreciably. When the door was cut, a
second team relieved the first.
They used another ladder to climb up through the door and found
themselves standing on what was supposed to be the wall of a long
corridor running toward the nose of the ship. A succession of
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closed doors, beneath their feet and over their heads, passed
across the screens outside. Over two hundred feet of cabling had
disappeared into the original entry point.
"We're just passing the fifth bulkhead since entering the
corridor," the commentary on the audio channel informed the
observers. "The walls are smooth, and appear to be metallic, but
covered with a plastic material. It's coming away in most places. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]