Blish,James – And all the Stars a Stage

rank stand-bys until they’re actually on the crew. It doesn’t go for

recruits like you and me.”

“I never thought it did,” Jorn said stiffly.

“III bet you didn’t. But just in case you did-when

48 fames Blish

we get back from the Moon, I’m going to demonstrate the principle. Then

we’ll see how long that smirk of yours lasts.”

I sort of doubt,” Jorn said, remembering the month after his own first

lunar assignment, “that you’ll find the time. But you’re welcome to try.”

“Birnl” Ailiss OKung’s voice came stingingly through the ward room

annunciator. “On the bridge-on the doublel”

Jorn took off without bothering to make any manners. His last glimpse of

Jurg Westees face was not reassuring.

Turnover bad already been completed by the time he swam his way back into

the control cabin, but the atmosphere there was anything but the usual one

of cautious relaxation preceding a low-gravity landing. On the monitoring

screen from back home was the face of Pol Kamblin, The Project’s senior

astronomer, whom Jorn had come to know slightly since astrogation had come

to be his own principal cross. He was at a loss to account for such high

level supervision of Ailiss, who was more than competent to handle much

trickier landings than this; yet Kamblin’s face looked frighteningly stern.

“Computers,” Ailiss said briefly, without looking away from the ranked data

board before her. “I want a conversion to a cisIunar ellipse with an

intersect at Salt Flats-as close as possible to one hundred per cent on

momentum. And we’d better have landing fuel left, or I swear I’ll have your