Barnes did so and shrugged. “Looks like a slightly fat zero.”
“A few seconds of margin at most You could waste it on the transitions in a Type B landing.”
“Now the second bonus, Doe,” Barnes said slowly. “The Type B gives you a chance to change your mind after you get into a circular orbit; the straight-in job commits you beyond any help.”
Corley looked shocked. “Jim, you mean go back to Earth without landing?”
Barnes lowered his voice. “Wait, Doc. I’d land on the Moon if I had enough in tanks to get down-and not worry about getting up again. I’m a bachelor. But there’s Mannie Traub. No getting around it; we stampeded him. Now it turns out he has a slew of kids, waiting for poppa to come borne. It makes a difference.”
Corley pulled at his scalp lock. “He should have told us.”
“If he had, we wouldn’t have taken off.”
“Confound it, things would have been all right if I hadn’t suggested that you test the engine.”
“Nonsense! If I hadn’t scared those babies off with a blast, they probably would have wrecked the ship.”
“You can’t be sure.”
“A man can’t be sure of anything. How about Traub?”
“You’re right-I, suppose. Okay, we leave it up to Traub.”
From the other end of the compartment Traub looked around from his chess game with Bowles.
“Somebody call me?”
“Yes,” Barnes agreed. “Both of you. We’ve got things to decide.”
Barnes outlined the situation. “Now,” he said, “Doe and I agree that, after we get into a circular orbit and have had time to add up what’s left, Mannie should decide whether we land, or just swing around and blast for home.”
Bowles looked amazed, but said nothing.
Traub looked flustered. “Me? It ain’t my business to decide. I’m the electronics department.”
“Because,” Barnes stated, “you’re the only one with kids.”
“Yes, but — Look here-is there really a chance that, if we landed, we wouldn’t be able to get back?”
“Possible,” Barnes answered and Corley nodded.
“But don’t you know?”
“Look, Mannie,” Barnes countered, “we’ve got water in the tanks to land, take off, and return to Earth-but none for mistakes.”
“Yes, but you won’t make any mistakes, will you?”
“I can’t promise. I’ve already made one and it’s brought us — to this situation.”
Traub’s features worked in agonized indecision. “But it’s not my business to decide!”
Bowles spoke up suddenly. “You’re right; it’s not!” He went on, “Gentlemen, I didn’t intend to speak, because it never crossed my mind that we might not land. But now the situation demands it. As you know, I received a coded message.
“The gist was this; our trip has caused grave international repercussions. The Security Council has been in ‘constant session, with the U.S.S.R. demanding that the Moon be declared joint property of the United Nations — ”
“As it should be,” Corley interrupted.
“You don’t see the point, Doctor. Their only purpose is to forestall us claiming the Moon-we, who actually are making the trip. To forestall us, you understand, so ‘that the United States will not be able to found a base on the Moon without permission-permission that is certain~to be vetoed.”
“But,” pointed out Corley, “it works both ways. We would veto Russia establishing a base on the Moon.
Admiral, I’ve worked with you because it was a way to get on with my life’s ambition, but, to be frank, using the Moon as a rocket launching base-by anybody-sticks in my craw.”
Bôwles turned red. “Doctor, this is not an attempt to insure the neutrality of the Moon; this is the same double-talk they used to stop world control of atomics. The commissars simply want to tie us up in legalisms until they have time to get to the Moon. We’ll wake up one morning to find Russia with a base on the Moon and us with none-and World War Three will be over before it starts.”
“But-Admiral, you can’t know that.”
Bowles turned to Barnes. “Tell him, Jim.”
Barnes gestured impatiently. “Come out of your ivory tower, Doe. Space travel is here now-we did it. There is bound to be a rocket base on the Moon. Sure, it ought to be a United Nations base, keeping the peace of the world. But the, United Nations has been helpless from scratch. The first base is going to belong to us-or to Russia. Which one-do you trust not to misuse the power? Us-or the Politburo?”