Corley waited to hand his wife into the car. Barnes climbed onto the elevator and, as Corley reached it, pulled him aboard. “Barney! UP!”
Cables creaked and groaned; the platform crawled upward. As Mrs. Corley’s car approached the gate the other car started — in. Both cars stopped, then th& strange car bulled on throUgh. It ‘gunned in second toward the crane and slammed to a stop; a man swarmed out.
He ran to the elevator, the platform was thirty feet above his head. He waved and shouted. “Barnes! Come down here!”
Barnes shouted back, “Can’t hear you! Too much racket!”
“Stop the elevator! I’ve got a court order!”
The driver of the car )umped out and ran toward the crane control station. Barnes watched, unable to stop whatever was to come.
Barney reached behind him and grabbed a wrench; the driver stopped short. “Good boy!” Barnes breathed.
The elevator reached the airlock door; Barnes nudged Corley. “In you go!” He followed Corley, turned and lifted the gangway off the lip of the door, shoved it clear with his foot. “Barney! Get going!”‘
The crane operator glanced up and shifted his controls.’The crane quivered, then very slowly crawled back from the ship, cleared it, and continued.
It backed still farther, lurched out of plumb, and trembled. Its drive motor squealed and stopped. Barney slid out of his saddle and loped away toward the gate.
IV
Time checks had been completed with Muroc, with White Sands and with their blockhouse. The control room was quiet save for the sighing of’air-replenishing equipment, the low hum of radio circuits, and stray sounds of-auxiliary machinery. The clocks at each station read 3:29 — twenty-four minutes to H-hour. —
The four were at their stations; two upper bunks were occupied by pilot and co-pilot; the lowers by power engineer and electronics engineer. Across the lap of each man arched a control console; his arms were supported so that his fingers were free to handle his switches without lifting any part of his body against the terrible weight to come. His head was supported so that he might see his instruments.
Traub lifted his head and peered out one of the two large quartz ports. “It’s clouding up. ‘1 can’t see the — ~ Moon.”
Barnes answered, “Out where we’re going there won’t be any clouds.”
“No clouds?”
“What do you expect, out in space?”
“Uh, I don’t know. I guess I got most of my ideas about space travel from — Buck Rogers. Electronics is my game.” “Twenty-three minutes,” announced Bowles. “Skipper, what’s the name Of this bucket?”
“Huh?”
“When you launch a ship you have to name her.”
“Eh, I suppose so. Doc, what do you say? She’s your baby.”
“Me? I’ve never thought about it.”
“How,” Bowles went on, “about calling her the Luna?”
Corley considered. “Suits me, if it suits the rest of you.”
“The space ship Luna, ” agreed Barnes. “Sounds good.”
Traub chuckled nervously. “That makes us ‘the Lunatics.'”
“And why not?” agreed Barnes.
“Twenty minutes,” announced Bowles.
“Warm her up, Doc. Check-off lists, everybody.”
“She’s hot now,” Corley answered. “If I increase the fission rate, I’ll have to give her something to chew. Jim, I’ve been thinking. We could still test her.”
“Huh?”
“Set her for a half-g lift, and clear her throat once I’ve got her set for that.”
“What’s the point? She’ either works, or she blows up.”
“Okay,” Corley answered.
Traub gulped. “Could she blow up?”
“Don’t worry,” Cqrley reassured him. “The scale model ran an hour and twenty-three minutes before it blew up.”
“Oh. Is that good?”~ —
“Mannie,” Barnes ordered. “Switch on ‘Ground PickUp.’ We might as well watch.”
“Yes, sir.” Above them was a large TV screen. Traub could hook it in to a scanner in the tail, another in the nose, or-as now-pick up an ordinary video channel. The screen lighted up; they saw their own ship, lonely and tall in the floodlights.
An announcer’s voice came with the picture: ” — this ship, the mightiest ever built, will soon plunge into outer space. Its flight was unannounced until tonight, its destination has not been revealed. Is this — ”
The broadcast was interrupted by Herb Styles. “Mr. Barnes! Boss!”