Ponte threw one of the spheres as hard as he could. It seemed to curve away from Leoh.
“The Coriolis force,” said Leoh, in a slightly lecturing tone, “is a natural phenomenon on rotating systems. It’s what makes the winds curve across a planet’s rotating surface.”
The second sphere whistled by, no closer than the first.
“I should also warn you that this platform is made of alternate sections of magnetic and nonmagnetic materials.” Leoh gestured toward the mosaic-colored floor. “Your shoes have metal in them. If you remain on the magnetized sections, the red ones, you should be able to move about without too much difficulty.”
He touched the control box again and the turntable speeded up considerably. The room seemed to whirl wildly around them now. Leoh hunched down and leaned inward.
“Of course,” he went on, “at the speed we’re going now, if you should step onto a nonmagnetized section….”
Ponte started doggedly across the turntable, heading for Leoh, his eyes on the colored flooring. Leoh stepped carefully away from him, keeping as much distance between them as possible. Ponte was moving faster now, trying to keep one eye on Leoh and one on his feet. He stopped abruptly, started to move directly toward Leoh, cutting in toward the center of the turntable.
“Be careful!”
Ponte’s feet supped out from under him. He fell painfully on his back, siddded across the turntable out to the dge, and shot across the floor to slam feet first into a big metal block,
“My leg …” He groaned. “My leg is broken….”