are many other breaks and we have three days during which a concerted Jump is
possible, Doctor, after which the gravitational distortion effects caused by
that rapidly approaching sun will make an accurate Jump out of the question even
for single ships.
“Should we overrun the three-day deadline,” he went on grimly, “single-ship
Jumping within operational safety limits will be possible for an additional
twenty hours. During this twenty-hour period, if the coilship is not to be
abandoned to fall into the sun, it will have to be dismantled into sections
small enough to be accommodated by the hyperspheres of the units available in
the area. This, you will understand, would of necessity be a very hurried
operation and our own accident casualties as well as those of CRLTs would be
heavy?
“What I am saying, Doctor,” he ended gravely, “is that if you cannot complete
your organic link-ups within three days, tell me now so that we can begin
dismantling the coilship in a safer and more orderly fashion.”
Con way rubbed his eyes and said, “There were seventeen missing segments between
the join which we have just effected, and this makes it the most difficult job
of the lot. The remaining breaks are of two, three, or at most five segments, so
that those linking operations will be correspondingly easier. We know the drill
now and three days should be ample time, barring an unforeseen catastrophe.”
“I cannot hold you responsible for one of those, Doctor,” the Fleet Commander
said dryly. “Very well. What are your immediate intentions?”
“Right now,” Conway said firmly, “we intend to sleep.”
Dermod looked vaguely surprised, as if the very concept of sleep was one that
had become alien to him over the past few days, then he nodded grudgingly and
broke contact.
Feeling rested, alert, and much more human—and, of course, more Kelgian and
Cinrusskin—they returned to Descartes’s cargo hold to find another two CRLTs
already waiting for them and the remaining segments to be joined clamped to the
outer hull. The Fleet Commander, it was clear, was a man who believed in
maintaining the pressure.
But achieving fusion with these two was remarkably easy. Only two intervening
segments were missing so that the surgery required was minor indeed. The next
pair were more difficult, nevertheless a satisfactory link-up was achieved
within two hours and, with their growing confidence and expertise, this was to
become the average time required for the job. So well did they progress that
they became almost angry with themselves when they were forced to break for
meals or sleep.
Then suddenly they were finished and there was nothing to do but watch the
screen while the last gap in the coil was being closed and hundreds of
spacesuited figures swarmed all over it to give a final check to the sensor
actuators on each hibernation cylinder which would expel their endplates and
initiate resuscitation on landing.
With the exception of Rhabwar and one of Descartes’s planetary landers, the
great fleet of scoutships and auxiliaries withdrew to a distance of one and a
half thousand kilometers, which was far enough to relieve the traffic congestion
in the area but close enough for them to return quickly should anything go
wrong.
“I do not foresee anything going seriously wrong at this end,” the Fleet
Commander said when the coilship was in one tremendous, spiral piece. “You have
given us enough time, Doctor, to carry out all the necessary pre-Jump
calculations and calibrations. This will be a time-consuming process since our
three vessels, whose hyperspace envelopes will have to be extended to enclose
the coilship, are Jumping in concert. Should a problem arise and we are unable
to make this Jump, the units standing by will move in, dismantle the coilship as
quickly as possible, and Jump away with the pieces and salvage what we can from
this operation.
“There will be enough Monitor Corps medics on these ships to deal with the
expected casualties,” he went on, “and for this reason I would like Rhabwar to
leave at once and position itself close to the CRLTs new target planet. If
trouble develops it is much more likely to be at that end.”