of course not. But I’m too scared to concentrate.’
‘Being scared makes me talk a lot and get very cheerful.’
‘Lyle’s syndrome. Lucky you!’
‘Where was I?’
‘You’d got on their winters. Shorter than ours, you said.’
‘Ah yes. Otherwise their climate promises to be very similar to our own. What you said earlier on may well be a possibility.’
‘That we might have a choice which planet to settle on?’
Koenig said, ‘I wouldn’t put any money on that.’ His tone had them both looking at him. He said, ‘Only look at that!’
The giant spacer had crossed the horizon. One thing was clear, even if the Eagles had got themselves off the ground, they would have been useless against it. Watching it, Koenig said, ‘It seems to be slowing.’
Bergman asked, ‘Do you think they aim to land?’
‘Could be.’
Koenig called Morrow, ‘Paul, do we have any communications systems working yet?’
‘Not a thing, Commander.’
‘Computer?’
Kano answered for his dumb beast, ‘Malfunction, Commander.’
The monitor screens and the main scanner were still snowed over with static.
He tried Sandra Benes, ‘Any change on the defence fields?’
‘All negative, Commander.’
Koenig balled a fist and thumped the bulkhead. ‘Paul, keep trying the Eagles.’
‘Check, Commander.’
They heard Morrow doing his best, ‘Come in Eagle One. Come in Eagle One.’
There was no reply and no move from the launch pads. In the command module of Eagle One, Carter was calling on his own account, ‘Eagle One to Base. Eagle One to Base. Do you read me? Paul, can’t you get us off the deck? What’s going on?’
Satazius herself answered him, crossing his line of vision and causing him to come near twisting his head off as he followed her with disbelieving eyes. She was the biggest moving object he had ever seen. His ‘Holy cow!’ was an amalgam of awe and astonishment. In utter amazement, he watched the spacer decelerate, hover over the moon’s surface, dwarfing the installations of Moonbase Alpha and then slowly sink down to a planetfall some two kilometres outside the complex perimeter.
Personnel in Main Mission were inexorably drawn to the direct vision ports, first Morrow, then Sandra, then the rest. They lined the windows watching the billowing clouds of moondust stir around the cliff-like sides of the monster.
The engines of the spacer cut out. Dust slowly settled. Except for the crackle of static, there was silence all round. Helena looked at Koenig, saw the tight line of his jaw and knew what he must be feeling. There was no light from the visitor. Nothing moved. It gave no sign of life; vast as a hill, it projected silence and menace.
Then forward towards the cone, there was a slight stir of movement and Koenig whipped up his binoculars for a closer look. Two hatch covers had slid open and massive extensor arms each carrying parabolic reflectors were edging out. From being a dead lump, the monster had developed a pair of giant eyes.
Midships, a whole area was on the move revealing a cavernous pit. Slowly, the dark gap filled with sliding structures and an enormous multi-barrelled weapon system jacked itself out of the belly of the ship. Out and clear of the superstructure, it began to turn on its axis until it was lined up in the direction of Moonbase Alpha. Mechanical arms working from moving gantries made refined adjustments to the trim.
The watchers backed slowly away from the windows. Only Koenig remained looking down the cavernous throats of the gun. It was unbelievable. It was an overkill of force, a sledgehammer to crack a nut. But command had its duties. Any order was better than no order. He rapped out, ‘Down! Everybody down! Where you are. Now! Prepare for nuclear blast.’
It triggered a flurry of action. As he dived down himself, close to Helena, he saw the others moving to it, lying with bodies slightly off the floor on toes and elbows. Bergman was still as a plastic gnome.
‘Being scared makes me talk a lot and get very cheerful.’
‘Lyle’s syndrome. Lucky you!’
‘Where was I?’
‘You’d got on their winters. Shorter than ours, you said.’
‘Ah yes. Otherwise their climate promises to be very similar to our own. What you said earlier on may well be a possibility.’
‘That we might have a choice which planet to settle on?’
Koenig said, ‘I wouldn’t put any money on that.’ His tone had them both looking at him. He said, ‘Only look at that!’
The giant spacer had crossed the horizon. One thing was clear, even if the Eagles had got themselves off the ground, they would have been useless against it. Watching it, Koenig said, ‘It seems to be slowing.’
Bergman asked, ‘Do you think they aim to land?’
‘Could be.’
Koenig called Morrow, ‘Paul, do we have any communications systems working yet?’
‘Not a thing, Commander.’
‘Computer?’
Kano answered for his dumb beast, ‘Malfunction, Commander.’
The monitor screens and the main scanner were still snowed over with static.
He tried Sandra Benes, ‘Any change on the defence fields?’
‘All negative, Commander.’
Koenig balled a fist and thumped the bulkhead. ‘Paul, keep trying the Eagles.’
‘Check, Commander.’
They heard Morrow doing his best, ‘Come in Eagle One. Come in Eagle One.’
There was no reply and no move from the launch pads. In the command module of Eagle One, Carter was calling on his own account, ‘Eagle One to Base. Eagle One to Base. Do you read me? Paul, can’t you get us off the deck? What’s going on?’
Satazius herself answered him, crossing his line of vision and causing him to come near twisting his head off as he followed her with disbelieving eyes. She was the biggest moving object he had ever seen. His ‘Holy cow!’ was an amalgam of awe and astonishment. In utter amazement, he watched the spacer decelerate, hover over the moon’s surface, dwarfing the installations of Moonbase Alpha and then slowly sink down to a planetfall some two kilometres outside the complex perimeter.
Personnel in Main Mission were inexorably drawn to the direct vision ports, first Morrow, then Sandra, then the rest. They lined the windows watching the billowing clouds of moondust stir around the cliff-like sides of the monster.
The engines of the spacer cut out. Dust slowly settled. Except for the crackle of static, there was silence all round. Helena looked at Koenig, saw the tight line of his jaw and knew what he must be feeling. There was no light from the visitor. Nothing moved. It gave no sign of life; vast as a hill, it projected silence and menace.
Then forward towards the cone, there was a slight stir of movement and Koenig whipped up his binoculars for a closer look. Two hatch covers had slid open and massive extensor arms each carrying parabolic reflectors were edging out. From being a dead lump, the monster had developed a pair of giant eyes.
Midships, a whole area was on the move revealing a cavernous pit. Slowly, the dark gap filled with sliding structures and an enormous multi-barrelled weapon system jacked itself out of the belly of the ship. Out and clear of the superstructure, it began to turn on its axis until it was lined up in the direction of Moonbase Alpha. Mechanical arms working from moving gantries made refined adjustments to the trim.
The watchers backed slowly away from the windows. Only Koenig remained looking down the cavernous throats of the gun. It was unbelievable. It was an overkill of force, a sledgehammer to crack a nut. But command had its duties. Any order was better than no order. He rapped out, ‘Down! Everybody down! Where you are. Now! Prepare for nuclear blast.’
It triggered a flurry of action. As he dived down himself, close to Helena, he saw the others moving to it, lying with bodies slightly off the floor on toes and elbows. Bergman was still as a plastic gnome.
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