The engineer grinned. "Never happened, but they're ready for things
like that with any gravital system. They got monitor stations all
over--the moons of Jupiter, Mars, Earth, Venus.
"Any time the gravital computer gets dizzy, the monitor overrides it.
If that fails, they send a jammer impulse and freeze it up tight. It
won't work until they let loose."
Cameron sighed. He was getting very little help or information from
Vogel. "All right," he said. "You've told me what I wanted to know."
He watched the engineer depart for the gravity-generating chamber far
below the surface of the asteroid.
* * * * *
The post on Handicap Haven wasn't pleasant; it wasn't an experience a
normal human would desire. It did have advantages--advancement came in
sizes directly proportional to the disagreeableness of the place.
Ten months to go on a year's assignment. If Cameron could survive that
period with nothing to mar his administration, he was in line for
better positions. A suicide or any other kind of unpleasantness that
would focus the attention of the outside world on the forgotten
asteroid was definitely unwelcome.
He flipped on the telecom. "Rocket dome. Get me the pilot."
When the robot finally answered, it wasn't encouraging. "I'm sorry.
There is no answer."
"Then trace him," he snapped. "If he's not in the rocket dome, he's in
the main dome. I want you to get him at once."
A few seconds of silence followed. "There is no record of the pilot
leaving the rocket dome."
His heart skipped; with an effort he spoke carefully. "Scan the whole
area. Understand? You've got to find him."
"Scanning is not possible. The system is out of operation in that
area."
"All right," he said, starting to shake. "Send out repair robots."
They were efficient in the sense they always did the work they were
set to do, but not in terms of speed.
"The robots were dispatched as soon as scanning failed to work. Are
there any other instructions?"
He thought about that. He needed help, plenty of it. Vogel? He'd be
ready and willing, but that would leave the gravity-generating setup
unprotected. Better do without him.
Who else? The sour old nurse who'd signed up because she wanted quick
credits toward retirement? Or the sweet young thing who had bravely
volunteered because someone ought to help those poor unfortunate men?
Not the women, of course. She had a bad habit of fainting when she saw
blood. Probably that was why she couldn't get a position in a regular
planetary hospital.
That was all, except the robots, who weren't much help in a case like
this. That and the rocket pilot. For some reason he wasn't available.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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