Science fiction; Short stories; Space flight to Mars -- Fiction
The doctor was there--or at least a man in a spacesuit was. But
somebody had been in a hurry for volunteers, and given the man no
basic training at all. The figure would pull itself erect, make a few
strides that were all bounce and no progress, and then slide down into
the pumice. Moon-walking was tricky until you learned how.
Bill sighed, scratching unconsciously, and made his way somehow out to
his suit, climbing into it. He paused for a final good scratch, and
then the grapples took over. This time, he stumbled also as he made his
way across the powdery rubble. But the other man was making no real
progress at all.
Bill reached him, and touched helmets long enough to issue simple
instructions through metal sound conduction. Then he managed to guide
the other's steps; there had been accounts of the days of learning
spent by the first men on the Moon, but it wasn't that bad with an
instructor to help. The doctor picked up as they went along. Bill's
legs were buckling under him by then, and the itches were past
endurance. At the end, the doctor was helping him. But somehow they
made the ship, and were getting out of the suits--Bill first, then the
doctor, using the grapples under Bill's guidance.
The doctor was young, and obviously scared, but fighting his fear. He'd
been picked for his smallness to lighten the load on the chemical
rocket, and his little face was intent. But he managed a weak grin.
"Thanks, Adams. I'm Doctor Ames--Ted to you. Get onto that cot. You're
about out on your feet."
The test he made didn't take long, but his head was shaking at the
conclusion.
"Your symptoms make no sense," he summarized. "I've got a feeling some
are due to one thing, some to another. Maybe we'll have to wait until I
come down with it and compare notes."
His grin was wry, but Bill was vaguely glad that he wasn't trying
any bedside manner. There wasn't much use in thanking the man for
volunteering--Ames had known what he was up against, and he might be
scared, but his courage was above thanks.
"What about the maps?" Bill asked. "They tell you?"
"They've left cutters outside. I started to bring them. Then the pumice
got me--I couldn't stand upright in it. They'll pick up the maps later,
but they're important. The competing ships will claim our territory if
we don't file first."
He knocked the dust off his instrument, and wiped his hands. Bill
looked down at the bed to see a fine film of Moon silt there. They'd
been bringing in too much on the suits--it was too fine, and the traps
weren't getting it fast enough.
He got up shakily, moving toward the dust trap that had been running
steadily. But now it was out of order, obviously, with the fur brushes
worn down until they could generate almost no static against the rod.
He groped into the supplies, hoping there would be replacements.
Ames caught his arm. "Cut it out, Adams. You're in no shape for this.
Hey, how long since you've eaten?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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