Life on other planets -- Fiction; Quarantine -- Fiction; Science fiction; Space medicine -- Fiction
By this time the first man was chafing to take a second turn. Calhoun
gave each of them a second gruelling lesson. He gave them, in fact, a
highly condensed but very sound course in the art of travel in space.
His young students took command in four-hour watches, with at least
one breakout from overdrive in each watch.
He built up enthusiasm in them. They ignored the discomfort of being
hungry--though there had been no reason for them to stint on food on
Orede--in growing pride in what they came to know.
When Weald was a first-magnitude star, the four were not highly
qualified astrogators, to be sure, but they were vastly better
spacemen than at the beginning. Inevitably, their attitude toward
Calhoun was respectful. He'd been irritable and right. To the young,
the combination is impressive.
Maril had served as passenger only. In theory she was to compare
Calhoun's lessons with his practise when alone. But he did nothing on
this journey which, teaching considered, was different from the two
interstellar journeys Maril had made with him.
She occupied the sleeping cabin during two of the six watches of each
ship-day. She operated the food-readier, which was almost completely
emptied of its original store of food, it having been confiscated by
the government of Dara. That amount of food would make no difference
to the planet, but it was wise for everyone on Dara to be equally
ill-fed.
On the sixth day out from Dara, the sun of Weald had a magnitude of
minus five-tenths. The electron telescope could detect its larger
planets, especially a gas-giant fifth-orbit world of high albedo.
Calhoun had his four students estimate its distance again, pointing
out the difference that could be made in breakout position if the Med
Ship were mis-aimed by as much as one second of arc.
"And now," he said briskly, "we'll have coffee. I'm going to graduate
you as pilots. Maril, four cups of coffee, please."
Murgatroyd said "_Chee?_" The Med Ship was badly crowded with six
humans and Murgatroyd in a space intended for Calhoun and Murgatroyd
alone. The little _tormal_ had spent most of his time in his
cubbyhole, watching with beady eyes as so many people moved about on
what had been a spacious ship before.
"No coffee for you, Murgatroyd," said Calhoun. "You didn't do your
lessons. This is for the graduating class only."
Murgatroyd came out of his miniature den. He found his little cup and
offered it insistently, saying, "_Chee! Chee! Chee!_"
"No!" said Calhoun firmly. He regarded his class of four young men
with their blueskin markings. "Drink it down!" he commanded. "That's
the last order I'll give you. You're graduate pilots, now!"
They drank the coffee with a flourish. There was not one who did not
admire Calhoun for having made them admire themselves. They were,
actually, almost as much better pilots as they believed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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