_They'll find it, all right_, Tolliver reminded himself. _Don't be here
when they do!_
He grabbed Betty by the wrist of her spacesuit and headed for the
nearest outcropping of rock.
It promptly developed that she had something to learn about running on
ice in such low gravity. Until they were out of direct line of sight
from the settlement, Tolliver simply dragged her.
Then, when he decided that it was safe enough to pause and tell her
how to manage better, the sight of her outraged scowl through the
face-plate made him think better of it.
_By the time we reach the ship, she'll have learned_, he consoled
himself.
* * * * *
It was a long mile, even at the pace human muscles could achieve on
Ganymede. They took one short rest, during which Tolliver was forced
to explain away the dangers of slides and volcanic puffballs. He
admitted to having exaggerated slightly. In the end, they reached the
spaceship.
There seemed to be no one about. The landing dome had been collapsed
and stored, and the ship's airlock port was closed.
"That's all right," Tolliver told the girl. "We can get in with no
trouble."
It was when he looked about to make sure that they were unobserved that
he caught a glimpse of motion back toward the city. He peered at the
spot through the dim light. After a moment, he definitely recognized
the outline of a tractor breasting a rise in the ground and tilting
downward again.
"In fact, we _have_ to get in to stay out of trouble," he said to Betty.
He located the switch-cover in the hull, opened it and activated the
mechanism that swung open the airlock and extended the ladder.
It took him considerable scrambling to boost the girl up the ladder and
inside, but he managed. They passed through the airlock, fretting at
the time required to seal, pump air and open the inner hatch; and then
Tolliver led the way up another ladder to the control room. It was a
clumsy trip in their spacesuits, but he wanted to save time.
In the control room, he shoved the girl into an acceleration seat,
glanced at the gauges and showed her how to open her helmet.
"Leave the suit on," he ordered, getting in the first word while she
was still shaking her head. "It will help a little on the takeoff."
"Takeoff!" shrilled Betty. "What do you think you're going to do? I
just want to use the radio or TV!"
"That tractor will get here in a minute or two. They might cut your
conversation kind of short. Now shut up and let me look over these
dials!"
He ran a practiced eye over the board, reading the condition of the
ship. It pleased him. Everything was ready for a takeoff into an
economy orbit for Earth. He busied himself making a few adjustments,
doing his best to ignore the protests from his partner in crime. He
warned her the trip might be long.
"I told you not to come," he said at last. "Now sit back!"
He sat down and pushed a button to start the igniting process.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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