Free Close to Critical by Hal Clement Page B

overhead."
    "I thought you said the boosters weren't connected to the control panel yet!"
    Sakiiro was silent for a moment.
    "You're right; I'd forgotten that. That complicates the problem."
    "You mean my kid is marooned down there?"
    "Not necessarily. It's going to call for some tight maneuvering; but I should think we could rig boosters on this boat so as to be able to reach the 'scaphe when it's floating at its highest. The whole design object, remember, was for the thing to float high enough for hydroferron boosters to work; and if they'll work on one frame, they'll certainly work on another."
    "Then you can rescue her." The statement was more than half a question. Sakiiro was an honest man, but he had difficulty in making an answer. He did, however, after a moment's hesitation, staring into the face of the middle-aged man whose agonized expression showed so clearly on his screen.
    "We should be able to save them both. I will not conceal from you that it will be difficut and dangerous; transferring an engineer to the outside of the 'scaphe to finish up wiring, while the whole thing is floating like a balloon, from a rocket hanging on booster blasts, will present difficulties."
    "Why can't you transfer the kids to the rescue ship?"
    "Because I'm pretty sure their space suits won't stand the pressure at the 'scaphe's floating height," replied Sakiiro. "I don't know about Drommian designs, but I do know our own."
    "Mr. Sakiiro." Easy's voice cut back into the conversation.
    "Yes, Easy."
    "Is there anything more I can do? Just sitting here doesn't seem right, and - it scares me a little."

    Rich looked appealingly at the engineer. As a diplomat, he was an accomplished psychologist, and he knew his daughter. She was not hysterical by nature, but few twelve-year-olds had ever been put under this sort of stress. He himself was not qualified to suggest any reasonable occupation to hold her attention; but fortunately Sakiiro saw the need, too.
    "There are pressure gauges to your left," he said. "If you can give us a running report on their readings, while your friend tells us when he can first detect signs of dimming in the stars, it will be of some help. Keep it up unless you get too heavy to be able to watch easily; that may not be too long."
    Rich looked his thanks; if Aminadabarlee was doing the same, no one was able to detect the fact. For long minutes the silence was broken only by the voices of the children, reading off numbers and describing the stars. Then Easy reported that the ship was banking again.
    "All right," said Sakiiro. "That means you're about over the robot. From now until your speed is killed, you're going to have to take better than three and a half gravities. Your seat folds back on its springs automatically to put you in the best position to stand it, but you're not going to be comfortable. Your friend can undoubtedly take it all right, but warn him against moving around. The ship's traveling fast in an atmosphere, and going from one air current to another at a few thousand miles can give quite a jolt."
    "All right."
    "The stars are getting hazy." It was Aminadorneldo.
    "Thanks. Can you give me another pressure reading?"
    The girl obliged, with detectable strain in her voice. Until the last turn had started, the 'scaphe was in relatively free fall; but with its rudimentary wings biting what little there was of the atmosphere in an effort to keep it in a turn the situation was distinctly different.

    Why the vehicle didn't go into a frame-shattering series of stalls, none of the engineers could see; the turn had started at a much higher speed than had been anticipated by the designers of the machine. As it happened, the whole process was almost incredibly smooth - for a while.
    Sakiiro, with no really objective data to go on, had about concluded that the vessel was down to gliding speed and was going to describe the location of the electrolysis controls to Easy when the motion changed. A series of shuddering