Mitch.
“Whitaker, of course,” said Lemmy. “Who else?”
“Then he must have got ahead of us,” I said.
“But what could he gain from that?” asked Jet.
“He’s got one of our ships, hasn’t he?” said Lemmy.
“But he can’t go anywhere in it. Even if he went on to Mars he couldn’t land her--she’s not built for it.”
“And if he just keeps going,” said Mitch, “he’ll eventually cover a full orbit and in a couple of years he’ll be back where we all started from--on the Moon.”
“And we’ll be there waiting for him,” concluded Jet. “There’d be no point in that, either.”
“He must be raving mad,” said Lemmy decisively.
“No, there must be some other reason behind it,” said Jet, “something much deeper and stranger than we can comprehend. Something to do with his being born in 1893, maybe.”
“You don’t really believe that, do you?” asked Mitch.
“I’m beginning to believe almost anything so far as Whitaker is concerned,” replied Jet. “The way he behaved the whole time he was with the expedition and the uncanny effect he had on the crew members of the ships he was in-- all of it must add up to something.”
“What?” I asked him.
“I wish I knew, Doc. If I did we might have some idea of what to expect next. Lemmy,” he said suddenly, “get me Frank Rogers of Number Two on the ship-to-ship system.”
“Rogers, Jet?” I asked. “What for?”
“He spent more time with Whitaker than anybody. Maybe he can throw some light on this business.”
Chapter Seven
When Rogers came through the airlock that led into the cabin of the Discovery, he seemed very pleased at being asked over, which was understandable as, like nearly all the freighter crews, he had not left his tiny little cabin since takeoff from the Moon.
However, apart from complaining yet again of Whitaker’s strange manner and his persistent, almost sullen silence, Frank could tell us very little, although he did say that the construction engineer had seemed to take a quite remarkable interest in anything that came through on the radio, and added: “He was always asking if he could take my radio watch.” “Did you let him?”
“No, of course not; it’s against regulations, except in an emergency. Besides, I thought it rather an odd request from a fellow who was always telling me that ‘orders must be obeyed without question at all times’.”
“Seems to be his favourite phrase,” said Jet to the rest of us. “But when he did get to the radio,” he asked Frank, “was there anything odd about the way he carried on?”
“Well, I remember one occasion--I came out of the cargo hatch after a routine check and found him tuned into Control and listening to the messages being passed between this ship and base.”
“Oh? Had he been ordered to listen in on Control’s frequency?”
“No. He was supposed to be on the ship-to-ship wavelength. And the other odd thing about it was that he’d recorded everything Control had said.”
“Only Control’s transmissions, not ours?”
“That’s right, Jet.”
“You tackled him about it, of course?”
“Yes, but he said you’d called him up and asked him to keep check watch on Control as reception wasn’t too good and you didn’t want to risk not hearing anything vital.”
“Well, it is possible,” said Jet, “but we’ll check up. Can you let me have the actual date?”
“When I get back to my ship I can.”
“Good. Then that’s all, Rogers--and thank you very much. What you’ve just told me may well prove very useful.”
Half an hour after he got back to his own ship, Frank came through and gave Jet the date he had requested. At once I checked back in the log and I must admit that what I found there was no surprise to me. I told Jet and a few moments later heard him say: “Hullo, Frank--can you hear me?”
“Yes, sir.”
“We’ve looked up the log. Number Four was on check watch.”
“I thought that
“Whitaker, of course,” said Lemmy. “Who else?”
“Then he must have got ahead of us,” I said.
“But what could he gain from that?” asked Jet.
“He’s got one of our ships, hasn’t he?” said Lemmy.
“But he can’t go anywhere in it. Even if he went on to Mars he couldn’t land her--she’s not built for it.”
“And if he just keeps going,” said Mitch, “he’ll eventually cover a full orbit and in a couple of years he’ll be back where we all started from--on the Moon.”
“And we’ll be there waiting for him,” concluded Jet. “There’d be no point in that, either.”
“He must be raving mad,” said Lemmy decisively.
“No, there must be some other reason behind it,” said Jet, “something much deeper and stranger than we can comprehend. Something to do with his being born in 1893, maybe.”
“You don’t really believe that, do you?” asked Mitch.
“I’m beginning to believe almost anything so far as Whitaker is concerned,” replied Jet. “The way he behaved the whole time he was with the expedition and the uncanny effect he had on the crew members of the ships he was in-- all of it must add up to something.”
“What?” I asked him.
“I wish I knew, Doc. If I did we might have some idea of what to expect next. Lemmy,” he said suddenly, “get me Frank Rogers of Number Two on the ship-to-ship system.”
“Rogers, Jet?” I asked. “What for?”
“He spent more time with Whitaker than anybody. Maybe he can throw some light on this business.”
Chapter Seven
When Rogers came through the airlock that led into the cabin of the Discovery, he seemed very pleased at being asked over, which was understandable as, like nearly all the freighter crews, he had not left his tiny little cabin since takeoff from the Moon.
However, apart from complaining yet again of Whitaker’s strange manner and his persistent, almost sullen silence, Frank could tell us very little, although he did say that the construction engineer had seemed to take a quite remarkable interest in anything that came through on the radio, and added: “He was always asking if he could take my radio watch.” “Did you let him?”
“No, of course not; it’s against regulations, except in an emergency. Besides, I thought it rather an odd request from a fellow who was always telling me that ‘orders must be obeyed without question at all times’.”
“Seems to be his favourite phrase,” said Jet to the rest of us. “But when he did get to the radio,” he asked Frank, “was there anything odd about the way he carried on?”
“Well, I remember one occasion--I came out of the cargo hatch after a routine check and found him tuned into Control and listening to the messages being passed between this ship and base.”
“Oh? Had he been ordered to listen in on Control’s frequency?”
“No. He was supposed to be on the ship-to-ship wavelength. And the other odd thing about it was that he’d recorded everything Control had said.”
“Only Control’s transmissions, not ours?”
“That’s right, Jet.”
“You tackled him about it, of course?”
“Yes, but he said you’d called him up and asked him to keep check watch on Control as reception wasn’t too good and you didn’t want to risk not hearing anything vital.”
“Well, it is possible,” said Jet, “but we’ll check up. Can you let me have the actual date?”
“When I get back to my ship I can.”
“Good. Then that’s all, Rogers--and thank you very much. What you’ve just told me may well prove very useful.”
Half an hour after he got back to his own ship, Frank came through and gave Jet the date he had requested. At once I checked back in the log and I must admit that what I found there was no surprise to me. I told Jet and a few moments later heard him say: “Hullo, Frank--can you hear me?”
“Yes, sir.”
“We’ve looked up the log. Number Four was on check watch.”
“I thought that
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