Astounding Science Fiction, British Edition — page 38: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

74 ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION for something better. I hope you find it, Ham, because you’re a very lonely and disillusioned man.” He got up suddenly and stepped to the porch railing. “Look, just because you’re a woman who thinks she’s got brains, don’t go around trying to impress people with your no-doubt marvelous powers of observation and deduction. When I want to be analyzed, Ill go see the head doctors. And from the way you’ve been hanging around the ship down there, don’t try to tell me you’re not lonely out here in the middle of nowhere!” “I’m sorry. Of course I get lonely. But I haven’t been lately. And, if you want to know, I don’t think I will be again.” “That’s for certain. We’re thinking of setting up a permanent emergency spaceport here. You'll have plenty of rocket men to discuss your theories _ _ with and to analyze in the light of your discoveries.” “Don’t get bitter, Ham. That’s going to upset a lot of things around here, and it’s going to destroy something I love. But ’'m not unhappy because I realize I was running away. When you’re willing to face the fact that you're running, too, you’ll be ready to join the rest of the human race—” ‘“‘And be ready then to get married and stay on the ground for the rest of my life? No, thanks! I like my work, and I'll never give it up for a ground job—for anybody!” | Rosie was silent for a minute. The singing of the cicadas and the noise of the creek were the only sounds around the ranchhouse. Finally, she said, “Y’m sorry, Stan. I’d hoped earlier that you were a good man on a team instead of the cook and the captain bold and the crew of the captain’s gig. I'd thought we could look together. I even had the notion that we might make a good team to land on Mars. But I find I fell for a little girl’s fantasy, a childish dream. I guess I wasn’t as smart as I thought I was. I guess I’m still a little girl at heart. Good night, Stan.” He started toward the door. “Rosie! Wait a minute! I never knew—” But the door was closed when he got there. In the early morning light, the long shadows of the men moved with scurrying activity around the base of the Pendray. The flimsy gantry had been dismantled, leaving only a hydraulic lift to convey Stan and Pete to the hatch high on the side of the ship. The tent city was gone, and all equip- ment had been removed to a safe distance. Far off on the flat plain stood radar stations, their parabolic antennas quivering as if in anticipation. Newsmen and television cameras had been withdrawn many miles away, but telephoto lenses brought the Pendray within arm’s reach for the television viewer. The Pendray itself dominated the landscape, being much taller than anything for miles and miles. Near the base of the ship, Colonel Hardin gave last minute instructions to the two pilots. ‘““The radars here will put you in a ballistic trajectory terminating at White Sands. Cut-off will be by radio. If trouble develops, cut it yourself and do your best; just remember that this ship can do a lot of damage if it crashes.” - _ ae THE PLAINS OF SAN AUGUSTINE 75 “Check!” Stan acknowledged, pulling on his crash helmet. “We'll pick up the White Sands’ radars as soon as we can.” “I wouldn’t bet a million bucks on that special ship radar working right,” Pete put in caustically. “You already owe me a million,’ Stan remarked dryly. ‘““Want to try for two?” . “Minus twenty minutes, boys,” Hugh Fergusen reminded them. | “O.K., we’re on our way. Where’s Cortinez?” Stan asked, checking his gear for the last time. “He and his daughter are over by the command car,”’ Hardin pointed out, “An unusual request, Hamilton, but considering the codperation—” “Rosie came, too?’ Stan asked in disbelief. He hadn’t approached her since that night, and she hadn’t come out to the ship. But he could see her now standing next to her father, and he raised his arm in a gesture of hail and farewell. Rosie suddenly detached herself from the group and started to run across the intervening ground. Someone yelled after her and tried to stop her, but she came on. Breathless, she ran up to Stan and threw her arms around his neck. “‘I was a fool; I’m sorry. Come back, Ham. Come back! I need you; I want you—” she whispered in his ear and kissed him soundly. It was an effort to separate her arms from around him. ‘‘Get back where you belong, Rosie!” he told her sharply. “This is no place for you now!” Colonel Hardin took her arm; his face was stern, but his eyes were kind and there was the slightest suggestion of a smile in the corners of his mouth. “Come along, young lady. I'll accompany you. Good luck, boys!” He stuck out his hand. In the familiar confines of the Pendray’s control room, Stan and Pete ran through their last minute pre-lift checks. “Clear board, Pete?”’ “Clear board and green for lift—but TP’ll bet a million something conks out before lift.”’ “Nuts! The Penny’s in fine shape. V’ll take you up on that.” “You're on!” “Minus two minutes!”’ There was silence in the compartment for a moment before Pete spoke up. “I don’t know how you did it, old boy. I never thought you had it in you, but in three weeks you’ve got that woman eating out of your hand. That’s what I call proper utilization of time!’ Stan was concentrating on his radar presentations. He rapped back curtly in a toneless voice, “Stand by for lift. Test-Fly to Fly.” “Now, now,” Pete soothed, “did the impossible really happen? Did the indomitable Stan Hamilton, the scourge of the spaceways, finally fall for a ground hog? Test-Fly to Fly!” “Stow it! Minus sixty seconds! Close vents and pressurize!” “Vent valves closed! Pressurizing!” the co-pilot sang out. “‘Preparation cia eEomicbooks.com