The captain simply nodded. Bill took a look at his captain's waist line, or where his waist line used to be. Why, the Old Man must be thirty-five if he were a day!
«I'm afraid I can't explain too clearly. I had expected to make the repair myself.»
«I've never asked a man to do a job I wouldn't do myself. Explain it to me.»
«Excuse me, sir – but can you chin yourself with one hand?»
«What's that got to do with it?»
«Well, we've got forty-eight passengers, sir, and – »
«Shut up!»
Sandburg and he, both in space suits, helped the Old Man down the hole after the inner door of the lock was closed and the air exhausted. The space beyond the lock was a vast, starflecked emptiness. With spin still on the ship, every direction outward was «down,» down for millions of uncounted miles. They put a safety line on him, of course – nevertheless it gave him a sinking feeling to see the captain's head disappear in the bottomless, black hole.
The line paid out steadily for several feet, then stopped. When it had been stopped for several minutes, Bill leaned over and touched his helmet against Sandburg's. «Hang on to my feet. I'm going to take a look.»
He hung his head down out the lock and looked around. The captain was stopped, hanging by both hands, nowhere near the antenna fixture. He scrambled back up and reversed himself. «I'm going out.»
It was no great trick, he found, to hang by his hands and swing himself along to where the captain was stalled. The
He began at once to unbuckle the repair gear from the captain's suit and transfer it to his own. He lowered himself back down the hole and was on his way before the older man had recovered enough to object, if he still intended to.
Swinging out to where the antenna must be replaced was not too hard, though he had all eternity under his toes. The suit impeded him a little – the gloves were clumsy – but he was used to spacesuits. He was a little winded from helping the captain, but he could not stop to think about that. The increased spin bothered him somewhat; the airlock was nearer the axis of spin than was the antenna – he felt heavier as he moved out.
Getting the replacement antenna shipped was another matter. It was neither large nor heavy, but he found it impossible to fasten it into place. He needed one hand to cling by, one to hold the antenna, and one to handle the wrench. That left him shy one hand, no matter how he tried it.
Finally, he jerked his safety line to signal Sandburg for more slack. Then he unshackled it from his waist, working with one hand, passed the end twice through a handhold and knotted it; he left about six feet of it hanging free. The shackle on the free end he fastened to another handhold. The result was a loop, a bight, an improvised bosun's chair, which would support his weight while he manhandled the antenna into place. The job went fairly quickly then.
He was almost through. There remained one bolt to fasten on the far side, away from where he swung. The antenna was already secured at two points and its circuit connection made. He decided he could manage it with one hand. He left his perch and swung over, monkey fashion.
The wrench slipped as he finished tightening the bolt; it slipped from his grasp, fell free. He watched it go, out and out and out, down and down and down, until it was so small he could no longer see it. It made him dizzy to watch it, bright in the sunlight against the deep black of space. He had been too busy to look down, up to now.
He shivered. «Good thing I was through with it,» he said. «It would be a long walk to fetch it.» He started to make his way back. He found that he could not.
He had swung past the antenna to reach his present position, using a grip on his safety-line swing to give him a few inches more reach. Now the loop of line hung quietly, just out of reach. There was no way to reverse the process.
He hung by both hands and told himself not to get panicky – he must think his way out. Around the other side? No, the steel skin of the
He looked down – and regretted it.
There was nothing below him but stars, down and down, endlessly. Stars, swinging past as the ship spun with him, emptiness of all time and blackness and cold. He found himself trying to hoist himself bodily onto the single narrow rung he clung to, trying to reach it with his toes. It was a futile, strength-wasting excess. He quieted his panic sufficiently to stop it, then hung limp.
It was easier if he kept his eyes closed. But after a while he always had to open them and look. The Big Dipper would swing past and then, presently, Orion. He tried to compute the passing minutes in terms of the number of rotations the ship made, but his mind would not work clearly, and, after a while, he would have to shut his eyes.
His hands were becoming stiff – and cold. He tried to rest them by hanging by one hand at a time. He let go with his left hand, felt pins-and-needles course through it, and beat it against his side. Presently it seemed time to spell his right hand.
He could no longer reach up to the rung with his left hand. He did not have the power left in him to make the extra pull; he was fully extended and could not shorten himself enough to get his left hand up.
He could no longer feel his right hand at all.
He could see it slip. It was slipping —
The sudden release in tension let him know that he was falling ... falling. The ship dropped away from him.
He came to with the captain bending over him. «Just keep quiet, Bill.»
«Where – »
«Take it easy. The patrol from Deimos was already close by when you let go. They tracked you on the 'scope, matched orbits with you, and picked you up. First time in history, I guess. Now keep quiet. You're a sick man – you hung there more than two hours, Bill.»
The meowing started up again, louder than ever. He got up on his knees and looked out over the windowsill. The kitten was still away to the left on the ledge. He thrust his head cautiously out a little further, remembering not to look at anything but the kitten and the ledge. «Here, kitty!» he called. «Here, kit-kit-kitty! Here, kitty, come kitty!»
The kitten stopped washing and managed to look puzzled.
«Come, kitty,» he repeated softly. He let go of the windowsill with his right hand and gestured toward it invitingly. The kitten approached about three inches, then sat down. «Here, kitty,» he pleaded and stretched his arm as far as possible.
The fluff ball promptly backed away again.
He withdrew his arm and thought about it. This was getting nowhere, he decided. If he were to slide over the edge and stand on the ledge, he could hang on with one arm and be perfectly safe. He knew that, he knew it would be safe – he needn't look down!
He drew himself back inside, reversed himself, and, with great caution, gripping the sill with both arms, let his legs slide down the face of the building. He focused his eyes carefully on the corner of the bed.
The ledge seemed to have been moved. He could not find it, and was beginning to be sure that he had reached past it, when he touched it with one toe – then he had both feet firmly planted on it. It seemed about six inches wide. He took a deep breath.
Letting go with his right arm, he turned and faced the kitten. It seemed interested in the procedure but not disposed to investigate more closely. If he were to creep along the ledge, holding on with his left hand, he could just about reach it from the corner of the window —
He moved his feet one at a time, baby fashion, rather than pass one past the other. By bending his knees a trifle, and leaning, he could just manage to reach it. The kitten sniffed his groping fingers, then leaped backward. One tiny paw missed the edge; it scrambled and regained its footing. «You little idiot!» he said indignantly, «do you
