After several minutes, the dust
was thin enough to reveal a horseshoe-shaped crater almost a mile
across. On the southwestern edge of the crater, where it trailed off
into the desert without a sharp boundary, was the place where the
atmosphere plant had been. Now the plant was broken into many thousands
of pieces and the wreckage was scattered for three or four miles in a
wide fan across the sand.
13: The Brink of Disaster
THE ALIEN SPACECRAFT was beautifully designed and well equipped. The
Starmen had spent more than two days exploring it fully and tracking
its electronics systems. It was planned for a crew of twenty. The
galley was not stocked, but Zip assigned some of St. George's men to
store their food in it. The storage area inside the ship included
spacesuits for the entire crew. The suits were shaped slightly
differently from what the Earthmen were used to. They squeezed a little
in the chest and were somewhat baggy between abdomen and knee,
especially for the shorter men, but they could be used.
Joe and Mark were working to the point of exhaustion, trying to figure
out the controls in the cockpit. Mark had to trace innumerable leads
from the panel through the walls of the craft back to the wings, tail,
and especially the propulsion compartment. The Starmen found the work
exhilarating but time-consuming.
Pages:
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160