There was a manual
lever, which Chris must have used before. It might work out here where
there was room to maneuver and nothing to hit. But trying to make a
landing was going to be different.
"Dan?" she repeated.
He shrugged. "I don't know. They've started research too late and
they'll be under so much pressure that the real brains won't have a
chance. The topsecret stuff looks bad for research. Maybe there's a
cure. It works in culture bottles, but it may fail in person. When I'm
convinced I'm safe with you, I may tell you about it."
"Oh." Her voice was low. Then she sighed. "I suppose I can understand
why you hate me, Dan."
"I don't hate you. I'm too mixed up. Tomorrow maybe, but not now. Shut
up and let me see if I can figure out how to land this thing."
He found that the fuel tanks were nearly full, but that still didn't
leave much margin. Mars must have been notified by Everts and be ready
to pick the raft up. He had to reach the wastelands away from any of the
shuttle ports. They had no aspirators, however, and they couldn't cover
much territory in the spacesuits they would have to use. It meant he'd
have to land close to a village where he was known.
He jockeyed the ship around by trial and error, studying the manual that
was lying prominently on the control panel. According to the booklet,
the ship was simple to operate.
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