Air, Major Winship said silently.
Leak?
Bottle! Bottle! Bottle! It was a frog-like, unvocal expletive.
* * * * *
Comprehension dawned. Capt. Wilkins nodded and started to turn away.
Major Winship caught his arm and nodded his head toward the loose jack.
Oh.
Capt. Wilkins nodded and smiled. He reached across and plugged the
speaker in again.
"... Freedom 19! Hello, Freedom 19! Come in!"
"We're here," Major Winship said.
"All right? Are you all right?"
"We're all right. A-Okay." Major Winship, mindful of the extent of his
potential audience, took a deep breath. "Earlier this morning, the
Soviet Union fired an underground atomic device for the _ostensible_
purpose of investigating the composition of the lunar mass by means of
seismic analysis of the resultant shock waves. This was done in spite
of American warnings that such a disturbance might release accumulated
stresses in the long undisturbed satellite, and was done in the face of
vigorous American protests."
Capt. Wilkins tapped his helmet and gestured for him to swivel around.
The turn was uncomfortably tight and complicated by the restraining
cables. Capt. Wilkins began replacement of the air bottle.
"These protests have proved well founded," Major Winship continued.
"Immediately following the detonation, Freedom 19 was called on to
withstand a moderately severe shifting of the Lunar surface. No
personnel were injured and there was no equipment damage."
Capt. Wilkins tapped his shoulder to indicate the new air bottle was
being inserted. Another tap indicated it was seated. Major Winship
flicked the appropriate chest button and nodded in appreciation.
"However," he continued, "we did experience a minor leak in the dome,
which is presently being repaired."
"The Soviet Union," came the reply, "has reported the disturbance and
has tendered their official apology. You want it?"
"It can wait until later. Send it by mail for all I care. Vacuum has
destroyed our organic air reconditioner. We have approximately three
weeks of emergency air. However, Base Gagarin reports no damage, so
that, in the event we exhaust our air, we will be able to obtain the
necessary replacement."
The wait of a little better than three seconds for the response gave
the conversation a tone of deliberation.
A new voice came on. "We tried to contact you earlier, Major. We will
be able to deliver replacements in about ten days."
"I will forward a coded report on the occurrence," Major Winship said.
"Let us hear from you again in ... about three hours. Is the leak
repaired?"
"The leak has not yet been repaired. Over and out."
He nodded to Capt. Wilkins and leaned back.
Methodically, Capt. Wilkins set about disconnecting the major from the
transmitter.
"Wow!" said Major Winship when he was once more in communication. "For
a moment there, I thought...."
"What?" Capt. Wilkins asked with interest.
"I could see myself asking them to ask the Russians to ask Finogenov
to get on the emergency channel to ask you to charge the air bottle.
I never felt so ... idiotic is not quite strong enough ... there for a
minute in my whole life. I didn't know how much emergency air was left,
and I thought, my God, I'll never live this down. All the hams in the
world listening, while I try to explain the situation. I could see the
nickname being entered in my files: aka. The Airless Idiot. I tell you,
that was rough."