The technicians in Command were all sprawled across their desks,
demoralized and still in shock. Georges LeFarge shared their mood.
Cally had disappeared hours ago, and he was beginning to think he was
on his own.
The trajectories that Peretz wanted computed were finished. Now the
Israeli wanted to work on the telemetry. And he wanted to do it
himself. He had taken his place at the console and started programming
a new set of instructions into Big Benny, the Fujitsu supercomputer. It
looked as if he was coordinating some of the trajectory telemetry with
the electronic signaling to the vehicle, and he was setting some sort
of timer.
LeFarge pondered the significance of these actions. He wants something
to happen when the VX-1 aborts and begins descent, he told himself. And
it has to be done with split-second timing. What can he be planning?
He felt helpless as he sat watching, the control room around him now
silent and listless. Locked out of his own computer, he felt rudderless
and lost. He was realizing computers were a friend that could easily be
turned against you. It was a moment of recognition that brought with it
pure anguish.