Two small, one much larger. But there had been no holes made in the
ship. At least, there was no alarm from Dr. Spartan who would know from
the air gauges if any compartment had been punctured.
The ringing sounds, singly and in twos and threes, continued. This was
a dense cloud, although we were striking them only a dozen or so to a
minute. That is density in space. Then I heard a loud _thud_. A tiny
bump raised itself in the metal floor not two feet from my helmet. A
large meteor had pierced the outer hide of our ship and dented the
inside wall before vaporizing. But the fluid in the walls was now
closing the hole and we had lost no air.
Another thud. I didn't know where this one had hit.
The ship's acceleration, which had increased when Dr. Spartan started
the emergency motors, suddenly seemed to decrease. Spartan's gruff
voice came through my helmet radio. "A motor has been hit."
He had cut down the power, of course. A single motor conking out would
put more thrust on the other three sides of the ship, resulting in a
curved trajectory for the craft. Therefore three other motors would
have to be cut in order to keep the ship in a straight line.
There were more pings and thumps in my ears as I continued to press my
helmet to the floor. An hour passed. Then another. Two hours of terror.
Then the noise stopped.
"I think we're out of danger," Spartan's voice came through my helmet
radio. "We penetrated a thin segment of the cloud."
"Any leaks, Doctor?" Axel asked.
"The air pressure gauges show no loss. But the motor will have to be
repaired. Who's on duty now?"
"Miss Loring follows me into the control room," said Axel, "but this
has been a tough experience for her. I won't mind working overtime."
"I can't permit it," said Spartan. "Everyone must do his share. Fetch
her, Drake."
"Yes, sir," I said.
I went back to the main cabin where I found Joel slipping out of his
spacesuit. I removed mine.
"Where's Gail?" I asked him.
He nodded to the rear of the ship. "She went to the machinery room," he
said. "Morrie's in the kitchen."
I shuffled back to the kitchen. Morrie's spacesuit lay in a heap on the
floor, but there was no sign of him.
He wasn't in the lavatory, either. I pushed open the door to the
machinery room just in time to hear Gail scream.
I stood there a moment, hardly believing what I saw. Morrie had forced
her to the floor. He had almost torn her uniform from her body. She was
trying to fight him off, but his arms held her tight.
I pushed myself away from the bulkhead. In the center of the ship there
is very little centrifugal force and I literally sailed across the room
to drop lightly on my feet beside the struggling pair.
I reached down, caught Morrie savagely around the neck with my arm, and
pulled him back, away from Gail.
He squirmed out of my grasp and threw a savage punch which struck me in
the shoulder. But he hadn't been set to deliver the blow and I hardly
felt it. I was angry now and I lunged forward, grabbing his arm with
both hands. His feet left the floor and I literally hurled him across
the cabin into the water purifier on the far side of the room.
He hit with a crash.