All Judgment Fled Read Online Free PDF

stars rose majestically

above the upper rim of his visor, reached zenith and then slowly set

between his feet. When the sun came around, he covered it with his hand so

as not to be blinded, and he searched the sky. But the two bright objects

he picked out were too brilliant to be P-One -- they were probably Sirius

and Jupiter, but he was so disoriented that he could not be sure.
     
     
"I can't find you."
     
     
There must have been an edge of panic in his tone because Morrison said

quickly, "You're doing fine, Doctor. Our radar shows a solid trace

for P-Two. If you were off course to any large extent there would be

two traces, so any divergence is minor. Look around you, carefully."
     
     
Perhaps ten minutes went by, then Morrison said, "When you were

launched, our position with respect to your ship was approximately ten

degrees below and fifteen degrees to the right of the central star in

the right half of the W in Cassiopeia, or above and to the left of the

left center star if you're turned around and it looks like an M. Use

Cassiopeia as your center and search outward into Perseus, Andromeda

and Cepheus -- do you get the idea? The closer you are to us the greater

will be our apparent displacement.

"We should be the brightest object in sight by now. You should begin

deceleration in seven and one half minutes . . ."
     
     
And if he did not decelerate, McCullough would go past P-One, possibly

without even seeing it. But if he decelerated without seeing it and

directing his thrust in the right section of sky, the chances were that

he would go off at a tangent or shoot past the ship at double his present

velocity. If that happened, he doubted very much whether his air or his

reaction mass would be sufficient for him to find his way back.
     
     
McCullough tried not to pursue that line of thought. He tried so hard

that before he realized it, his knees were drawn up and his arms pressed

tightly against his chest again, and the stars were swirling around him

like a jeweled blizzard. He swore suddenly and starfished again, forcing

his mind to concentrate on the slowly wheeling heavens so that he could

impose some sort of order out of what had become a mass of tiny,

unidentifiable lights. He viewed them with his head straight and tilted

to each side, or he tried to imagine them upside down, and gradually

he was able to see them with the imaginary lines connecting one to the

other, which gave them the shapes of Hunters and Archers and Crabs. He

realized suddenly that as well as spinning head over heels he had also

been turning sideways, and he was able to identify Capella, which was

hanging out beyond his left hip.
     
     
Capella had picked up a very strange companion.
     
     
As quickly as possible, McCullough lined himself up on the object,

placed hands and feet into the cuffs and stirrups, then said, "I have

you. Standing by to decelerate."
     
     
"In eight seconds, Doctor. And I must say you cut it close . . .

Now!"
     
     
A little later Morrison said, "We can see your gas discharge,

Doctor. Very nice shooting, P-Two."
     
     
From the other ship there came sounds of Berryman and Walters being modest.

McCullough's precalculated period of deceleration ceased, leaving him

barely three hundred yards from the other ship, where two tiny figures

were already crawling out of the airlock and onto the hull. He aimed

himself carefully and jetted slowly toward them.
     
     
Morrison said, "As you know, Doctor, there is no privacy and very

little space for a physical examination in the control module, so Drew

and I will erect the launcher for your return while you have a look at

Captain Hollis. Take your time -- within reason, of course -- and signal

with the airlock lamp when you've finished. You may not want us to be

listening with our suit radios . . ."
     
     
There was little conversation after that until McCullough made contact

with the hull and negotiated the airlock. He