The Return of the Manhattan Read Online Free PDF Page B

kissing his eyes, mouth, and any other exposed facial area, repeated her declarations of love she had made a few minutes earlier.
    The intruder was captured a few minutes later, but nothing they said could convince him to talk. By his demeanor, it was obvious that he feared reprisals from his employer more than any threats from any security forces aboard the Excalibur. His identification indicated he worked for ArkTex Oil Company but that was all they could determine. That didn’t mean much considering the large number of fuel tanks provided by ArkTex. David was irate, and uncharacteristically, he ranted and raved about how he wanted some time alone with him and he would get the truth out of him, but it didn’t do him any good as Tom turned the culprit over to the FBI and he was transported back to earth for trial. The matter was closed as far as the crew of the Excalibur was concerned.
    Marie made one more shuttle trip and brought Laura back with her. She said her tearful farewells to her mother and left without relating how long she would be gone. In truth, she didn’t know. Laura remained aboard the Excalibur while David recovered allowing her augmented crew of shuttle pilots to complete the task of loading the oil containers.
    After a few days of recovery and light tasks for David, the executive council met again in conference at Roger’s request. This time, Tom, Marie, and Roger were joined by David and Warren. There was an air of excitement and anticipation in the room as the long awaited date of departure drew nearer. Tom began, “We have almost completed our preparations and we should be ready to depart one week from today. Is that enough time for the rest of you? Roger, I know you have something to spring on us so I’d like to get reports from the rest of you first. Marie, how is your pilot force? Are you ready to bring them on board?”
    “As good as can be expected. All the shuttle pilots will be involved in the airlift of the fuel tanks for about two more days. Most of the tanks are already in orbit and docked at the space station. The Starfighter pilots are ready and waiting orders to board. We’ll be ready whenever you give us the go ahead.”
    “Good, David, how about your end of the mission?”
    “Everything is going well. The power plant workers and navigation specialists are probably the most technical and are in place. The defensive forces who control the on board phasors and the protective shields remain in place from the original crew. They did take some time off, but they are back for the duration. Many of the workers who have been installing the tanks have been recruited for loading duty at our destination. I’m not so sure about keeping them since they are suspects as far as I’m concerned, especially those who worked for ArkTex Oil. However, we are ready!”
    “Sounds good! But how do you feel?”
    “Couldn’t be better. I’m angry, but that little episode gave me the rest I needed.”
    “Okay, that leaves you, Roger. How are things going with the technical end?”
    “Very well. We have the latest and most powerful propulsion units ever developed. If they can’t push us beyond light speed, I don’t know what will. They are capable of accelerating more rapidly than our bodies can physically withstand over long periods of time. On this first leg to Juliet, we will accelerate using maximum sustained g forces until reaching the half-way point and then immediately begin to decelerate, and that will give us enough data to project our ultimate speed and duration to our final destination.
    After we leave the solar system and begin to accelerate, the real test for our propulsion system and the navigation computers will begin. Even a minute change in direction would result in missing our target destination by light years. Any course deviations will have to be made by computer, or we would probably collide with another body we couldn’t see in time to avoid. Our biggest threat involves large