Rockets in Ursa Major Read Free Page A

this. Even my lab in Cambridge was better equipped, I thought, picking up a small drill.
    `There's something seriously wrong,' I suddenly heard the doctor saying.
    `What?' Sir John asked anxiously.
    `The temperature is much too high.'
    I went over to where the doctor and his medics stood. Ganges followed me over.
    `Look at this, Sir John,' said the doctor, indicating the temperature gauge.
    `What does the freezer normally operate at?' asked Sir John, tapping the instrument like a barometer on the wall.
    `Nowadays we'd operate at about minus 50° centigrade.
    I don't know precisely what the practice was thirty years ago, but it couldn't have been much different,' said the doctor, thoughtfully.
    Sir John studied the dial. "This gauge shows a temperature of about zero,' he said.
    `Exactly, it's at thawing temperature.'
    Curiosity got the better of me and I looked over a number of shoulders at the dial. It did indeed show a temperature of zero. 'Perhaps the automatic defrosters have worked,' I said.
    `We can soon check on that,' said Sir John, moving, file in hand, over to the main control panel. 'You're right, Dick. That's what has happened,' he said, making his way back to the group.
    We all stood in silence.
    `I'm afraid the men's fate is pretty clear,' the doctor said; after a minute.
    `Dead,' said Sir John quietly.
    `I'm afraid so. Otherwise they'd have woken up by now. I'll have a look inside.' He started to open the large freezer door.
    `This isn't my line of country. If you don't mind, I'll withdraw.'
    `That would be best, Sir John. It won't be a pleasant job.'
    Sir John and I moved away, followed by Ganges, who looked desperately glum. One could feel what he was thinking. It is never pleasant to learn that an old school pal has died. The medics were having a job to get the door open. A morbid thought crossed my mind. How long had the freezing chamber been thawed?
    Sir John gently placed his Thermos on the control desk. He looked spent.
    After much effort the heavy door swung open and the doctor went in. There was a moment's quiet and then he suddenly reappeared at the door. 'Hey. Just a minute, come and have a look in here.'
    Ganges was the first across, followed closely by Sir John. I was a little hesitant, but followed them in, curiosity getting the better of me again. It reminded me of a mortuary in a hospital. Bleak, bare and cold, even though the temperature was above freezing. We went to the point where the crew should be in their containers.
    `Great heavens, it's empty!' Sir John said, lifting one of the lids.
    I opened another one and it was also empty; in fact so were they all.
    `I don't understand,' I said. 'How could the ship have been started back to earth without a crew?'
    `An interesting question,' Ganges said, squeezing his way out of the freezer. 'There must be a log-book somewhere.
    Sir John moved to a cabinet near the entrance and pulled open the drawers. 'That's very strange.'
    `Nothing at all,' said Ganges, coming back to the middle of the cabin.
    `This is ridiculous. The cabinet should be full of ship's data like this,' Sir John said, waving the files he was carrying.
    The problem of a ship with no crew and no papers was staggering. We all stood for a moment looking about not quite knowing what to do.
    I moved round the cabin. Looking for what, I wasn't sure. I pressed the button on a tape manual deck. Nothing but high level static. Turning it off, I wondered how long it would take to sift through the information on the computer.
    `Anything on the tape?' Sir John said, joining me. `Nothing, just static.'
    Sir John frowned, deep in thought. I felt at a loss.
    `What would the crew be doing with a drill like this?' I asked Sir John, holding up the tool I had been playing with earlier.
    `It looks like part of the doctor's equipment,' Sir John said.
    `They carried a doctor with them?' said Ganges. `Oh, yes. The drill looks like a dentist's drill.' `So it can cut through fairly hard material?'
    `I suppose