The getaway special Read Free Page A

it," he said. "What's wrong with you people? I demonstrate a working hyperdrive engine and Carl curls up into a ball, and now you start talking about piracy? Where's your sense of adventure? Don't you realize what this means? I've given us the key to the entire universe! We're not stuck on one planet anymore! The human race can have some breathing room again. And what's more, I've ended the threat of nuclear extermination forever!" Judy hadn't even thought of that angle. She'd been too busy trying to suppress the hysterical giggles that kept threatening to bubble to the surface. Hyperdrive! But now she did think about it, and she didn't like what she came up with. "Ended the threat of nuclear extermination? You idiot! You've probably caused it! Do you have any idea what's going on at Mission Control right now? Full-scale panic, that's what. They've lost an orbiter—gone, just like that—and it's not going to take long before somebody decides that the Russians or the French or somebody shot us down with an antisatellite weapon. I think you're smart enough to figure out what happens then."
    She watched him think it through. He opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn't. Judy said it for him: "We've got to get back within radio range and let them know we're okay, or all sorts of hell is going to break loose. So how do we do that?"
    "I—without calibrating it we shouldn't—"
    "I just want you to reverse the direction. Send us back the same distance we came. Can you do that?"
    "Uh . . . yes, I suppose so. The error in distance should be the same both ways. But I don't think it's a good idea. We could be off in direction as well as distance. We could wind up in the wrong orbit, or underground for that matter."
    Judy tried to weigh the chances of that against the chances of nuclear war. Since France had put missiles in Quebec in response to American missiles in England, both sides were on a launch-on-warning status. If somebody decided they had already used an A-sat weapon . . . ?
    She was starting to feel like a captain again. At least she felt the pressure of being the one in command. Four lives against six billion, hardly a choice except that she had to make it. She heard herself say, "It's a chance we'll have to take. Do it."
    Seconds later she was convulsed in laughter. It was an involuntary reaction. The giggles had won. Allen stared at her for a moment before he ventured, "Are you all right?" Judy fought for control, and eventually found it. She wiped fat globules of tears away from her eyes and sniffed. "Yeah," she said. "It just hit me." She pitched her voice in heroic tones and said, "'I'll take that chance, Scotty! Give me warp speed!' God, if only the Enterprise had flown." Allen looked puzzled for a second before comprehension lit up his face. "The first shuttle. Okay." He laughed quietly and turned to his keyboard. As he typed in the coordinates he said, "You know, I did try to buy the Enterprise for this, but I couldn't come up with the cash."
    "I'm surprised you didn't build your own ship out of an old septic tank or something. Isn't that the way most mad scientists do it?"
    "Don't laugh; I could have done it that way. The hyperdrive engine will take you directly into space from the ground if you want to. But I didn't think a flying septic tank was the image I wanted. I thought a shuttle would be better for getting the world's attention."
    Judy felt a shiver run up her spine. "Well you definitely did that. I just hope we can patch things back together before it's too late. Are you ready there?"
    "Ready."
    "Let's go, then."
    Allen grinned. "Warp speed, Captain," he said, and pushed the "Jump" button. Earth suddenly filled the view again. It was at the wrong angle, but just having it there made Judy sigh in relief. She tried the radio again.
    "Control, this is Discovery . Do you copy?"
    Response came immediately. " Discovery , this is Control. We copy. What is your status, over?"
    "Green bird. Everything is fine.