Spacehounds of IPC | Page 4

field of
the Earth, walking will be somewhat difficult, as everything on board

will apparently increase in weight by about one-fifth of its present
amount. Please remain seated, or move about with caution. In about an
hour weight will gradually return to normal. We start in one minute."
"Hipe!" barked the chief pilot as a flaring purple light sprang into being
upon his board, and the assistants came to attention at their stations.
"Seconds! Four! Three! Two! One! LIFT!" He touched a button and a
set of plunger switches drove home, releasing into the forty-five
enormous driving projectors the equilibrium power--the
fifteen-thousand-and-odd kilofranks of energy that exactly
counterbalanced the pull of gravity upon the mass of the cruiser.
Simultaneously there was added from the potentiometer, already set to
the exact figure given by the computer, the plus-equilibrium
power--which would not be changed throughout the journey if the ideal
acceleration curve were to be registered upon the recorders--and the
immense mass of the cruiser of the void wafted vertically upward at a
low and constant velocity. The bellowing, shrieking siren had cleared
the air magically of the swarm of aircraft in her path, and quietly,
calmly, majestically, the Arcturus floated upward.
* * * * *
Breckenridge, sixty seconds after the initial lift, actuated the system of
magnetic relays which would gradually cut in the precisely measured
"starting power," which it would be necessary to employ for sixty-nine
minutes--for, without the acceleration given by this additional power,
they would lose many precious hours of time in covering merely the
few thousands of miles during which Earth's attraction would operate
powerfully against their progress.
Faster and faster the great cruiser shot upward as more and more of the
starting power was released, and heavier and heavier the passengers felt
themselves become. Soon the full calculated power was on and the
acceleration became constant. Weight no longer increased, but
remained constant at a value of plus twenty three and six-tenths percent.
For a few moments there had been uneasy stomachs among the
passengers--perhaps a few of the first-trippers had been made ill--but it
was not much worse than riding in a high-speed elevator, particularly

since there was no change from positive to negative acceleration such
as is experienced in express elevators.
The computer, his calculations complete, watched the pilot with
interest, for, accustomed as he was to traversing the depths of space,
there was a never-failing thrill to his scientific mind in the delicacy and
precision of the work which Breckenridge was doing--work which
could be done only by a man who had had long training in the
profession and who was possessed of instantaneous nervous reaction
and of the highest degree of manual dexterity and control. Under his
right and left hands were the double-series potentiometers actuating the
variable-speed drives of the flight-angle directors in the hour and
declination ranges; before his eyes was the finely marked micrometer
screen upon which the guiding goniometer threw its needle-point of
light; powerful optical systems of prisms and lenses revealed to his
sight the director-angles, down to fractional seconds of arc. It was the
task of the chief pilot to hold the screened image of the cross-hairs of
the two directors in such position relative to the ever-moving point of
light as to hold the mighty vessel precisely upon its course, in spite of
the complex system of forces acting upon it.
For almost an hour Breckenridge sat motionless, his eyes flashing from
micrometer screen to signal panel, his sensitive fingers moving the
potentiometers through minute arcs because of what he saw upon the
screen and in instantaneous response to the flashing, multi-colored
lights and tinkling signals of his board. Finally, far from earth, the
moon's attraction and other perturbing forces comparatively slight, the
signals no longer sounded and the point of light ceased its irregular
motion, becoming almost stationary. The chief pilot brought both
cross-hairs directly upon the brilliant point, which for some time they
had been approaching more and more nearly, adjusted the photo-cells
and amplifiers which would hold them immovably upon it, and at the
calculated second of time, cut out the starting power by means of
another set of automatically timed relays. When only the regular
driving power was left, and the acceleration had been checked and
found to be exactly the designated value of 981.286 centimeters, he
stood up and heaved a profound sigh of relief.

"Well, Steve, that's over with--we're on our way. I'm always glad when
this part of it is done."
"It's a ticklish job, no fooling--even for an expert," the mathematician
agreed. "No wonder the astronomers think you birds are the ones who
are gumming up their dope. Well, it's about time to plug in on E2.
Here's where the fireworks start!" He closed the connections which
transferred the