[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Earth, but the transparent canopy of the freezer compartment would leave
Kane's gutted body exposed for them all to see immediately on
reawakening. Better to dispose of it here, quick and clean, where it
could be forgotten as fast as possible.
Back on the bridge, they resumed their stations, depression making the
air seem thick as Vaseline. Dallas checked readouts, said morosely,
?Inner hatch sealed.?
Ripley nodded confirmation.
?Lock still pressurized??Another nod. He hesitated, looked from one
somber face to the next. None returned his gaze. ?Anybody want to say
anything??
Naturally, there was nothing to say. Kane was dead. He'd been alive, now
he was not alive. None of the crew was particularly strong with words.
Only Lambert spoke up. ?Get it over with.?Dallas thought that wasn't
much of an epitaph, but he couldn't think of anything else except that they
178 were wasting time. He made a sign to the watching Ripley.
She touched a stud. The outer cover on the lock popped. Air remaining in
the lock propelled Kane's body out into the soil of nothingness.
It was a mercifully fast burial (Dallas couldn't bring himself to think
?disposal?). Kane had received a neater departure than he had a death.
His last, tormented scream still rattled around in Dallas' brain, like a
pebble in a shoe.
They reassembled in the mess. It was easier to discuss things when
everyone could see everyone else without straining. Also, it gave him an
excuse to get everyone back there to help clean up the awful mess.
?I've checked on supplies,?Ripley told them. ?With stimulants we can
keep going for about a week. Maybe a day longer, but no more than that.?
?Then what??Brett picked at his chin.
?We run out of food and oxygen. Food we can do without, oxygen we can't.
That last factor makes the interesting question of whether or not we
could live off unrecycled artificials a moot point.?
Lambert made a face at the unappetizing prospect. ?Thanks, I think I'd
rather die first.?
?All right.?Dallas tried to sound confident. ?That's what we've got,
then. A week of full activity. That's plenty of time. More than enough
to find one small alien.?
Brett looked at the floor. ?I still say we ought to try exhausting the
air. That might loll it. Seems the safest way to me. Avoids the need to
confront it directly. We don't know what individual kinds of nastiness
this version can dish out.?
?We went through that, remember??Ripley reminded him.
179 That assumed we'd spend the airless time in the freezers. Suppose we
put our pressure suits on instead, then bleed the air? It can't sneak up
Page 100
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
on us if we're awake in our suits.?
?What a swell idea.?Lambert's tone indicated that she considered it
anything but.
?What's wrong with it??
?We've got forty-eight hours of air in our pressure suits and it takes
ten months to get home,?Ash explained. ?If the creature can go
forty-nine without air, we're right back where we started, except we've
lost two days' suit time.?
?Other than that,?said Lambert, ?a swell idea. Come on, Parker, think of
something new, you two.?
The engineers had no intention of giving up on the idea so easily.
?Maybe we could run some kind of special lines from the suit tanks to
the main ones. Brett and I are pretty good practical engineers. The
valve connections would be tricky, but I'm sure we could do it. We got
us back up, you know.?
?All by your little old selves.?Ripley didn't try to moderate her sarcasm.
?It's not practical.?Ash spoke sympathetically to the two men. ?You'll
recall that we discussed the definite possibility this creature may be
able to survive without air. The problem is more extensive than that.
?We can't remain hooked to the main tanks by umbilicals and
simultaneously hunt the creature down. Even if your idea works, we'll
have used so much air in the suits that there'll be none left to meet us
when we emerge from hypersleep. The freezers will open automatically...
to vacuum.?
?How about leaving some kind of message, or broadcasting ahead so they
can meet us and fill us
180 with fresh air as soon as we dock??Parker wondered.
Ash looked doubtful. ?Too chancy. First, our broadcast won't arrive more
than a minute or two before we do. For an emergency team to meet us the
moment we slip out of hyperspace, link up from outside, fill us with air [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl szkicerysunki.xlx.pl
Earth, but the transparent canopy of the freezer compartment would leave
Kane's gutted body exposed for them all to see immediately on
reawakening. Better to dispose of it here, quick and clean, where it
could be forgotten as fast as possible.
Back on the bridge, they resumed their stations, depression making the
air seem thick as Vaseline. Dallas checked readouts, said morosely,
?Inner hatch sealed.?
Ripley nodded confirmation.
?Lock still pressurized??Another nod. He hesitated, looked from one
somber face to the next. None returned his gaze. ?Anybody want to say
anything??
Naturally, there was nothing to say. Kane was dead. He'd been alive, now
he was not alive. None of the crew was particularly strong with words.
Only Lambert spoke up. ?Get it over with.?Dallas thought that wasn't
much of an epitaph, but he couldn't think of anything else except that they
178 were wasting time. He made a sign to the watching Ripley.
She touched a stud. The outer cover on the lock popped. Air remaining in
the lock propelled Kane's body out into the soil of nothingness.
It was a mercifully fast burial (Dallas couldn't bring himself to think
?disposal?). Kane had received a neater departure than he had a death.
His last, tormented scream still rattled around in Dallas' brain, like a
pebble in a shoe.
They reassembled in the mess. It was easier to discuss things when
everyone could see everyone else without straining. Also, it gave him an
excuse to get everyone back there to help clean up the awful mess.
?I've checked on supplies,?Ripley told them. ?With stimulants we can
keep going for about a week. Maybe a day longer, but no more than that.?
?Then what??Brett picked at his chin.
?We run out of food and oxygen. Food we can do without, oxygen we can't.
That last factor makes the interesting question of whether or not we
could live off unrecycled artificials a moot point.?
Lambert made a face at the unappetizing prospect. ?Thanks, I think I'd
rather die first.?
?All right.?Dallas tried to sound confident. ?That's what we've got,
then. A week of full activity. That's plenty of time. More than enough
to find one small alien.?
Brett looked at the floor. ?I still say we ought to try exhausting the
air. That might loll it. Seems the safest way to me. Avoids the need to
confront it directly. We don't know what individual kinds of nastiness
this version can dish out.?
?We went through that, remember??Ripley reminded him.
179 That assumed we'd spend the airless time in the freezers. Suppose we
put our pressure suits on instead, then bleed the air? It can't sneak up
Page 100
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
on us if we're awake in our suits.?
?What a swell idea.?Lambert's tone indicated that she considered it
anything but.
?What's wrong with it??
?We've got forty-eight hours of air in our pressure suits and it takes
ten months to get home,?Ash explained. ?If the creature can go
forty-nine without air, we're right back where we started, except we've
lost two days' suit time.?
?Other than that,?said Lambert, ?a swell idea. Come on, Parker, think of
something new, you two.?
The engineers had no intention of giving up on the idea so easily.
?Maybe we could run some kind of special lines from the suit tanks to
the main ones. Brett and I are pretty good practical engineers. The
valve connections would be tricky, but I'm sure we could do it. We got
us back up, you know.?
?All by your little old selves.?Ripley didn't try to moderate her sarcasm.
?It's not practical.?Ash spoke sympathetically to the two men. ?You'll
recall that we discussed the definite possibility this creature may be
able to survive without air. The problem is more extensive than that.
?We can't remain hooked to the main tanks by umbilicals and
simultaneously hunt the creature down. Even if your idea works, we'll
have used so much air in the suits that there'll be none left to meet us
when we emerge from hypersleep. The freezers will open automatically...
to vacuum.?
?How about leaving some kind of message, or broadcasting ahead so they
can meet us and fill us
180 with fresh air as soon as we dock??Parker wondered.
Ash looked doubtful. ?Too chancy. First, our broadcast won't arrive more
than a minute or two before we do. For an emergency team to meet us the
moment we slip out of hyperspace, link up from outside, fill us with air [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]