Step to the Stars by Lester Del Rey

Author:Lester Del Rey [del Rey, Lester]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: John C. Winston Co.
Published: 1954-08-01T21:00:00+00:00

Dan scowled at the fact that they had slipped behind schedule again, but he was happy at the way the work was going. On the surface, everything was as it should be. But underneath, there was a grimmer note. Jim could sense it in the thoughtful looks that were turned to him from time to time, as if someone were remembering that he had come up at about the right time to take that first picture. All of the sixty-odd men who had been there long enough were automatically suspect.

He found that the pockets in the sleeping cubicle had been searched, and he was sure that Thorndyke had some of the newer men checking on everyone.

The engineer had debated the proper procedure and had finally shown the paper and picture to everyone. It would be easier, he thought, to catch a spy when every hand was turned against the man than to seek him out by routine methods which had already failed once on Earth. They were already fairly sure that no miniature camera was on the station now.

The big sun mirror was completed finally. The station had been set to face the Sun at all times. Eventually, it would drift away until the top no longer pointed toward the right direction, but a few careful blasts with powder rockets, such as the JATO’s, would correct that.

When full power came on, it was a big event. They had been hampered badly by the inability to use any real power tools. Now the crates of machinery were broken open, and Dan supervised the setting up of a machine shop where it would be in the final station.

The station itself was a weird-looking affair now. Much of it was bare, with no metal hull around it. Here and there, the decks and power equipment were installed, and wires were being strung, along with the maze of plumbing. Water would be used to trim the final station, and to keep an even distribution of weight, since it could be pumped about easily. But it took a lot of piping to handle it.

The real job now was the beginning of the living quarters. The hut and its extensions had never been meant for more than a temporary makeshift. New quarters were being built, equipped with proper dining halls, bunks, real bathrooms, and all the luxuries of home, according to Bart. Little Terrence Rodriguez stared at the installation, and shook his head.

“Not my home/’ he objected. “Compared to that, this will be a palace.”

It would hardly be palatial. It was modeled on the living accommodations of the atomic submarines, which meant that everything took up the minimum space. But it would enable men to live in reasonable comfort, once it was completed and the station was set to spinning.

That was another project they were trying to hasten. In actual operation, the station had been intended to revolve around its hub once each twenty-two seconds. This would create a centrifugal force, weak near the center, but

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