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The Impossible Voyage Home By: Floyd L. Wallace (1915-2004) |
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By F. L. WALLACE Illustrated by DICK FRANCIS [Transcriber Note: This etext was produced from Galaxy Science Fiction
August 1954. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the
U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
[Illustration]
[Sidenote: The right question kept getting the wrong answer but old
Ethan and Amantha got the right answer by asking the wrong question! ]
"Space life expectancy has been increased to twenty five months and six
days," said Marlowe, the training director. "That's a gain of a full
month." Millions of miles from Earth, Ethan also looked discontentedly proud.
"A mighty healthy looking boy," he declared. Demarest bent a paperweight ship until it snapped. "It's something.
You're gaining on the heredity block. What's the chief factor?" "Anti radiation clothing. We just can't make them effective enough." Across space, on distant Mars, Amantha reached for the picture. "How
can you tell he ain't sickly? You can't see without glasses." Ethan reared up. "Jimmy's boy, ain't he? Our kids were always healthy,
'specially the youngest. Stands to reason their kids will be better." "Now you're thinking with your forgettery. They were all sick, one time
or another. It was me who took care of them, though. You always could
find ways of getting out of it." Amantha touched the chair switch. The planets whirled around the Sun. Earth crept ahead of Mars, Venus
gained on Earth. The flow of ships slackened or spurted forth anew,
according to what destination could be reached at the moment: "A month helps," said Demarest. "But where does it end? You can't
enclose a man completely, and even if you do, there still is the air he
breathes and food he eats. Radiation in space contaminates everything
the body needs. And part of the radioactivity finds its way to the
reproductive system." Marlowe didn't need to glance at the charts; the curve was beginning
to flatten. Mathematically, it was determinable when it wouldn't rise at
all. According to analysis, Man someday might be able to endure the
radiation encountered in space as long as three years, if exposure times
were spaced at intervals. But that was in the future. "There's a lot you could do," he told Demarest. "Shield the atomics." "Working on it," commented Demarest. "But every ounce we add cuts down
on the payload. The best way is to get the ship from one place to
another faster. It's time in space that hurts. Less exposure time, more
trips before the crew has to retire. It adds up to the same thing." On Mars, Amantha fondled the picture. "Pretty. But it ain't real." She
laid it aside. Ethan squinted at it. "I could make you think it was. Get it enlarged,
solidified. Have them make it soft, big as a baby. You could hold it in
your lap." "Outgrew playthings years ago." Amantha adjusted the chair switch, but
the rocking motion was no comfort. Ethan turned the picture over, face down. "Nope. Hate to back you up,
'Mantha, but it ain't the same. There's nothing like a baby, wettin' and
squallin' and smilin', stubborn when it oughtn't to be and sweet and
gentle when you don't expect it. Robo dolls don't fool anybody who's
ever held the real thing." In the interval, Earth had drawn ahead. The gap between the two planets
was widening. "That's another fallacy," objected the training director. "The body can
stand just so much acceleration. We're near the limit. What good are
faster ships?" "That's your problem," said Demarest. "Get me tougher crewmen. Young,
afraid of nothing, able to take it." It always ended here younger, tougher, the finest the race
produced and still not good enough. And after years of training, they
had twenty five months to function as spacemen. It was a precious thing,
flight time, and each trip was as short as science could make it.
Conjunction was the magic moment for those who went between the planets... Continue reading book >>
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