Cleland and Kilbirnie explore a metallic planet where, although they have every reason to expect tectonic equilibrium:
"Quake! Shouldn't be! And just here, just now!" (p. 275)
- a crevasse opens and Kilbirnie falls into it. Space explorers are threatened by the unexpected. See:
It would take Cleland an hour to return to the spaceboat on the robot vehicle in order to fetch a cable to rescue Kilbirnie. However, a balloon carrying scientific instruments is attached to the vehicle by a cable:
"He ran toward the robot. The glacier groaned underfoot. The balloon swung on high against darkness at the end of its tether.
"'Yes!' For a second Cleland's vision blurred, tears of joy." (p. 276)
Thus, Cleland, after an Andersonian moment of realization, cannibalizes the balloon cable.
A moment of realization overcomes the unexpected.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
And this was a very realistic incident, IMO. I believe real world explorers off Earth will be facing unexpected dangers and problems like this.
Ad astra! Sean
Post a Comment