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The sword accelerated, seeming almost to yank Melody free of the deck. "What?" she exclaimed
involuntarily.
"The blades are geared to orient squarely on the sun," Gary explained tersely. "An even rate of turning
would lose as much as fifty percent of the available energy due to imperfect angles of reception,
missing the trough, and so on. So it clicks over the lean aspects more quickly. Uses up some energy,
but gains much more. The whole blade's on a separate axle, of course. We could stop it turning entirely
if we had to, without messing up ship's grav. But since the troughs are held in place by centrifugal
force, that's not advisable ordinarily."
"I had no idea there was such sophistication in space," Melody said, genuinely impressed. Indeed, it
was evident that her prior education had been scant. She had thought that the philosophical reaches of
Tarot encompassed most of what was important. Next time the Ace of Swords appeared in a reading,
she would react to it with a vastly changed perspective!
"A thousand years of experience," he said nonchalantly. "Look-sunrise."
Mighty Etamin was rising rapidly over the valley horizon. The double star was too brilliant to look at
directly, but she followed its progress by the moving shadows. It shoved its way almost directly
overhead. Then the gearing slowed the rotation, causing Melody to fall abruptly to the side, and the
star stood almost still.
Melody was intrigued. "It used to be a fable, about making the sun stand still," she murmured.
Gary spoke to the others. "I'll jet out with the replacement cord as soon as the sun sets. Put the safety
on me, and haul me in in a hurry if I run late. I'm too young to fry."
Efficiently they attached jet-pack and safety line to him. Then as the star commenced its movement
offstage, Gary took off. Like a shooting star he streaked into the half-dusk, trailing two lines, the jets
augmenting the initial boost of centrifugal force. As he passed through the slanting beam of the
vanishing star, the light refracted from portions of his suit in a splay of rainbow colors, a splendid
effect.
"Superman," Yael remarked.
Gary angled the jet at apogee just as the star set. He maneuvered for what seemed like an
unconscionably long time before coming to rest. Melody realized that space jetting was more tricky
than it looked, especially with the drag of lines changing the vectors. Several minutes passed before he
got the old wires removed and the new ones threaded. Then the sword rotated again.
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"The sun will catch him!" Melody cried, alarmed. And she jumped with both feet.
Suddenly she was falling through space-with no safety line. It had been a natural reaction, but a
mistaken one. She screamed.
There was a clamor in her suitphone as the startled men exclaimed. "The fool! Doesn't she know not to-
"
"Get another line and jet!" "No time; she'll be out of range before we can-" "Look at that magnet!"
Melody looked as well as her slow spin in space enabled her to, though of course the remark had not
been directed at her. Sure enough, Slammer had followed her into space, ever-loyal to its assignment.
"But you have no metal to interact with out here!" she exclaimed to it. "You can't maneuver!"
Slammer of course did not answer. He could not even nod. He had become an aimless meteor.
The sun had not reappeared. Melody remembered that the blade was tripartite; that last adjustment had
merely taken it another third of the way around. Gary had been in no danger. No question about it: She
had reacted foolishly, and now was in trouble.
"I'll get her," Gary said, sounding disgusted. Melody turned her head to face him-and her body turned
the opposite way, confusing her. She was in freefall, unable to direct her progress. She found herself
staring at the stars, some of which she knew were the other ships of the fleet. On the shuttle's screen
they had looked large and close together, but here in the open, five thousand miles apart, they were
nothings. Long stars were Swords or Wands; the others were uncertain. Her chance in intersecting one
was about one in five thousand-after allowing for the three weeks it would take at her present velocity
to get her there. She would not be bored, however, as she could anticipate suffocating within one day.
Somewhat sooner than that, Gary arrived, having jetted across to intercept her. He caught her by one
arm and they gyrated crazily in space; then he enfolded her space-suit in his arms and steadied them
both with the jet. It was a tricky business, but he was expert. Almost immediately they stabilized.
"Save the magnet!" Melody cried.
"There's no time; the sun's coming back," he said.
"No, we're in the shade of the ship," she said. "It may be turning, but we aren't." When he had been
working on the trough, he had had in effect to race the rotation of the ship merely to keep up with it,
but now they were flying straight out.
"But we have to get back to the lock. It will soon be in sun."
Meanwhile, Slammer had passed them, going out. "I don't care," Melody cried. "We have to save the
magnet!"
Gary sighed. "I'm a fool. I never could resist a plea from a pretty girl." He timed their spin and actuated
the jet. They accelerated after Slammer, gaining slowly.
Abruptly they stopped. "Oh-oh," Gary said. "That's as far as the safety line goes."
"Then give me the jet and let me bring it back!" Melody exclaimed.
Gary shook his head within the helmet and said, "You are something else!" He was unaware how
accurate that comment was. "You really want to catch that thing?"
"Slammer is a living, sapient, loyal entity. He tried to help me. I can't let him die in space!"
"All right," he said wearily. "I'll put you on the line while I go after the magnet." And he did so.
In due course he caught up with Slammer, put his arms around the sphere, and jetted back to Melody.
Then she took the magnet while Gary grabbed her around the waist. They jetted as a mass back to the
ship, following the spiraling safety line in.
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