Conquest of Space Page #2

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- Out of what, Roy?

The Spaceship. It must have a crew.

Now, Iook, Roy...

...the colonel hasn't told us

definitely we are the crew.

We don't have to be told.

We are, you know we are.

Every man on the Wheel won his place

after six months of the stiffest

competition in the world.

Each one of us were handpicked

from the winners for this special duty.

Who else is being conditioned as we

are? Special food, special exercise.

Tests, Iectures! Watched every

second! Never any Ieave!

You fellows know how...

How tough it's been.

Now, just because I had a...

...bad couple of minutes out there...

That's funny, I didn't think to have

a bad couple of minutes myself.

I don't think we're going no place.

AII right, so we built a spaceship.

That doesn't mean we have to fly it.

Hey, maybe we're guinea pigs.

Maybe they wanna find out how much

of them cosmic rays a human carcass

can absorb before we Iight

up Iike Christmas trees.

And at double pay,

I can Iearn to Iike cosmic rays.

With all that Ioot, boy,

I'm gonna open a TV shop,

settle down, marry my Rosie

and raise a houseful of kids.

So if I glow a Iittle in the dark,

she could find me better.

If you get that charged

with cosmic rays,

you'd better not plan

on too Iarge a family.

That's a Iot of borscht.

One of them cats in the Iab

just had a Iitter of seven kittens,

and she's been up here

Ionger than we have.

And anything a cat can do,

me and Rosie can do too.

- Last call for dining car.

- Food!

One! Two!

- Shall we go, gentlemen?

- Yes, Mother!

Hey, Frank!

Ten-hut!

Be seated, gentlemen.

Mahoney has six little lambs

He has to watch their diet

They helped the colonel build his ship

And now they have to fly it;

Peasants!

Dig in, fellas.

Space smorgasbord.

Say, pretty good today.

Corned beef, I think.

Imagine...all the nourishment

you need,

no mess, no bother and no waste.

I think I still prefer to eat the hard way.

Hey, Jackie...pass me a cup of coffee.

Cream and sugar.

OK, so I volunteered.

So I'II eat.

- What are you eating it for?

- Colonel Merritt eats it.

- That's a reason?

- For 30 years,

me and the colonel have been

banging around together.

Korea, Africa, China, now space.

If he intends to shove off

to anywhere else,

I ain't giving him any excuse

to Ieave me behind

because I ain't eating the proper diet.

Some more of that corned beef,

if you please.

You feeling better, son?

Oh...fine.

Mahoney, you know the colonel

a Iot better than the rest of us.

- You don't think he'II wash me up...?

- Stop worrying.

If he's going off on an excursion,

who's he gonna take?

He'II have to ask for volunteers again.

Us?

That son of his?

I happen to know by the grapevine

that the captain has already

put in for a transfer.

So that Ieaves you.

So I hope you and the colonel

will be very happy together.

This ain't kosher corned beef!

So the captain put in

for transfer, did he?

Well, good riddance, I say.

He's a fine officer.

He doesn't measure up

to his father's belt buckle.

You know...

...I was with the colonel the night

he got the word the kid was born.

We were in Indochina.

We did a Iittle bit of celebrating.

I remember the colonel,

captain he was then,

pointing up to the sky and said,

"You see that moon?

"That's his birthday present.

"Someday I'm gonna give it to him."

A balloon on a string would

mean as much to the ingrate.

Putting in for a transfer!

- This is a mistake.

- No mistake.

Compliments of Colonel Merritt.

- Steak!

- With mushrooms, yet.

Asparagus.

Go ahead, Roy...dig in.

Looks...

Looks delicious, doesn't it?

Go on, cut it. Cut that steak!

Man, that juice.

You were saying, Sergeant Brooklyn?

I was saying, Sergeant Imoto,

if it wasn't for a certain

fatheaded stool pigeon

just waiting for me to do it...

...man, I'd be Iapping up

that steak juice...

- Watch out!

- Look out!

Meteor, sir!

Evacuate section 34 and seal off!

Switch to alternate tanks

and compensators.

Fire all jets...

...sporadic blasts...

...stabilize the Wheel.

Boy, oh, boy, what a fortune I could

make with this thing at Coney Island!

Boy, I'm telling you!

What happened to my...?

What happened to my turkey?

Landing crew ready to make fast.

AII stations manned.

Let's go.

It's OK, Mr. Fenton. Don't be afraid.

You'II just float over.

Hiya, Johnnie.

Got you back on the milk run, I see.

Yeah. Somebody's got

to service this box kite.

- Brought you a visitor. Doctor...

- Dr. Fenton. Nice to see you.

The colonel's expecting you, sir.

If you'd Iike to freshen up first...

Thanks, Iater. If it's possible, I'd

better see the colonel at once.

Of course. Take charge of

the new men, Iieutenant.

This way, sir.

Come in.

George.

Thank heaven they sent you.

How are you, boy?

A bit rocky, but all right otherwise.

- And you, Sam?

- Oh, fit as a fiddle.

It's against regulations

to feel any other way on the Wheel.

- My own orders. Come on, sit down.

- Thanks, I will.

I didn't know until a half hour ago

that they were sending you up.

You remember my son,

Barney, don't you?

Dr. Fenton helped to plan every

detail of this Wheel, Barney.

They thought we were insane then,

didn't they, George?

Well, frankly, I thought so too...

...but here it is. You put it up here.

You know, for once, the International

Authority has really sent up somebody

who knows what it's all about.

And since you are one of the geniuses

responsible for that...monstrosity,

would you mind telling me what it is?

We assembled this thing

piece by piece as it came up,

according to your

brilliant specifications.

It's a masterpiece of technology

and electronics.

But it doesn't make one

particle of sense.

- In just what way do you mean?

- Well, here.

Take these wings, for instance.

What in blazes are wings

doing on this ship?

- There's no atmosphere on the moon.

- The moon?

And this booster. AII that power.

What are we gonna do,

go up to the moon, or going through it?

Or maybe we're supposed

to tow it back with us

so those bright boys

from every nation on Earth

can have a better Iook at it.

Is that the idea?

Working for one government

was bad enough,

but now we've got

all of them on our backs.

I think you'd better read your orders...

...general.

- General?

- Your promotion

is among these dispatches.

Congratulations, sir. A general!

Your orders, Sam.

And for you, captain, your transfer.

You'II be attached to Muroc,

I believe, as you requested.

You can return with me,

if you Iike.

Mars?

Mars, sir?

George, this is fantastic.

No more so than going to the moon.

Mars isn't the moon.

There's a slight difference of...

...several million miles.

Not one word.

No warning.

Just...take off and Ieave!

It's just across the solar system.

I tell you we're not ready, George.

Why wasn't I consulted?

We only reached the decision

yesterday.

There was some

discussion about your age,

and, well, General Cronin

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