"But not enough," Bairn said, "with the moon's gravitation field to reckon with."
All their hearts must have stopped then, when the steady thrum became a staccato beat. "This is it," Bairn said. The staccato turned to a broken rhythm, hesitated, and finally halted.
"God," said Herd, the co-pilot apologetically, "if the moon weren't around to hold us back."
But it was there, looming huge and ugly off the starboard side.
Parman said: "I can feel it pulling."
The strain made two or three of them giggle. Bairn said as if to a naughty child: "It isn't that strong, Ed."
Bairn's hand moved to click off the firing lever when the motors suddenly broke into thrumming life.
The inertia of new flight came to the ship again.
They made a frozen tableau, those men standing in the pilot's cubby.