"Orbit 089—blast off minus one fifty-nine fifty-eight."
"You read me clear, Polaris ..."
Tom clicked off the switch and turned to the intercom. "Control deck to radar bridge. Do we have a clear tangent forward and up?"
"All clear forward and up, Tom," replied Roger.
"Control deck to power deck. Energize the cooling pumps!"
"Cooling pumps in operation," answered Astro briskly.
The giant ship began to shudder as the mighty pumps on the power deck started their slow, whining build-up. Tom sat in front of the control panel, strapped himself into the acceleration chair, and began checking the dials and gauges. Satisfied everything was in order, he fastened his eyes to the sweeping red second hand on the solar clock. The teleceiver screen brought a sharp picture of the surrounding base of the spaceship, and he saw that it was all clear. The second hand reached the ten-second mark.
"Stand by to raise ship!" bawled Tom into the intercom. The red hand moved steadily, surely, to the zero at the top of the clock face. Tom reached for the master switch.
"Blast off minus five—four—three—two—one—zero!"
Tom threw the switch.