Individual station reports trickled through the intercom. Miraculously, the bulk of the station had escaped damage.
"Line chamber's gone," Adams reported. "Other bulkheads holding, but something must have jammed the line machines. They ripped right out."
"Get repair crews in to patch leaks," Morrow shouted. He turned frantically to the radio. "Station to Moonbeam. Kramer! Are you all right?"
He waited an agonizing minute, then a scratchy voice came through.
"Kramer, here. What the hell happened? Something gave me a terrific yaw, but the gyro pulled me back on course. Fuel consumption high. Otherwise I'm okay."
"You ripped out part of the station," Kevin yelled. "You're towing extra mass. Release the safety lines if you can."
The faint answer came back, garbled by static.
Another disaster halted a new try to reach him.
With a howling rumble, the massive gyroscope case in the bulkhead split open. The heavy wheel, spinning at 20,000 revolutions per minute, slowly and majestically crawled out of its gimbals; the gyroscope that stabilized the entire structure remained in its plane of revolution, but ripped out of its moorings when the station was forcibly tilted.
Spinning like a giant top, the gyro walked slowly across the deck. McKelvie and Gordon scrambled out of its way.