"That we go over the entire ship, make an inventory of all our instruments, and resources, and see if we can use them to get us out of here. Once we're headed for home we can philosophize as much as we please."
"You're right, of course," said Jan. "I don't see what we can possibly do on an effective scale. But, let's go!"
They put on a great show of activity, cataloguing the different varieties of storage products, instruments, and fuel. The list, Jan pointed out, was not impressive.
"We could, if we had the proper equipment, convert all our atomic fuel into a bomb," he said. "What effect that would have on a star that can radiate a billion times as much energy as we could throw at it, I don't know. I do know that it would leave us without fuel."
"And the creatures themselves—if there are any. How about them? Would they be destroyed?"
"They're used to tremendous gravity, incredible pressures and temperatures way up in the millions," Jan said. "Maybe the only way to harm them would be to lower those high values. That overgrown corona we saw might have been a pressure reducer. The black things were probably heat absorbers."
"Our radiation shield—" suggested Karin eagerly.
"Something like that might do the trick—if it were a trillion times as large. It would absorb the energy they need and scatter it as low frequency radiation. But a small shield system like this one wouldn't amount to more than a single drop of water thrown on a fire. We're too small, Karin. On this battlefield, we're out-classed."
"Then all we can do is wait to be picked off?"
"I'm sorry, Karin. If I have to go, this isn't the way I'd like it to end. I dreamed of sacrificing my life for you, so that you'd always remember me as a man of courage and integrity. As it is—" he shrugged.