Once in the control center, Gene took his seat at the main console, glanced at the Starman and the other men in the large room, then stared at the screen before him. He scratched his head, then placed his hands on the keyboard and activated it.
“Whew!” he exclaimed a moment later. “Well over 290,000 miles per hour! It would be better to turn this asteroid aside and pass by the Earth rather than try to bring it into orbit, as Zimbardo had planned at first. We’re going too fast for that!”
“My thoughts exactly,” said Madera, seating himself on a stool next to Gene. “Let’s see how you do it.”
Gene plotted coordinates and tracked the trajectory of the runaway asteroid, then calculated the amount of thrust needed to pass the Earth at a safe distance. He figured how much he could slow the asteroid down without putting too much stress on the inhabitants. When he was finished, he turned to Madera.
“Okay?”
“Looks right to me!”
“Well, then...here goes.” Gene entered the figures into the primary guidance system and activated it. Tears suddenly came into his eyes. “Oh, please let it be enough, let it be right, let it work,” he whispered.
The Starmen woke after twelve hours of sleep aboard the Star Ranger. Uncharacteristically, Joe was the last one up. He found a note in the washroom that read, “We’re on the Tempest. Join us for breakfast whenever you’re ready.” He washed up quickly and hastened to the SE fleet command ship.
Readily admitted, he found his two colleagues in the dining area. Mark and Zip were just finishing a large platter of scrambled eggs and cheese, potatoes, freshly-squeezed juice, and hot coffee. “I’ll have the same, but with tea,” he announced, and sat down.
“Yes sir,” came a voice from the galley.