“Then where does it go?”
“As Gene said yesterday,” explained Zip, “it’s moving too fast to enter an orbit around the Earth, so Gene steered it into a course around the sun. It will take about seven months to circle the sun just inside Earth’s orbit. Then it will catch up to the Earth and can easily be placed into an Earth orbit at that time. Scientists from Starlight Enterprise will live on it and try to learn its secrets. In fact, a ship will be launched from SE in a couple of days with a crew of them. They’ll intercept the asteroid and start the exploration right away.”
Mark continued bringing Joe up to date. “The Captain’s got a team replacing the huge airlock on the surface of the asteroid, and the temporary power supply packets are being reloaded on the ships. We’re in complete control of the asteroid now.”
“Where’s Madera?”
“He finally got a full sleep, then went back into the complex. He can’t wait to find out how it all works. He’s hoping that Richard will put him in charge of the exploration team.”
Joe scooped a large helping of potatoes into his mouth, then talked around it to ask, “Well, when do we leave?”
“I’m excited about this place, and would like to explore a bit myself,” said Zip, “but more than anything, I’d like to go home. We can leave any time we want to.”
“I’d like to see Mr. Madera one more time before we go, and then take off for home.”
A day later, the Star Ranger was well on its way to Amundsen City. The Starmen were relaxed, seated comfortably at a small table in the lounge, with the ship on automatic pilot. The strains of Bach’s Little Fugue filled the ship.
Joe asked, “Is that the disk Montezuma Vly gave us?”