Well, I saw how she felt. And I didn't much blame her for feeling she had a right to make at least one farewell trip to the part of space wherefrom her lover had disappeared. The Old Man growled softly. Then he wiped his glasses with a sort of savage vehemence. And he said, "Well, then, get your things packed. And Sparks—call Chief Garrity. Tell him to have the hypos and all control equipment ready for immediate flight—"
Thus at twelve midnight sharp, Earth time, which is 7-R-4 Solar Constant, the Saturn lifted gravs for Europa, the second satellite of monstrous Jupiter.
There's no use boring you with the routine details. We blasted from a Long Island cradle, set course and constant for Europa, waited till we were about six hours away from the Earth's gravitational field, then cut over to the V-I unit—the "velocity intensifier" invented by Lancelot Biggs which had made the Saturn the fastest ship in space, increasing its speed potential from a slovenly 200,000 mph to something only a trifle less than the limiting velocity of light.
In the old days, before the installation of the V-I unit, a shuttle to Jupiter meant a journey of about a hundred days, more or less, depending on the positions of the planets. Now, however, the Saturn had a speed potential of 650,000,000 miles per hour! Which didn't mean that we could actually get to Jupiter in an hour. There were other factors which had to be allowed for: initial velocity, deceleration upon approaching our goal, and all that stuff.
To make a short story stubby, though, we could look forward confidently to setting foot on Europa within two days at the most.
Which gave us a big jump over the rest of those who were high-balling it for the wealth-laden satellite.
Dick Todd, looking awkward and a trifle embarrassed in his First Officer's braid, came to my turret at the end of our first day's flight. Things had happened so suddenly that no one had found time to tell him the score. He was one huge question mark on toes.
"How come, Sparks?" he demanded. "What's this all about? First we're on leave of absence, then they dump us in the Saturn and shove us off for Europa. Why?"
I said, "The answer's as simple as your half-witted brother. What do you get from the bank, stupid?"