When the engines compensated for the lost tube, the descent was more leisurely, and the ship settled gently—well, not exactly gently—on the surface of Eisberg.
Captain Quill’s voice came over the intercom.
“We are nearly a hundred miles from the base, Mister Gabriel. Any excuse?”
“No excuse, sir,” said Mike the Angel.
20
If you ignite a jet of oxygen-nitrogen in an atmosphere of hydrogen-methane, you get a flame that doesn’t differ much from the flame from a hydrogen-methane jet in an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere. A flame doesn’t particularly care which way the electrons jump, just so long as they jump.
All of which was due to give Mike the Angel more headaches than he already had, which was 100 per cent too many.
Three days after the Brainchild landed, the scout group arrived from the base that had been built on Eisberg to take care of Snookums. The leader, a heavy-set engineer named Treadmore, who had unkempt brownish hair and a sad look in his eyes, informed Captain Quill that there was a great deal of work to be done. And his countenance became even sadder.