"We're running it through the calculator to round off the rough edges," Hollender assured him.
The silence grew until the commander stood up and asked. "So, on the basis of what we've covered, am I too much of a gambler in going ahead?"
The others had risen and Eastburn was the first to offer his hand, the others following. They spoke at the same time their assurance and backing. But Hiller's thoughts were already dwelling on the most bothersome variable of all—Phil Bleck.
When he discovered from Hollender before he left that Bleck had no idea when the ship would enter the Inner Belt, the variable began to assume minor proportions.
"Test drill 30 minutes! Test drill 30 minutes!"
The commander adjusted the mike closer to his chest and turned up the volume on the portable transmission unit for the ship speaker system. Under the coming circumstances he would need as much freedom as possible.
The panel before him gradually lighted up as the stations checked in. They were in no hurry since he had informed them in the last meeting that the Inner Belt was still six hours away. That had provided Bleck with enough time to map what counteraction he had in mind to oppose a decision for continuing Marsward.
The commander noticed with satisfaction the colored lights wink on over the board, each with its own vital significance. The row to the left on the panel, half alight, indicated locked-open compartment doors. Near the bottom a circular array showed Eastburn was prepared to activate the gyros from the mechanical control center of the ship. The green bulb newly burning indicated Merrick had completed his check of the electronics at the control center in the next compartment to the commander's and was standing by.
The blue glow at the top of the board was Hollender at his observation post. The fire control posts—two, stationed near the ship's center—blinked in almost together. Wayne Somerset, chemical engineer, headed the patch crew made up of the zoologist and archeologist, the team which was the last to signal readiness.