He saw the track start at the top: but before realization came that it had gone no farther than the center, his head jarred in an instantaneous headache. The quick jolt through his feet and buttocks arrived at the same time, and his sight washed away into a watery blur.
Naturally, after admonishing the crew to use ear plugs, he had neglected to use his. While his eardrums still throbbed with the sharp compression, he fought for clear vision.
The hull mockup illuminated, he searched for the point of impact on the electronic three-dimensional damage guide. No wonder all the rough stuff; it turned out to be a good-sized crater above the control compartment. Perhaps it hadn't been as bad elsewhere. There was no penetration, but after that wallop he wasn't looking forward to any.
"Check in!" he announced.
Dutifully the crew responded, their voices sounding heavy with affected steadiness.
"That landed on the front above control. The party's livening up, so stand by."
Hiller noticed with concern the starfield drifting by the ports. The positional dial showed 17.6 but falling.
"What's with the gyros, Art?" he asked.
"Impact shifted the ship position," he answered. "I'm resetting."
The commander bit his lip, suppressing the pun crossing his mind that this was a new angle. He hadn't figured that much kinetic energy affecting the ship position. As long as the impact came near center, fine; but with a strike near the extremities of the ship, naturally the effect was to spin it, like a top without a molecule of friction.