“We haven’t yet figured how to cross that big ditch,” Hugh pointed out.
“I’ve thought of that too,” Rock said. “We can carry along a bunk ladder out of one of the dorms. From here it looks as if the ladder will span the ditch.”
“It sounds risky,” Johnny remarked.
“We’ve got to do something,” Shep countered. “I agree with Rock. How about you and me trying it, Rock?”
The matter was settled. But before anyone could go outside, the area had to be given time to clear of residual radioactivity around the atomic rocket nozzles. After waiting an hour, Rock and Shep got the ladder and carried it downstairs several flights to the air lock.
The ladder was tossed through the air lock to the ground. It floated feather-light. The former cadets descended by way of the ship’s ladder. They carried a Geiger counter for checking contamination. Besides the portable ladder, they had with them binoculars, a safety rope, and a walkie-talkie radio for communicating with the Northern Cross.
The area was free of contamination. The boys found walking quite awkward at first and laughed at their own clumsy efforts as they fairly danced along through the volcanic and meteoric dust. There was quite a difference between being absolutely weightless in magnetic-soled shoes and being of one-sixth Earth weight without such shoes. They finally got the hang of it and found they could take gliding steps of about five feet at a time.
They kept behind rocks and ground rises to minimize the chance of their being seen. They still could not be certain Kalmus had not seen the Northern Cross come down.
The rocks and ground were covered with a down of hoarfrost. This was due to Luna’s scant moisture content condensing in the exceedingly rare atmosphere which was made up principally of carbon dioxide. As they moved along, Rock saw that Shep was beginning to grow a whitish fuzz of dry ice on his suit.
It was hard for Rock to realize that the temperature around them was several hundred degrees below zero, while only a scant mile or two farther out it was hotter than boiling water under the full rays of the sun. This was only one of Luna’s many strange features that fascinated him. He wished this had been a trip of exploration and fun instead of the grim battle that it was.