“Yes,” the captain said in a choked voice, “it seems that Ben elected to go down with the Carefree.”
14. FIRST HOURS ON LUNA
Ben lost to them!
Garry could hardly believe it. Surely Ben could have found some way to save himself. Did he really have to make such a costly sacrifice?
No one aboard the flier cared to speak for several minutes after Mac’s tragic announcement. It had come as a devastating blow to all of them.
Finally, Isaac broke the solemn quiet: “It won’t be the same with good old Ben gone. He was a smart, brave guy. I’d like to have an ounce of all the scientific and mechanical knowledge he had.”
They had been so concerned over Ben’s fate that they had almost overlooked the fact that the rocky wilderness of the moon was staring them in the face; that in a few moments the flier would be either touching down on her surface or crashing along with the Carefree and Ben, her only human occupant.
Mac was guiding the craft into a slowly descending spiral. This would give the flier’s braking rockets time to reduce speed to safe level for the touchdown.
The Carefree was not in sight, although Garry searched the starry sky through the plastic walls of the flier. He was glad he could not find her. He would not have liked to see her crash.