"But can't you turn the ship?" he asked bewilderedly. "Any kind of an orbit—"
"No. I've just explained that."
"Then what do you propose to do, Captain?"
"That's exactly what I'm asking you."
There was a babble of voices from the loudspeaker, punctuated by bursts of static. The lights flickered and reception began to fade. Rajcik, working frantically, managed to re-establish the contact.
"Captain," the official on Mars said, "we can't think of a thing. If you could swing into any sort of an orbit—"
"I can't!"
"Under the circumstances, you have the right to try anything at all. Anything, Captain!"
Somers groaned. "Listen, I can think of just one thing. We could bail out in spacesuits as near Mars as possible. Link ourselves together, take the portable transmitter. It wouldn't give much of a signal, but you'd know our approximate position. Everything would have to be figured pretty closely—those suits just carry twelve hours' air—but it's a chance."