Meteor and Other Stories Page 5

  However, he reminded himself of his Pilot Officer’s ideas on the woman. A hidden part of her character must be very determined, otherwise she would not have started on this journey. And she had not complained so far.

  He waited until they had all sat down.

  ‘Mrs Morgan and gentlemen,’ he began, ‘I’ve called this meeting so that I can explain our present situation to you. Our side-rockets will not work. For some reason that we’re unable to discover, the right side-rockets are useless. The left side-rockets have exploded, and we cannot repair them. As you know, we use the side-rockets for steering, and, very importantly, for slowing and balancing the ship as it lands.’

  There was complete silence in the room for some moments. Then a slow, careful voice asked:

  ‘You mean that we can neither steer nor land - is that it?’

  Captain Winters looked at the speaker. He was a big man.

  Without having to try, he seemed to have a natural power over the rest of the people.

  ‘That is exactly what I mean,’ said the Captain.

  The silence of the room was broken as people realized the danger they were in. Someone else asked a question:

  ‘Does that mean we might crash on Mars?’

  ‘No,’ said the Captain. ‘We are slightly off our correct course so we shall miss Mars.’

  ‘And go on into outer space,’ added the questioner.

  ‘That’s what would happen if we didn’t change course,’ said the Captain. ‘But I think we can do something about it. When the left side-rockets exploded, they made us spin head-over-heels. We’re still doing that. It’s not the recommended way of travelling, but it does mean that if we choose exactly the right moment to fire our main rockets for a very short time, we shall be able to change course. I shall try to do the only thing possible, which is put us into orbit round Mars. If we do that, we shall neither crash on Mars nor go into outer space. It can be done, but I will not pretend that success is certain.’

  He stopped speaking, and looked at his audience. He saw fear on a number of faces. Mrs Morgan was holding her husband’s hand tightly, and her face was paler than usual.

  ‘And if we do get into orbit - what happens next?’ asked the big man with the slow voice.

  ‘I’ve spoken on the radio to Earth and Mars. They will watch us all the time, and send us help as soon as possible. Unfortunately, there is nothing on Mars that can help us. The ship will have to come from Earth, and the two planets are moving away from each other at the moment. It will take some months for them to reach us.’

  ‘Can we stay alive that long?’ the big man asked.

  ‘I’ve calculated that we have enough of everything to support us for about seventeen or eighteen weeks,’ the Captain replied.

  ‘And will that be long enough?’ someone else asked.

  It’ll have to be,’ the Captain answered, it will not be easy for us. Air, water, and food are the three things we need. Luckily, we won’t have to worry about air. We have the equipment to make used air fresh again. Water will be limited to one litre for each person every twenty-four hours. And that has to do for everything. Our most serious problem is food.’

  He went on to tell them about his plans for sharing the food and making it last. Then he tried to answer their questions without giving them too much, or too little, hope.

  As they all left the room at the end of the meeting, he looked once more at Alice Morgan and her husband. The Captain realized that her husband would suffer more than the other men because he would be worried about her. But she had to be treated in the same way as everyone else. If anything special was done for her, others would ask for special treatment for health and different reasons. That would lead to an impossible situation. No, he could only give her a fair chance like the rest. He only hoped that she would not be the first to die. It would be best for everyone if she was not the very first …

  *

  She was not the first to die. For nearly three months nobody died.

  Captain Winters succeeded in putting the Hunter into orbit round Mars. Then there was nothing to do but wait, as the ship went endlessly round and round Mars.

  On board the ship, people were bad-tempered, stomachs ached with emptiness, and health was suffering. When the food was shared out, they all watched jealously to see that everyone got exactly the same amount. Everyone went to sleep hungry, and woke up starving after dreaming of food.

  Men who had left Earth well-covered with fat and muscle were now thin. Their sunken eyes flashed with unnatural brightness from their grey, hollow faces. They had all grown weaker. The weakest lay on their beds too tired to move. The others looked at them, and thought to themselves: ‘Why waste good food on him? He’s going to die in any case.’ But so far nobody had died.

  The situation was worse than Captain Winters had expected. The tins of meat in several cases that had been badly packed had burst on take-off. The meat had gone bad, and the Captain had no choice but to throw it out of the ship. The men would have risked food-poisoning and eaten it, though it was crawling with creatures. Another case of meat had disappeared. The emergency packets contained dried food, and he dared not spare water to mix with it. It could be eaten dry, but it was hard to swallow, and tasted most unpleasant.

  He had to reduce everyone’s share of food. Even then, it would not last the seventeen weeks he had hoped for.

  However, the first death was caused by accident, not by illness or hunger.

  The Chief Engineer and Bowman, another member of the crew, wanted to have one last try to repair the side-rockets. The part of the rocket that they wanted to examine could not be reached from inside the ship, though it was inside the ship’s body. It could only be reached by cutting a hole in the ship from the outside. Captain Winters gave them permission to try, but he would not allow them to have the gas cutters, as these used up valuable air. The two men said they would rather try to cut a way in by hand than sit and do nothing.

  So each day they put on their space-suits and went out to work. As the skin of the ship was very tough, progress was very slow and became slower as the men became weaker.

  Then one day there was a crash, and the ship shook. Everyone rushed to the windows to look out. Bowman came into sight. He was floating round the ship. His space-suit had a large hole in it.

  He had not told the Chief Engineer what he was doing, and his death remained a mystery. Perhaps he had got tired of cutting by hand, and had used some explosive to try to make a hole.

  It depressed everyone to see the dead body going endlessly round the ship. There was no way of getting rid of it, so in order to show Bowman some respect and to get the dead man out of sight, the Captain had the body brought on board. The ship’s freezer had to be kept going for the remaining food, but several parts of it were empty. He decided to keep the dead body in the freezer room. Perhaps one day they would be able to give it a proper funeral.

  Twenty-four hours had passed since Bowman’s death. The Captain was writing his ship’s diary in the control-room when there was a gentle knock on the door.

  ‘Come in,’ he said.

  The door opened just wide enough to admit Alice Morgan. The Captain was surprised to see her. She had stayed in the background since the journey began. Her small requests had been made through her husband. Now she looked nervous, and it was obviously very hard for her to say what she had come to say.

  The Captain smiled to help her, and in a kind voice asked her to sit down. He noticed the changes in her. She was painfully thin, and she was no longer pretty. It had been very cruel to bring her on this voyage, he thought. Her fool of a husband should have left her back home in a comfortable little house near the shops. Winters was surprised that she had found the strength of mind and body to last as long as she had in these conditions.

  ‘And what can I do for you, Mrs Morgan?’ he asked.

  It … it’s not very easy,’ she began.

  ‘Has one of the men been … bothering you?’ he asked.


  ‘Oh, no, Captain Winters,’ she said, it’s nothing like that. It’s … it’s the food. I’m not getting enough to eat.’

  The Captain’s face and voice were gentle no longer.

  ‘None of us is,’ he told her.

  I know, but… Well, there’s the man who died yesterday. Bowman. I thought if I could have his share …’

  Her voice died away as she saw the look on the Captain’s face.

  He was not acting. He felt as shocked as he looked. For a moment he was unable to speak to this person who had made such a selfish claim. Her eyes met his, but there was no shame in them, and, strangely, she no longer seemed nervous.

  ‘I’ve got to have more food,’ she said urgently.

  Captain Winters suddenly became very angry.

  ‘So you just thought you’d steal a dead man’s share as well as your own! You’d better understand this clearly, young woman; we share, and we share equally. Bowman’s death means that we can all have the same amount of food for a little bit longer. That’s all it means. And now I think you’d better go.’

  But Alice Morgan did not move. She sat there completely still, except that her hands were shaking. In spite of his anger, he felt surprise. It was as if an armchair cat had suddenly became a hunter.

  I haven’t asked for anything until now,’ she said, I’m only asking now because it is absolutely necessary. That man’s death gives us a little extra, and I must have more food.’

  The Captain controlled himself with an effort.

  ‘Do you think that every one of us doesn’t ache as much as you do for more food? I’ve never heard such a selfish—’

  She raised her thin hand to stop him. The hardness of her eyes made him wonder why he had ever thought she was a mouse of a woman.

  ‘Captain. Look at me!’ she said, her voice sharp and commanding.

  He looked. After a few moments he stopped being angry and, instead, he was amazed and shocked. Her pale cheeks became pink.

  ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘You see, you’ve got to give me more food. My baby must have the chance to live.’ The Captain closed his eyes. ‘This is terrible,’ he said.

  ‘No. It isn’t terrible - not if my baby lives,’ she said. ‘It wouldn’t be stealing from anyone. Bowman doesn’t need his food any more - but my baby does. It’s simple, really. And it isn’t selfish. I’m really two people now, aren’t I? I need more food. If you don’t let me have it, you will be murdering my baby. So you must … must… My baby has got to live -he’s got to …’

  When she had gone, Captain Winters unlocked his private drawer and took out one of his carefully hidden bottles of whisky. He swallowed a small mouthful, which made him feel better. But his eyes were still shocked and worried.

  Should he have told her the truth? Should he have told her that her baby had no chance of being born? Should he have told her that the encouraging reports he put up on the notice board from time to time were all lies? But if he told her, she would tell her husband, and soon everyone would know. They would know that the rescue ship reported to be speeding towards them had, in fact, not yet been able to take off from Earth. When they all realized that they had no chance of survival, there would be real trouble.

  The Captain opened the top drawer of his desk and took out the gun he kept there. The time had come for him to carry it everywhere. Soon, he knew, he would need to use it on them - or on himself.

  There was a knock on the door, and Carter, the Pilot, came in.

  Captain Winters looked up, and was shocked by the man’s appearance.

  ‘Good God, man, what’s the matter with you?’ He opened the private drawer, and took out the bottle of whisky. ‘Have a drink of this. It will help you.’

  Carter took a large mouthful, and sent the bottle flying slowly back to the Captain. Winters caught it, and then put his hand up to catch two other objects that Carter pushed gently towards him. One was a key, and the other was a name bracelet. The bracelet belong to the dead man, Bowman, and the Captain needed it for the record. He had sent Carter to get it from the body locked in the freezer room. A man who had died Bowman’s death would be a horrible sight. That is why they had left him still in his space-suit instead of undressing him.

  I’m sorry, sir,’ said the Pilot, without looking up.

  ‘That’s OK, Carter. Unpleasant job. I should have done it myself.’

  It - it wasn’t only that, sir,’ said Carter. He looked up and his eyes met the Captain’s.

  ‘What do you mean?’ asked Winters.

  Carter made a big effort, and managed to say: ‘He - he -he hasn’t any legs, sir.’

  ‘Nonsense, man. I was there when they brought him in. So were you. He had legs all right.’

  ‘Yes, sir. He did have legs then - but he hasn’t now!’ said Carter.

  The Captain sat very still. For some seconds there was no sound in the control-room. Then he spoke with difficulty, and managed to say only two words:

  ‘You mean—?’

  ‘What else could it be, sir?’ asked Carter. ‘Good God? gasped the Captain.

  He sat staring with eyes that were filled with the same horror that he had seen in Carter’s.

  Two men moved silently along the corridor until they reached the door of the ship’s freezer room. They stopped, and while one kept watch, the other took out a long, thin key. He slipped it gently into the lock and after a few moments’ searching he found the spring. There was a small sound, and the door swung open. As it did so, a gun fired twice from inside the freezer. The man with the key dropped on to his knees, and then began to float a metre above the floor.

  The other man was still in the corridor. He pulled a gun from his pocket, and held it round the corner of the door. He fired twice into the freezer. A figure in a space-suit flew out of the freezer, and the man shot at it as it sailed past him. The figure hit the wall opposite, and stayed floating against it.

  The man with the gun turned and saw the Pilot, Carter, moving towards him. The man fired at Carter, and Carter fired back. When the man stopped firing, Carter did not.

  Carter moved towards the figure in the space-suit, and took off its mouthpiece. The Captain’s eyes opened slowly. He said in a whisper:

  ‘Your job now, Carter! Good luck!’

  The Pilot tried to answer, but there were no words, only the blood running into his throat. There was a dark stain spreading on his uniform. Soon his body was leaning against his Captain’s, as they floated against the wall.

  I thought they would last us much longer than this,’ said the small man with the light-brown moustache. ‘There were seven of them. Bowman, and the four who shot each other in the freezer, and the two who died.’

  ‘Yes,’ said the big man with the slow voice. ‘There were seven, but they didn’t last as long as you calculated.’ He looked round the living-room, counting heads. There were now nine people still alive on the Hunter.

  ‘OK. Let’s start,’ he said. ‘We shall draw for it, like this … Each of us will take one of these pieces of folded paper out of this bowl. We will hold our piece of paper unopened until I say the word. Then we will open them together. One of the pieces of paper is marked with an X. John, I want you to count the pieces of paper and make sure there are nine—’

  ‘Eight!’ said Alice Morgan sharply.

  All the heads turned towards her. The faces looked surprised, as if they had just heard a mouse shout. Alice was embarrassed, but she sat still, and her mouth was a hard straight line.

  ‘Well, well,’ said the large man with the slow voice. ‘So you don’t want to take part in our little game?’ ‘No,’ said Alice.

  ‘You’ve shared equally with us so far, but now we have reached this unfortunate point you don’t want to share chances?’

  ‘No,’ agreed Alice.

  ‘You’re reminding us that we men ought to put women first?’ he suggested.

  ‘No,’ said Alice, I’m simply saying that what you call your game is not fair. I suppose y
our plan is that the person who draws the X dies.’

  ‘Yes,’ said the man. ‘That person dies for the good of everyone. A great pity, of course, but unfortunately necessary.’

  ‘But if I draw it, two must die. Me and my baby. Do you call that fair?’ Alice asked.

  The group looked very surprised. The big man had no answer.

  ‘Very well, gentlemen. We shall vote on it. The question is: do you agree with Mrs Morgan’s claim that she should not take part in the draw, or should she take her chance with the rest of us? Those in—’

  ‘Just a minute,’ said Alice, in a stronger voice than any of them had heard her use before. ‘Before you start voting, you’d better listen to me.’

  She looked round, making sure that they were attending to her. They were.

  ‘The first thing is that I am much more important than any of you,’ she told them simply. ‘Don’t smile. I am, and I’ll tell you why.

  ‘Before the radio broke down, Captain Winters gave the world all the news of us that they wanted. The newspapers wanted to know more about me than about anyone. I made the headlines: GIRL-WIFE IN DEATH ROCKET. You are all men, and therefore not very interesting. I am the one woman … so I am young, and beautiful. I am a heroine…’

  She paused, letting them get used to the idea. Then she went on:

  I was a heroine even before Captain Winters told them that I was pregnant. After that I became unique. They are very, very interested in me, and they are madly interested in my baby. It will be the first baby ever born in a spaceship …

  ‘Now do you begin to see? You have a good story ready. Bowman, my husband, Captain Winters and the rest were killed while bravely trying to repair the side-rockets. There was an explosion that blew them all into space. That story may be believed. But if there is no sign of me and my baby -or of our bodies - how are you going to explain that?’

  She looked round the faces again.

  ‘Well, what are you going to say? That I was also outside repairing the rockets? Or that I killed myself by shooting myself out into space with a rocket? Just think it over. Newspapers all over the world are wanting to know about me — with all the details. It will have to be a very good story if the newspapers are going to believe it. And if they don’t believe it, there will be no point in your being rescued. They’ll hang you when you get back to Earth, or they may even kill you before you get there.’