Rocket to Luna

Ted opened his eyes and looked down over the side of the couch. Merola was sitting up in his couch, his hands gripping the sides, his head staring at the deck.

“One of our men isn’t with us,” Merola went on, and Ted felt a hot flash of futility wash over his body. “He was a valuable man, and he rounded out a carefully selected crew. We’ll have to get along as best we can without him.”

Ted sighed heavily. Merola was talking about Jack as if he’d been killed in the line of duty. An impatience welled up inside him, and he wanted to scream the truth at the captain.

“Sir,” he started.

“Talbot was to have taken the place of any man in the crew if we ran into any trouble. Without that spare...”

“Sir,” Ted interrupted.

Merola looked up slowly, and his voice was extremely tired when he spoke. “What is it, Baker?”

“I just wanted you to know that...”

He stopped. What did he want them to know? What difference would it make now? They were already in space, headed for the Moon, and they apparently considered their loss an irreparable one.

“If you’re going to apologize,” Forbes cut in, “just skip it. The damage is already done.”

“Easy, Dan,” Merola said.

“Well, confound it!” Forbes shouted. “I’m plain burned up. How anyone could have the gall to assume he was a better man than the person who was specifically chosen for a job is just...”

“There’s no sense blowing your top,” Merola said. “He’s here, and we’ll have to make the best of it.”

“You can make the best of it,” Forbes said bitterly. “I’m just going to try and forget he’s around.”

Ted had the strange feeling that he was eavesdropping on a conversation he wasn’t supposed to be hearing. The men kept talking about him as if he weren’t there! He was beginning to feel like a rivet in the hull of the ship.

“Dan,” Dr. Phelps put in mildly.

“What?” Forbes’s voice was harsh.

“He’s only a boy. He made a mistake. Boys often make mistakes. If we let it upset us, we’ll be endangering the Moon trip.”

“Well, it has upset me, Doc. I’m sorry, but it’s upset me a lot. Suppose something does go wrong? What then? What’ll we do then?”

“Sir,” Ted said, “if I may...”

“Don’t give me the ‘sir’ business, Baker,” Forbes snapped. “You’re been sirring everyone like a recruit in Napoleon’s army.”

“I’m sorry, sir. I just...”

“The ‘sir’ routine doesn’t cut any ice with me, and I think George feels the same way. If you’d really had any respect for your superior officers, you wouldn’t have pulled such a fool stunt.”

“That’s just it, sir. I didn’t...”

Forbes swung out of his couch, his eyes flaring. “I said cut out the ‘sir’ routine! It’s coming out of my ears!”

“Dan, Dan,” Dr. Phelps interceded.

Forbes clenched his teeth and turned away from Ted. “I’m sorry, Doc. I’m a fine example of mental stability, am I not?”

“It’s not that,” Dr. Phelps said softly. “The boy is with us now. Believe me, I don’t like the idea of his forcible intrusion any more than you do.” He shrugged. “We can’t let it upset our equilibrium, though. Our crew was to have consisted of five men. We will get along with four.”

“Exactly,” Dr. Gehardt said, “as long as the boy doesn’t get in our way.”

Merola, who had been sitting thoughtfully with his chin cupped in his hands, suddenly said, “Maybe we’re tackling this in the wrong way.”

Ted’s heart skipped an apprehensive beat.

“How do you mean?” Forbes asked.

“Baker’s not exactly a complete loss, you know.”

“No?” Forbes asked derisively.

“I’ve been thinking,” Merola went on. “The boy has had training. After all, he’s within a year of being graduated from the Academy. It’s not as if we’d taken along someone who knew nothing at all about...”

“What are you driving at, George?” Forbes asked. “I hope it’s not what I’m thinking.”

“Well, what are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking you plan to substitute Baker for Jack.”

Merola shrugged sheepishly. “Well...”

“And I’m thinking I don’t like the idea. Not one bit. It smells from here to Mars. That’s what I’m thinking.”

Dr. Gehardt nodded his head. “Dan is right, George. I quite agree with him.”

“I’ll have to go along with the others,” Dr. Phelps said. “We’d be playing right into the boy’s hand otherwise.”

“Of course,” Forbes said triumphantly. “He obviously stowed away with the intention of taking Jack’s place. If we give it to him as a present, we’ll be condoning his action.”

Merola smiled. “Instead,” he said, “we’ll simply cut off our noses.”

“Huh?” Merola’s attitude threw Forbes off balance.

“To spite our faces,” Merola said. “We’ve got someone among us who could conceivably act as a spare. You’ve heard Baker talk about rockets. You know as well as I do that he’s not entirely ignorant on the subject.”

“I’ve also heard him talk about the Moon,” Forbes said caustically.

“All right,” Merola said, nodding, “look at it this way. Suppose we were lost in the jungle and the only person who could lead us out was a guide who had forced his way into the safari. Would you prefer to stay lost, or would you...”