Jimmy would not have been flying sky-bikes unless he had been slim and wiry, so he knew he could crawl through the interstices of the grid. But getting out again might be quite a different matter. It would certainly be impossible for him to turn around; so he would have to retreat backward.
Hub Control was delighted with his discovery when he had described the flower and scanned it from every available angle. There was no objection when he said: “I’m going after it.” Nor did he expect there to be; his life was now his own, to do with as he pleased.
He stripped off all his clothes, grasped the smooth metal rods, and started to wriggle into the framework. It was a tight fit; he felt like a prisoner escaping through the bars of his cell. When he had inserted himself completely into the lattice he tried backing out again, just to see if there were any problems. It was considerably more difficult, since he now had to use his outstretched arms for pushing instead of pulling, but he saw no reason why he should get helplessly trapped.
Jimmy was a man of action and impulse, not of introspection. As he squirmed uncomfortably along the narrow corridor of rods, he wasted no time asking himself just why he was performing so quixotic a feat. He had never been interested in flowers in his whole life, yet now he was gambling his last energies to collect one.
It was true that this specimen was unique, and of enormous scientific value. But he really wanted it because it was his last link with the world of life, and the planet of his birth.
Yet when the flower was within his grasp, he had sudden qualms. Perhaps it was the only flower that grew in the whole of Rama. Was he justified in collecting it?
If he needed any excuse, he could console himself with the thought that the Ramans themselves had not included it in their plans. It was obviously a freak, growing ages too late—or too soon. But he did not really require an excuse and his hesitation was only momentary. He reached out, grasped the stem, and gave a sharp jerk.
The flower came away easily enough. He also collected two of the leaves before starting to back slowly through the lattice. Now that he had only one free hand, progress was extremely difficult, even painful, and he soon had to pause to regain his breath. It was then that he noticed that the feathery leaves were closing, and the headless stem was slowly unwinding itself from its supports. As he watched with a mixture of fascination and dismay, he saw that the whole plant was steadily retreating into the ground, like a mortally injured snake crawling back into its hole.
I’ve murdered something beautiful, Jimmy said to himself. But then, Rama had killed him. He was only collecting what was his rightful due.
CHAPTER 31
TERMINAL VELOCITY
Commander Norton had never yet lost a man, and he had no intention of losing one now. Even before Jimmy had set off for the South Pole he had been considering ways of rescuing him in the event of an accident. The problem had turned out to be so difficult, however, that he had found no answer. All that he had managed to do was to eliminate every obvious solution.
How does one climb a half-kilometer vertical cliff, even in reduced gravity? With the right equipment, and training, it would be easy enough. But there were no piton-guns aboard Endeavour, and no one could think of any other practical way of driving the necessary hundreds of spikes into that hard mirror surface.
He had glanced briefly at more exotic solutions, some frankly crazy. Perhaps a simp, fitted with suction pads, could make the ascent. But even if this scheme was practical, how long would it take to manufacture and test such equipment—and to train a simp to use it? He doubted if a man would have the necessary strength to perform the feat.
Then there was more advanced technology. The EVA propulsion units were tempting, but their thrust was too small, since they were designed for zero-gee operation. They could not possibly lift the weight of a man, even against Rama’s modest gravity.
Could an EVA thruster be sent up on automatic control, carrying only a rescue line? He had tried out this idea on Sergeant Myron, who had promptly shot it down. There were, the engineer pointed out, severe stability problems; they might be