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.The more they accomplished, the more apparently remained to be done.With theuse of power tools to cut and handle the parts needed, the work took ongreater speed.But again, space presented its own problems.A grinder seemedlike a simple device.Yet when it was turned on in the machine shop and Jimwent to sharpen a pair of special scissors with which he trimmed the fabriclining, it proved a near dis-aster.The bits of metal and abrasive flew out ina straight line and then drifted and ricocheted around.Without gravity, therewas nothing to bring them to rest, and they made moving about in a flimsyspace suit nearly impossible.The use of the lathe or heavier tools wasclearly unthinkable.Thorndyke listened as Dan presented the reasons for spinning the station aheadof time, and shook his head.Spin HI109"It'll wobble, Dan.If it isn't exactly balanced, it will wobble like a toprunning down, and like an off-center wheel.Remember, it won't spin around thehub it'll spin around the center of mass.If one side is light and the otherheavy, it will have a center somewhere be-tween the hub and the heavy side.And we don't have the trim tanks ready.""So what?" Dan asked."So it wouldn't work for the men who want to doscientific experiments.And so our weight will fluctuate a little.Thatdoesn't matter now.We've placed most of the heavy stuff in pretty fairbalance already.If we don't get some weight, though, we'll probably never beable to keep some of the technicians we're going to need."Thorndyke considered."You've got a point, Dan.I've been trying to get somemen here who've been working on plant culture to replenish the air.But theycan't find anyone who could stand raw space.And I guess it would be prettyhard to set up a bunch of plants in water if the water wasn't held down bysome substitute for gravity.Let me think it over."He had plenty to think about.There was the matter of the spy, the complaintbefore theWorld Congress, which still hadn't come up yet, the delay in reaching theschedule the contract called for and the eternal difficulty of finding men whocould do the needed work under the conditions.The next day Thorndyke called Dan over, and nodded."Spin it!"They had a supply of larger rocket tubes than those110Step to the Siars used by hand with which they hoped to set it spinning.Thesewere to be placed along the outer edge of the wheel, like the little rocketson a pin wheel.When they were set off, the pin-wheel effect would bePage 49ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlcomplete, and the station should begin turning as smoothly as a phonographrecord on the turntable.Jim had wanted to be in on the job, and Dan nodded when he applied.He sighed."I've been try-ing to get you a job as foreman of one of the gangs, boy.But Ican't even put you up for lead man.Now that we're out of the worst part, theykeep crying for specialists.Bart and I'd be downgraded if they didn't havecontracts on us, I expect.But Thorndyke likes you.If there's any job youwant, you'll get it.""And you'd better tell this Jim he's a darned fool, Dan," Bart said."Settingthose rockets off isn't going to be a picnic."Jim soon found that Bart was right.Each of the rockets had to be testedcarefully against a compres-sion scale to make sure it was adjusted to exactlythe same thrust; otherwise, the stronger ones would have put uneven pressureon the edge of the wheel with some danger of buckling sections of it.The rockets had to be lined up precisely.Dan and Bart insisted on working onthe job.They had brought Jerry Wales, the station taxi jockey.One more wasneeded, and Jim suggestedTerrence Rodriguez; the little man could be depended on to follow orders, andhe had enough sense to question orders that soundedSpin It!Ill wrong before following them.Also, he could outwork most other men withoutcomplaining."You sure of that, kid?" Bart asked."Not that I'm questioning Terrence.He'sa good guy.But how would you know about the others?"Jim thought it over slowly.He had to admit that there was entirely too muchtruth in the implied answer to the question.He'd been far too busy to paymuch attention to what the other men were doing, particularly since the numberhad been swelling be-yond the original group."You might have made lead man," Bart went on."Dan didn't tell you the wholetruth.He suggested it to Thorndyke, who asked me.I turned you down, kid.Nope, I'm not apologizing.I'm just suggesting that when you get to know more about people and to workwith them, nothing will keep you from being lead man.Until then, theresponsibility of having to learn to watch them would drive you crazy.Sure, Ithink Terrence is a good man.But next time, I'd like to have you suggest adozen."Jim swallowed it, nodding glumly.He'd told him-self the same often enough.But knowing about a fault and correcting it weren't the same."I'll try,Bart," he promised."And and thanks!"But he wasn't sure he wanted to be lead man for a group [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]