2001_ A Space Odyssey - Arthur C. Clarke [18]
Miller seemed about to choke on his drink, but Floyd was made of sterner stuff. He looked his old friend straight in the eye, and said calmly: “TMA-1? What an odd expression. Where did you hear it?”
“Never mind,” retorted the Russian. “You can’t fool me. But if you’ve run into something you can’t handle, I hope you don’t leave it until too late before you yell for help.”
Miller looked meaningfully at his watch.
“Due to board in five minutes, Dr. Floyd,” he said. “I think we’d better get moving.”
Though he knew that they still had a good twenty minutes, Floyd got up with haste. Too much haste, for he had forgotten the one-sixth of a gravity. He grabbed the table just in time to prevent a takeoff.
“It was fine meeting you, Dimitri,” he said, not quite accurately. “Hope you have a good trip down to Earth — I’ll give you a call as soon as I’m back.”
As they left the lounge, and checked through the U.S. transit barrier, Floyd remarked: “Phew — that was close. Thanks for rescuing me.”
“You know, Doctor,” said the Security Officer, “I hope he isn’t right.”
“Right about what?”
“About us running into something we can’t handle.”
“That,” Floyd answered with determination, “is what I intend to find out.”
Forty-five minutes later, the Aries-1B lunar carrier pulled away from the Station. There was none of the power and fury of a takeoff from Earth — only an almost inaudible, far-off whistling as the low-thrust plasma jets blasted their electrified streams into space. The gentle push lasted for more than fifteen minutes, and the mild acceleration would not have prevented anyone from moving around the cabin. But when it was over, the ship was no longer bound to Earth, as it had been while it still accompanied the Station. It had broken the bonds of gravity and was now a free and independent planet, circling the sun in an orbit of its own.
The cabin Floyd now had all to himself had been designed for thirty passengers. It was strange, and rather lonely, to see all the empty seats around him, and to have the undivided attention of the steward and stewardess — not to mention pilot, copilot, and two engineers. He doubted that any man in history had ever received such exclusive service, and it was most unlikely that anyone would do so in the future. He recalled the cynical remark of one of the less reputable pontiffs: “Now that we have the papacy, let us enjoy it.” Well, he would enjoy this trip, and the euphoria of weightlessness. With the loss of gravity he had — at least for a while — shed most of his cares. Someone had once said that you could be terrified in space, but you could not be worried there. It was perfectly true.
The stewards, it appeared, were determined to make him eat for the whole twenty-five hours of the trip, and he was continually fending off unwanted meals. Eating in zero gravity was no real problem, contrary to the dark forebodings of the early astronauts. He sat at an ordinary table, to which the plates were clipped, as aboard ship in a rough sea. All the courses had some element of stickiness, so that they would not take off and go wandering round the cabin. Thus a chop would be glued to the plate by a thick sauce, and a salad kept under control by an adhesive dressing. With a little skill and care there were few items that could not be tackled safely; the only things banned were hot soups and excessively crumbly pastries. Drinks, of course, were a different matter; all liquids simply had to be kept in plastic squeeze bottles.
A whole generation of research by heroic but unsung volunteers had gone into the design of the washroom, and it was now considered to be more or less foolproof. Floyd investigated it soon after free fall had begun. He found himself in a little cubicle with all the fittings of an ordinary airline toilet, but illuminated with a red light that was very harsh and unpleasant to the eye. A notice printed in prominent letters announced: MOST IMPORTANT! FOR YOUR OWN COMFORT, PLEASE READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY!
Floyd sat down (one still tended to do so, even when