A Look Inside The Invincible

Page 1 of 2 The Invincible moved across the outermost quadrant of the Lyre Constellation. The heavy cruiser was propelled through space by photon drive. It was the largest ship at the disposal of the space fleet based in this section of the universe. The ship's complement numbered eighty-three men, presently asleep inside the hibernation tunnel. The flight distance was sufficiently short for it not to have been necessary to resort to full hibernation; the men were simply kept in deep sleep, body temperature regulated so as never to fall below 50 degrees F. Within the cruiser's control centre only the automats carried on their work. Dead centre in the direction finder hung the disk of a sun not much hotter than an ordinary red dwarf star. The moment the sun filled half the screen the space-drive automatically cut off. For a while dead silence reigned throughout the ship. The air-conditioning system and the computers functioned noiselessly. The slight vibration ceased when the photon stream no longer emerged from the spacecraft's stern. This stream had been like an infinitely long sword, sheathed in darkness, thrusting the cruiser ahead through the vastness of space. The Invincible was still coasting along just under the speed of light; rigid, deaf, and seemingly without any life aboard. Tiny lamps on the instrument panel reflected the dish glow of the distant sun looming large on the central videoscreen. Now the magnetic tapes started moving. Programmed coded strips crept slowly into the intake slots of a series of instruments. Sparks flew from the transformers; and the current flooded into the supply network, accompanied by a faint hum that was not heard by any living thing. << Start < Prev 1 2 Next > End >>