Once, according to
the screen, the cruiser passed under an asteroid, with a clearance of
only a few hundred feet.
"You didn't miss that one by much," Rip told the space officer.
"Don't have to miss by much," he retorted. "A few feet are as good as a
mile in space. Our blast might kick them around a little, and maybe
there's a little mutual mass attraction, but we don't worry about it."
He pointed to a blip that was just swimming into view, a sharp green
point against the screen. "We do have to worry about that one." He
selected a lever and pulled it toward him.
Rip felt sudden weight against his feet. The green point on the screen
moved downward, below center. The feeling of weight ceased. He knew what
had happened, of course. Around the hull of the ship, set in evenly
spaced lines, were a series of blast holes through which steam was fired.
The steam was produced instantly by running water through the heat coils
of the nuclear engine. By using groups or combinations of steam tubes,
the control officer could move the ship in any direction, set it rolling,
spin it end over end, or whirl it in an eccentric pattern.
"How do you decide which tubes to use?" Rip asked.
"Depends on what's happening.
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