The legs
held a movable cradle in which the rocket racks were placed. High-geared
hand controls enabled the gunner to swing the cradle at high speed in
any direction except straight down. A simple, illuminated optical sight
was all the gunner needed. Since there were neither gravity nor
atmosphere in space, the missiles flashed out in a straight line,
continuing on into infinity if they missed their targets. Proximity fuses
made this a remote possibility. If the rocket got anywhere near the
target, the shell would explode.
Rip found his astrogation instruments set carefully to one side. He
removed the data sheets from his case and examined them. Now came the
work of finding the spots in which to place his atomic charges. Since the
computer aboard ship had done all the mathematics necessary, he needed
only to take sights to determine the precise positions.
He took a transit-like instrument from the case, pulled out the legs of
its self-contained tripod, then carried it to a spot near where he had
estimated the first charge would be placed. The instrument was equipped
with three movable rings to be set for the celestial equator, for the
zero meridian, and for the right ascension of any convenient star.
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