Chapter 1

 "Tell 'em to look sharp, Bert. This pickup's got to be good." Kevin Morrow gulped¹ the last of his coffee and felt its bitter acid gurgle around his stomach. He stared moodily² through the plastic port where the spangled skirt of stars glittered against the black satin of endless night and a familiar curve of the space station swung ponderously³ around its hub.

Four space-suited tugmen floated languidly outside the rim⁴. Beyond them the gleaming black and white moonship tugged⁵ gently at her mooring⁶ lines, as though anxious to be off.

Bert Alexander radioed quiet instructions to the tugmen.

"Why the hell couldn't he stay down there and mind his own business?" Kevin growled⁷. "McKelvie's been after our hide ever since we got the appropriation⁸, and now this." He slapped the flimsy radio-gram.

He looked up as the control room hatch opened. Jones came in from the astronomy section.

"Morning, commander," he said. "You guys had breakfast yet? Mess closes in 30 minutes." Kevin shook his head.

"We're not hungry," Bert filled in.

"You think you've got nerves?" Jones chuckled⁹. "I just looked in on Mark. He's sleeping like a baby. You wouldn't think the biggest day of his life is three hours away."

"McKelvie's coming up to kibitz," Morrow said.

"McKelvie!"

"The one and only," Bert said. "Here, read all about it."

He handed over the morning facsimile torn off the machine when the station hurtled over New England at 18,000 miles an hour. The upper half of the sheet bore a picture of the white-maned senator. Clearly etched on his face were the lines of too many half-rigged elections, too many compromises.

Beneath the picture were quotes from his speech the night before.

"As chairman of your congressional watchdog committee," the senator had said, "I'll see that there's no more waste and corruption¹⁰ on this space project. For three years they've been building a rocket—the moon rocket, they call it—out there at the space station.

"I haven't seen that rocket," the senator had continued. "All I've seen is five billion of your tax dollars flying into the vacuum of space. They tell me a man named Mark Kramer is going to fly out in that rocket and circle the moon.

"But he will fail," McKelvie had promised. "If God had intended man to fly to the moon, he would have given us wings to do it. Tomorrow I shall fly out to this space station, even at the risk of my life. I'll report the waste and corruption out there, and I'll report the failure of the moon rocket."

Jones crumpled¹¹ the paper and aimed at the waste basket.

"Pardon me while I vomit," he said.

"We've been there," Kevin sighed deeply. "I suppose Max Gordon will be happy."

"He'll wear a hole in his tongue on McKelvie's boots," Bert said bitterly.

"Is it that bad?"

"How else would he get a first class spaceman's badge?" Morrow said. "He can't add two and two. But if stool pigeons had wings, he'd fly like a jet. We can't move up here without McKelvie knowing and howling about it.

"Don't worry," Jones said, "If the moon rocket makes it, public opinion will take care of the senator."

"If he doesn't take care of us first," Kevin said darkly. "He'll be aboard in 15 minutes."

1 gulped   

v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住

参考例句：

• He gulped down the rest of his tea and went out. 他把剩下的茶一饮而尽便出去了。
• She gulped nervously, as if the question bothered her. 她紧张地咽了一下，似乎那问题把她难住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 moodily   

adv.喜怒无常地；情绪多变地；心情不稳地；易生气地

参考例句：

• Pork slipped from the room as she remained staring moodily into the distance. 阿宝从房间里溜了出来，留她独个人站在那里瞪着眼睛忧郁地望着远处。 来自辞典例句
• He climbed moodily into the cab, relieved and distressed. 他忧郁地上了马车，既松了一口气，又忧心忡忡。 来自互联网

3 ponderously   

参考例句：

• He turns and marches away ponderously to the right. 他转过身，迈着沉重的步子向右边行进。 来自互联网
• The play was staged with ponderously realistic sets. 演出的舞台以现实环境为背景，很没意思。 来自互联网

4 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

5 tugged   

v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She tugged at his sleeve to get his attention. 她拽了拽他的袖子引起他的注意。
• A wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. 他的嘴角带一丝苦笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 mooring   

n.停泊处；系泊用具，系船具；下锚v.停泊，系泊（船只）(moor的现在分词)

参考例句：

• However, all the best mooring were occupied by local fishing boats. 凡是可以泊船的地方早已被当地渔船占去了。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译
• Her mind was shaken loose from the little mooring of logic that it had. 就像小船失去了锚，她的思绪毫无逻辑地四处漂浮，一会为这个想法难受，一会为那个念头生气。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

7 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 appropriation   

n.拨款，批准支出

参考例句：

• Our government made an appropriation for the project.我们的政府为那个工程拨出一笔款项。
• The council could note an annual appropriation for this service.议会可以为这项服务表决给他一笔常年经费。

9 chuckled   

轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
• She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。

10 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

11 crumpled   

adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。
• She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。