Chapter 6

 Ackerson was being carried through a path of humanity aloft on dozens of shoulders. He was waving to the hundreds of well-wishers as he was carried toward the battery of microphones waiting on the wooden platform erected¹ for the occasion. Wade² couldn't help but think of a hero of another age. Lindbergh. It must have been the same then. And who remembered those that followed him? Or those that paved the way so he could make it? Wade shook his head.

He turned away from the window quickly, heading for the desk and the bottle. The Secretary followed him with his eyes, undecided.

Boeman lifted the bottle high above his head in a toasting gesture. "To the hero."

"Don't, Wade."

The bottle paused there while the eyes of the two men met. Finally the bottle returned to the desk as Wade surrendered. Then he slumped³ down in the chair.

The Secretary placed his hand on Wade's shoulder. Boeman shook it off, and he was sorry instantly. "O.K. Frank. You win. Ackerson wins."

"Good," the Secretary said softly. "That's the way we want it. We have to prevent everyone from feeling the way you do now. It isn't that you're jealous of Ackerson getting the glory. And you know that Tomer doesn't mind. It's your worrying about him that's clouding your mind. Everyone would be feeling the same way."

The Secretary looked out the window. "We couldn't have that. It would have set space travel back years. Ackerson is powerful evidence that space flight is safe. Tomer is our insurance. We need that just as badly. We had no choice. We had to stake a claim on the Moon."

Wade poured another drink. "And that conceited⁴ ass⁵ is getting all the credit while Tomer is sweating it out up there on that cold chunk⁶ of rock—while everyone thinks he quit the project because he got cold feet."

"True." The Secretary shook his head. "But Tomer is our ace-in-the-hole if the iron curtain announces their intentions to land up there.

"Tomer can be contacted. He can set off the signal for the world to see. In the meantime we will be working to make the next flight a complete one. It won't take long. Tomer will manage."

"But Ackerson said the crater⁷ was red!"

"I know. And I'm wasting time talking with you. I should be looking at those movies he took."

Wade didn't watch the Secretary leave. He picked up the bottle and glass and went to the window.

Down on the ramp⁸ the P.A. began to crackle. Ackerson was beginning his speech.

Wade took out the letter that Ackerson had sent to him. He took out a match and touched the flame to it. It was better that way. He was finished with Ackerson. He had a job to do now, one that would consume him. He had to get the Starfrost II underway. He had to get there to get Tomer.

Suddenly he understood. There were all kinds of heroes. Men like Ackerson were driven by the lure⁹ of fame and money. Tomer became one because the job had to be done and there was no one else to do it. Lowe was one, in a way, fighting for peace against a world that was always in unrest. In a way Wade himself might fall in one category. The thought made him smile.

The Secretary was right, of course. The public would crucify them if they knew Tomer had been in the supposedly unmanned test rocket fired at the Moon with no way home.

Wade lifted his drink high in the air as Ackerson's deep voice carried into the room from the ramp below. "To a hero," he said. "A lonely hero." Wade's eyes were on the sky when he said it, on a spot where the Moon would be some hours later.

The End

 

1 ERECTED   

adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立

参考例句：

• A monument to him was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. 在圣保罗大教堂为他修了一座纪念碑。
• A monument was erected to the memory of that great scientist. 树立了一块纪念碑纪念那位伟大的科学家。

2 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

3 slumped   

大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下]

参考例句：

• Sales have slumped this year. 今年销售量锐减。
• The driver was slumped exhausted over the wheel. 司机伏在方向盘上，疲惫得睡着了。

4 conceited   

adj.自负的，骄傲自满的

参考例句：

• He could not bear that they should be so conceited.他们这样自高自大他受不了。
• I'm not as conceited as so many people seem to think.我不像很多人认为的那么自负。

5 ass   

n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人

参考例句：

• He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
• An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

6 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

7 crater   

n.火山口，弹坑

参考例句：

• With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
• They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

8 ramp   

n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速

参考例句：

• That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
• The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。

9 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。