CHAPTER 5

 The spaceship slid up orbit, overtaking the shining ovoid from which antennae¹ sprouted² like pins from a pin-cushion. The captured G-boat was lashed³ to the spaceship's side.

"You'd think they'd have some defenses, anyhow," grumbled⁴ Tyruss, watching the ovoid on the screen.

"Why?" countered Jonner. "They knew we didn't have any G-boats left, and they didn't know we had any spaceships left, either. Of course, they don't know this is our target, but I'll bet they have some ships from Phobos on the way here now, anyhow."

Their timing⁵ was just right. Thirty minutes later The Egg would swing around the limb of Mars, in line of sight with Marsport. But so far there had been no chance for The Egg to receive a radio warning of the stolen G-boat.

The spaceship pulled abreast⁶ of The Egg and Jonner and Tyruss went across to it in spacesuits. They passed through the airlock to find The Egg's crew of three waiting with welcoming smiles. The smiles faded at the sight of their levelled heat-guns.

"Sorry you weren't expecting us," said Jonner, opening the face-plate of his spacesuit with his left hand. "You'll have to get into spacesuits."

They sent their captives through the airlock and across the intervening space to the spaceship, where the others would be awaiting them. Then Jonner and Tyruss searched The Egg for other Marscorp personnel. They found none.

"We'd better get a line on her and get under way before those ships from Phobos can get here," said Tyruss.

"Right," agreed Jonner, and they got busy.

A towline secured between the two vessels⁷, Jonner and Tyruss returned to the spaceship. The three Marscorp captives had been secured by chains to stanchions on the storage deck, just above the engine deck. Stein and Farlan, the engineers, were standing⁸ by.

"We're getting under way," Tyruss told them.

Stein and Farlan descended⁹ to the engine deck, and Tyruss and Jonner climbed to the control deck. On the centerdeck, Aron and Wessfeld, the astrogators, were asleep.

Tyruss climbed into the control chair and switched the radio to the Marscorp band. A voice blared from the communicator:

"Marscorp calling The Egg. Marscorp calling The Egg. Come in, Egg. Can you hear us, Egg? Rebels captured G-boat here. Double alert. Marscorp calling...."

Tyruss switched it off, laughing.

"A little late," he commented.

"Yes," said Jonner. "Keep the receiver on that band, Tyruss, because we won't be hearing from our side. But, until we finish our mission, I'm going to disconnect the sending equipment."

Jonner floated to the other side of the control deck and moved around behind the control board. He was busy disconnecting wires, a few minutes later, when he heard an exclamation¹⁰ from Tyruss.

He peeked¹¹ around the edge of the control board. The three Marscorp captives were floating up the companionway from below, heat-guns in their hands!

"Keep your hands off those controls, Reb," warned one of them. "This ship's staying right here."

"Wasn't there another one in this gang, Robbo?" asked another.

Tyruss twisted in his chair and reached for his heat-gun. One of the Marscorp men rayed him through the throat.

Cautiously, Jonner poked¹² the muzzle¹³ of his heat-gun around the edge of the control board. Methodically, he shot the three Marscorp men, one by one. They died without discovering the source of the invisible heat-beam that cut them down.

Tyruss was dead. Cursing, Jonner went below, heat-gun in hand. On the centerdeck, Wessfeld's body floated. Wessfeld was dead, burned through the chest. Aron was not there.

He found all three of the others, locked in the airlock, without spacesuits. Jonner watched Aron suspiciously as they emerged.

"What happened?" he demanded of Aron.

"I don't know," disclaimed¹⁴ Aron. "They woke us up. They had heat-guns then. Wessfeld tried to reach his, and they shot him. Stein and Farlan were already in the airlock when they brought me down."

"Stein, were you and Farlan constantly in sight of each other, as ordered?" asked Jonner, watching Aron. Did Aron's eyes widen apprehensively¹⁵?

Stein started.

"Why, no," he admitted. "Farlan was on the engine deck, and I was down in the airlock checking the spacesuits before blast-off. That's routine, you know. They herded¹⁶ Farlan down and caught me by surprise."

"That's right," said Farlan. "I was checking the engines when they came through the hatch from above with heat-guns."

"Damn!" exploded Jonner. "I gave everyone strict orders—all right, it's too late now. It just cost us two men, and one of the four of us left is a Marscorp spy. Everyone get above and strap¹⁷ down for acceleration¹⁸."

The spy was Aron or Farlan, but he still didn't know which. Aron could have feigned¹⁹ sleep, and slipped down to the storage deck to release and arm the Marscorp men. Or Farlan could have climbed from the engine deck and done it while Stein was in the airlock. Whoever it was, he had chosen to be locked in with the others—probably in case the sortie failed.

Now they were two men short, and still he would have to pair off with Aron and pair Stein with Farlan. They would have to go on twelve-hour duty shifts, with only four hours free time.

And to what purpose? As Tyruss had suggested several times, why couldn't they have just blasted The Egg out of space, if the purpose was to get rid of it? Why go to all the trouble of shifting it to an Earthward orbit? The Earth would be nowhere near the intersection²⁰ point when The Egg reached Earth's orbit, if that made any difference.

Jonner had at last let the others know, as he should have before, that one of them was a spy. But he would not tell them, as he had told Tyruss, that he had disconnected the radio transmitter. Let the spy try to get in touch with Marscorp now!

1 antennae   

n.天线；触角

参考例句：

• Sometimes a creature uses a pair of antennae to swim.有时某些动物使用其一对触须来游泳。
• Cuba's government said that Cubans found watching American television on clandestine antennae would face three years in jail.古巴政府说那些用秘密天线收看美国电视的古巴人将面临三年监禁。

2 sprouted   

v.发芽( sprout的过去式和过去分词 )；抽芽；出现；（使）涌现出

参考例句：

• We can't use these potatoes; they've all sprouted. 这些土豆儿不能吃了，都出芽了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The rice seeds have sprouted. 稻种已经出芽了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 lashed   

adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The rain lashed at the windows. 雨点猛烈地打在窗户上。
• The cleverly designed speech lashed the audience into a frenzy. 这篇精心设计的演说煽动听众使他们发狂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 grumbled   

抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声

参考例句：

• He grumbled at the low pay offered to him. 他抱怨给他的工资低。
• The heat was sweltering, and the men grumbled fiercely over their work. 天热得让人发昏，水手们边干活边发着牢骚。

5 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

6 abreast   

adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地

参考例句：

• She kept abreast with the flood of communications that had poured in.她及时回复如雪片般飞来的大批信件。
• We can't keep abreast of the developing situation unless we study harder.我们如果不加强学习，就会跟不上形势。

7 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

10 exclamation   

n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词

参考例句：

• He could not restrain an exclamation of approval.他禁不住喝一声采。
• The author used three exclamation marks at the end of the last sentence to wake up the readers.作者在文章的最后一句连用了三个惊叹号，以引起读者的注意。

11 peeked   

v.很快地看( peek的过去式和过去分词 )；偷看；窥视；微露出

参考例句：

• She peeked over the top of her menu. 她从菜单上往外偷看。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• On two occasions she had peeked at him through a crack in the wall. 她曾两次透过墙缝窥视他。 来自辞典例句

12 poked   

v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交

参考例句：

• She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
• His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 muzzle   

n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默

参考例句：

• He placed the muzzle of the pistol between his teeth.他把手枪的枪口放在牙齿中间。
• The President wanted to muzzle the press.总统企图遏制新闻自由。

14 disclaimed   

v.否认( disclaim的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She disclaimed any knowledge of her husband's whereabouts. 她否认知道丈夫的下落。
• He disclaimed any interest in the plan. 他否认对该计划有任何兴趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 apprehensively   

adv.担心地

参考例句：

• He glanced a trifle apprehensively towards the crowded ballroom. 他敏捷地朝挤满了人的舞厅瞟了一眼。 来自辞典例句
• Then it passed, leaving everything in a state of suspense, even the willow branches waiting apprehensively. 一阵这样的风过去，一切都不知怎好似的，连柳树都惊疑不定的等着点什么。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

16 herded   

群集，纠结( herd的过去式和过去分词 )； 放牧； （使）向…移动

参考例句：

• He herded up his goats. 他把山羊赶拢在一起。
• They herded into the corner. 他们往角落里聚集。

17 strap   

n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎

参考例句：

• She held onto a strap to steady herself.她抓住拉手吊带以便站稳。
• The nurse will strap up your wound.护士会绑扎你的伤口。

18 acceleration   

n.加速，加速度

参考例句：

• All spacemen must be able to bear acceleration.所有太空人都应能承受加速度。
• He has also called for an acceleration of political reforms.他同时呼吁加快政治改革的步伐。

19 feigned   

a.假装的，不真诚的

参考例句：

• He feigned indifference to criticism of his work. 他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。
• He accepted the invitation with feigned enthusiasm. 他假装热情地接受了邀请。

20 intersection   

n.交集，十字路口，交叉点；[计算机] 交集

参考例句：

• There is a stop sign at an intersection.在交叉路口处有停车标志。
• Bridges are used to avoid the intersection of a railway and a highway.桥用来避免铁路和公路直接交叉。