CHAPTER 6

 "Jonner," said Aron, "there are a couple of blips on the radar¹ screen that shouldn't be there."

Jonner swung the control chair to look at the screen. There were two dots there, almost directly to the rear of the spaceship. Jonner watched them. They held their position on the screen.

"I don't know," he said. "Pretty large for meteors, and there doesn't seem to be any lateral² movement."

Their ship had just begun acceleration³, following a hyperbola that would break them free of Mars' gravity. It was a hyperbola that swung the ship against the direction of the planet's orbital travel, and, while speeding the ship away from the planet, slowed it in relation to the sun.

Jonner and Aron were on duty on the control deck. Stein and Farlan slept on the centerdeck below. Two 24-hour periods had passed since they captured The Egg and maneuvered⁴ it into the right orbit for their departure from the Martian area.

The blips grew on the screen, and still they did not move laterally⁵.

"Spaceships," Jonner decided⁶.

"They're following our course, and overtaking us."

"Marscorp ships!" exclaimed Aron. "But Jonner, we never were in radar range of any Marscorp ship or installation. How could they know our position and course?"

Without replying, Jonner arose from the control chair and went around behind the control board. The wires to the radio transmitter, which he had disconnected so carefully, had been reconnected.

"Aron," said Jonner, coming back to the control chair, "go down and chain Farlan to his bunk⁷. He's our Marscorp spy."

"He is?" Aron's eyes widened. "How do you know?"

"Because you haven't been out of my sight since we took The Egg in tow, and you haven't been near that control board while we were on duty. Stein must have let Farlan get away from him again."

"Why not Stein?"

"You forget. Stein and Wessfeld arrived together from Charax, at the rendezvous⁸. They had to be clean."

Aron unstrapped and arose.

"Shouldn't we boost acceleration and try to evade⁹ them?" he asked, gesturing at the radar screen.

"We can't now," said Jonner. "We're on an escape hyperbola and we've got to hold this acceleration until she runs out, or we'd throw it completely off."

Aron went below. Jonner watched the screen anxiously. The Marscorp ships must have set an interception¹⁰ course, for their acceleration was much too high to be following their own escape orbit. They were getting closer rapidly.

Jonner looked at the chronometer¹¹ and at the tape still ticking through the ship's control mechanism¹². Eleven minutes was a brief time, but it seemed long when enemy ships were overtaking them at twice their acceleration.

Towing The Egg, this old ship could not match the Marscorp attackers' acceleration. It could accelerate much faster than it was, but if he was to hit the Earthward orbit he had been ordered to take he would have to hold his present acceleration until the eleven minutes was up.

And the Marscorp ships got closer by the minute.

1 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

2 lateral   

adj.侧面的，旁边的

参考例句：

• An airfoil that controls lateral motion.能够控制横向飞行的机翼。
• Mr.Dawson walked into the court from a lateral door.道森先生从一个侧面的门走进法庭。

3 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。

4 maneuvered   

v.移动，用策略( maneuver的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵

参考例句：

• I maneuvered my way among the tables to the back corner of the place. 我在那些桌子间穿行，来到那地方后面的角落。 来自辞典例句
• The admiral maneuvered his ships in the battle plan. 舰队司令按作战计划进行舰队演习。 来自辞典例句

5 laterally   

ad.横向地；侧面地；旁边地

参考例句：

• Shafts were sunk, with tunnels dug laterally. 竖井已经打下，并且挖有横向矿道。
• When the plate becomes unstable, it buckles laterally. 当板失去稳定时，就发生横向屈曲。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 bunk   

n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话

参考例句：

• He left his bunk and went up on deck again.他离开自己的铺位再次走到甲板上。
• Most economists think his theories are sheer bunk.大多数经济学家认为他的理论纯属胡说。

8 rendezvous   

n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇

参考例句：

• She made the rendezvous with only minutes to spare.她还差几分钟时才来赴约。
• I have a rendezvous with Peter at a restaurant on the harbour.我和彼得在海港的一个餐馆有个约会。

9 evade   

vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避

参考例句：

• He tried to evade the embarrassing question.他企图回避这令人难堪的问题。
• You are in charge of the job.How could you evade the issue?你是负责人，你怎么能对这个问题不置可否？

10 interception   

n.拦截；截击；截取；截住，截断；窃听

参考例句：

• Aerial photography can provide valuable information on precipitation, evapotraspiration, interception, and runoff. 航空摄影可提供有关降水量、蒸发蒸腾量、入渗和径流量的有价值的资料。
• Light interception and distribution in hedgerow orchards with different alleyway widths is indicated in Fig. 56. 图56显示篱壁果园不同行间宽度的光能截取和分配的情况。

11 chronometer   

n.精密的计时器

参考例句：

• Murchison followed with his eye the hand of his chronometer.莫奇生的眼睛追随着他的时计的秒针。
• My watch is more expensive because it's a chronometer.我的手表是精密型的，所以要比你的贵。

12 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。