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Hail To The Chief
by
“We do have more than one of those ships, don’t we?” Fisher asked suddenly.
“Four on Moon Base; six more building,” said Senator Cannon.
“The downed ship must have been in touch with–” He stopped abruptly, paused for a second, then said: “I have an idea, Senator, but you’ll have to do the talking. We’ll have to convince the President that what we’re suggesting is for the good of the country and not just a political trick. And we don’t have much time. Those moon-cats shouldn’t take more than twelve or fifteen hours to reach the ship.”
“What’s your idea?”
“Well, it’s pretty rough right now; we can’t fill in the details until we get more information, but–” He knocked the dottle from his pipe and began outlining his scheme to the senator.
* * * * *
Major Valentin Udovichenko peered through the “windshield” of his moon-cat and slowed the vehicle down as he saw the glint of metal on the Earthlit plain ahead. “Captain!” he snapped. “What does that look like to you?” He pointed with a gloved hand.
The other officer looked. “I should say,” he said after a moment, “that we have found what we have been looking for, major.”
“So would I. It’s a little closer to our base than the radarmen calculated, but it certainly could have swerved after it dropped below the horizon. And we know there hasn’t been another ship in this vicinity.”
The captain was focusing a pair of powerful field glasses on the object. “That’s it!” he said bridling his excitement. “Egg-shaped, and no sign of rocket exhausts. Big dent in one side.”
Major Udovichenko had his own binoculars out. “It’s as plain as day in this Earthlight. No sign of life, either. We shouldn’t have any trouble.” He lowered the binoculars and picked up a microphone to give the other nine moon-cats their instructions.
Eight of the vehicles stayed well back, ready to launch rockets directly at the fallen spacecraft if there were any sign of hostility, while two more crept carefully up on her.
They were less than a hundred and fifty yards away when the object they were heading for caught fire. The major braked his vehicle to a sudden halt and stared at the bright blaze that was growing and spreading over the metallic shape ahead. Bursts of flame sprayed out in every direction, the hot gases meeting no resistance from the near-vacuum into which they spread.
Major Udovichenko shouted orders into his microphone and gunned his own motor into life again. The caterpillar treads crunched against the lunar surface as both moon-cats wheeled about and fled. Four hundred yards from the blaze, they stopped again and watched.
By this time, the blaze had eaten away more than half of the hulk, and it was surrounded by a haze of smoke and hot gas that was spreading rapidly away from it. The flare of light far outshone the light reflected from the sun by the Earth overhead.
“Get those cameras going!” the major snapped. He knew that the eight moon-cats that formed the distant perimeter had been recording steadily, but he wanted close-ups, if possible.
None of the cameras got much of anything. The blaze didn’t last long, fierce as it was. When it finally died, and the smoke particles settled slowly to the lunar surface, there was only a blackened spot where the bulk of a spaceship had been.
“Well … I … will … be–,” said Major Valentin Udovichenko.
* * * * *
The TV debate was over. The senator and the President had gone at each other hot and heavy, hammer and tongs, with the senator clearly emerging as the victor. But no mention whatever had been made of the Soviet announcement from Luna.