Page:Fantastic Universe (1956-10; vol. 8, no. 3).djvu/23

40 least. Unless you'd rather sit around on your hands—"

Hugh gave him the go ahead, and he put the technicians on a round the clock basis to rig the ship for the Ragalian's special benefit. Even at that it was four days before the ship was ready to go.

The H-62 was a big ship, the biggest that a small yard like Wilkinson Spacecraft could turn out. She was a hundred and eighty feet high and forty-five in diameter. Fittings could be furnished for either cargo or passenger service or a combination of both. Only fourteen models had been built since the yard was organized by Hugh Wilkinson. Even he had begun to believe they might never make another one.

On the day of takeoff the ship rose smoothly from the port as the party settled themselves aboard. The vessel had an inertia control which was strictly a Wilkinson achievement. Even though forced patent sharing made it available to other companies there was a conviction in the trade that Wilkinson did a job of production that was not matched anywhere else.

The Ragalian was irritable and intractible, almost to the point of rudeness. He appeared to consider the delay in launching the vessel as a personal insult. But George assumed personal charge of the foreign technician and spent every available hour with him, absorbing his gripes with patient attempts at understanding.

The quarters prepared in the hold were such that the Ragalian could get out of his suit into an atmosphere normal to him. When visiting in the same room, George was the one to put on a protective suit. This gave the engineer a good chance to observe closely the physical makeup of his charge. He watched to the point of staring, absorbing the details of the Ragalian's bearing, gestures, his waddling walk, the occasional rippling that seemed to make the whole epidermis quiver in rare moments of excitement. Carefully, second by second, the hidden instruments recorded the pattern of Sleth Forander's physiological reactions.

After forty-eight hours George considered that he had a sufficient record of the Ragalian's norm on the charts. He proposed then a tour of the ship. The visitor agreed without visible expression. George wondered what the charts would show of that moment.

Outside the special chamber, the Ragalian moved clumsily along in his can-like suit. Gravity was adjusted to make it easier for him to balance with the long arms.

George took him first to the engine room and pointed out the massive main thrust members that absorbed the titanic push of the drive chambers. "Here's where the most difficult modification will have to take place," he said. "It will be necessary to redesign the entire thrust structure. You see, if it is located in the nose, along with