Harold say about tearing the suit?
He closed the outer door. As he returned the pressure to the
compartment, the suit became limp against him, and Orville was so weak
that he sank to the floor. He was still lying there when Harold took off
the headpiece.
"It's a total flop," Orville told him. "It's been a waste of time. No
use going out."
* * * * *
He told Harold about the narrow escape he'd had in the fog. _Fog_ on the
Moon? This didn't sound right to Harold. He was fooling with the helmet,
scratching frost from the inside of the visor. "Couldn't you get the
defroster working? This little button right here. I showed you."
Orville knew, to his shame and disgust, that he had been looking at his
own breath all of that time.
Harold now insisted on going out. Orville shined the flashlight around.
He was looking for the souvenir, and he found it, near their feet.
It was a package carefully wrapped in paper, some of the refuse which he
had thrown outside.
That figures, he thought bitterly. Well, anyway, I was _first man_. They
can't take that away from me!
Harold was gone a long time. The nose of the ship was becoming very cold
and the only light came from the luminous dial of Orville's watch. What
was Harold doing out there? Maybe he'd snagged his suit and blown up
like a soap bubble. How long should Orville wait before giving up? He
should have learned how to run the ship, in case of an emergency like
this.
A distant clank startled him. The ship rolled slightly. Orville reached
out a hand in the dark to steady himself and chilled when he realized
what he'd put his hand on. It was the starting switch.
What was that idiot doing out there?
Then Harold was back, breathing hard, squinting through his one good
lens. "Boy, what a sight! I'd give anything for a camera!"
"Never mind that! Let's go! I'm freezing!"
They were off without any trouble and the dim violet light returned and
the ice on the compartment walls began to melt. When the ship was
settled on course, Harold took off the rest of the spacesuit, pulled
some paper from the glove compartment of the dashboard and began
writing.
"It's the official report," Harold said presently. "Getting it all down
while it's fresh in my mind."
"Let's see that!" Orville couldn't read Harold's handwriting. "What's it
say?"
"You really want to hear it? Well...." Harold cleared his throat
modestly and began to read. "'The
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