The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Trouble with Telstar, by John Berryman

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

Title: The Trouble with Telstar

Author: John Berryman

Illustrator: John Schoenherr

Release Date: December 14, 2009 [EBook #30679]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TROUBLE WITH TELSTAR ***

Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

Transcriber's Note:

This etext was produced from Analog Science Fact & Fiction June 1963.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S.
copyright on this publication was renewed.

THE TROUBLE WITH TELSTAR

The real trouble with communications satellites is
the enormous difficulty of repairing
even the simplest little trouble.
You need such a loooong screwdriver.

by JOHN BERRYMAN

ILLUSTRATED BY JOHN SCHOENHERR

* * * * *

Doc Stone made sure I wouldn't give him the "too busy" routine. He
sent Millie to get me.

"Okay, Millie," I said to Stone's secretary. "I'll be right with you."
I cleared the restricted notes and plans from my desk and locked them
in the file cabinet, per regulations, and walked beside Millie to
Stone's office.

"It's a reflex mechanism, Mike," Dr. Stone said as Millie showed me
in. "Every type knows how to fight for survival." He took one
thoughtful puff on his pipe. "The old fud," he added.

"The solenoid again, Doc?" I asked.

"What else, Mike?" he said, raising his pale eyebrows. "It's Paul
Cleary's baby, and after all these years with the company, he doesn't
figure to go down without a fight."

So I was in the middle of it. I had no business to be there, either.
The design of that solenoid certainly hadn't been mine. All I had ever
done was find out how to destroy it. And after all, that's part of
what my lab does, and what I do, for a living.

"Quit staring out the window, Mike," Doc said behind me. "Here, sit
down."

I took the chair beside th