THE GREEN HILLS OF EARTH

He aimed for a near miss just outside Terminal's orbit, conning by instinct, for Weinstein's figures meant nothing by now. His aim was good; he did not have to waste his hoarded fuel on last minute side corrections to keep from hitting Terminal. When at last he was sure of sliding safely on past if unchecked, he braked once more. Then, as he started to cut off the power, the jets coughed, sputtered, and quit.

The Flying Dutchman floated in space, five hundred yards outside Terminal, speeds matched.

Jake switched on the radio. «Terminal – stand by for my line. I'll warp her in.»

He had filed his report, showered, and was headed for the post office to radiostat his letter, when the bullhorn summoned him to the Commodore-Pilot's office. Oh, oh, he told himself, Schacht has kicked to the Brass – I wonder just how much stock that bliffy owns? And there's that other matter – getting snotty with Control.

He reported stiffly. «First Pilot Pemberton, sir.»

Commodore Soames looked up. «Pemberton – oh, yes. You hold two ratings, space-to-space and airless-landing.»

Let's not stall around , Jake told himself. Aloud he said, «I have no excuses for anything this last trip. If the Commodore does not approve the way I run my control room, he may have my resignation.»

«What are you talking about?»

«I, well – don't you have a passenger complaint on me?»

«Oh, that!» Soames brushed it aside. «Yes, he's been here. But I have Kelly's report, too – and your chief jetman's, and a special from Supra-New York. That was crack piloting, Pemberton.»

«You mean there's no beef from the Company?»

«When have I failed to back up my pilots? You were perfectly right; I would have stuffed him out the air lock. Let's get down to business: You're on the space-to-space board, but I want to send a special to Luna City. Will you take it, as a favor to me?»

Pemberton hesitated: Soames went on, «That oxygen you saved is for the Cosmic Research Project. They blew the seals on the north tunnel and lost tons of the stuff. The work is stopped – about $130,000 a day in overhead, wages, and penalties. The Gremlin is here, but no pilot until the Moonbat gets in – except you. Well?»

«But I – look, Commodore, you can't risk people's necks on a jet landing of mine. I'm rusty; I need a refresher and a checkout.»

«No passengers, no crew, no captain – your neck alone.»

«I'll take her.»

Twenty-eight minutes later, with the ugly, powerful hull of the Gremlin around him, he blasted away. One strong shove to kill her orbital speed and let her fall toward the Moon, then no more worries until it came time to «ride 'er down on her tail.»

He felt good – until he hauled out two letters, the one he had failed to send, and one from Phyllis, delivered at Terminal.

The letter from Phyllis was affectionate – and superficial. She did not mention his sudden departure; she ignored his profession completely. The letter was a model of correctness, but it worried him.

He tore up both letters and started another. It said, in part: « – never said so outright, but you resent my job.

«I have to work to support us. You've got a job, too. It's an old, old job that women have been doing a long time – crossing the plains in covered wagons, waiting for ships to come back from China, or waiting around a mine head after an explosion – kiss him goodbye with a smile, take care of him at home.

«You married a spaceman, so part of your job is to accept my job cheerfully. I think you can do it, when you realize it. I hope so, for the way things have been going won't do for either of us.

Believe me, I love you. Jake»

He brooded on it until time to bend the ship down for his approach. From twenty miles altitude down to one mile he let the robot brake her, then shifted to manual while still falling slowly. A perfect airless-landing would be the reverse of the take-off of a war rocket – free fall, then one long blast of the jets, ending with the ship stopped dead as she touched the ground. In practice a pilot must feel his way down, not too slowly; a ship could burn all the fuel this side of Venus fighting gravity too long.

Forty seconds later, falling a little more than 140 miles per hour, he picked up in his periscopes the thousand-foot static towers. At 300 feet he blasted five gravities for more than a second, cut it, and caught her with a one-sixth gravity, Moon-normal blast. Slowly he eased this off, feeling happy.

The Gremlin hovered, her bright jet splashing the soil of the Moon, then settled with dignity to land without a jar.

The ground crew took over; a sealed runabout jeeped Pemberton to the tunnel entrance. Inside Luna City, he found himself paged before he finished filing his report. When he took the call, Soames smiled at him from the viewplate. «I saw that landing from the field pick-up, Pemberton. You don't need a refresher course.»

Jake blushed. «Thank you, sir.»