46 days of super light travel and suddenly with no
warning the engines stopped. And the sensors bring good tidings, we were orbiting
something. Although we were feeling exhausted and tired of each other's company,
the halfway point of our journey and the excitement of Heechee
treasure brought back the action in the tight constraints of the ship.
We clustered around the viewscreens as though none of us stank to high heaven
(which was the case). We were orbiting a big planet that was what I saw. Neither
the boys nor Klara seemed to be excited. 'When do we
land on the planet?'
Klara looked at me as if pitying an ignorant baby. 'It's a gas giant'
'Well then let's get to work shall we? no point staring at the planet maybe we will get some Heechee signatures'
I heard 'fat chance' murmured, but it was too soft to identify the speaker.
Now I understand why people feel compelled to tamper with the navigation when it is against safety regulations