For two hours he pushed buttons, snapped
switches and jockeyed controls. He gave orders and received them from
the thin metallic voices. They answered him with such accuracy, and
sometimes with seeming hesitation, that Tom found it difficult to
believe that they were only electronically controlled recording devices.
Once, when supposedly blasting through space at three-quarters space
speed, he received a warning from the radar bridge of an approaching
asteroid. He asked for a course change, but in reply received only
static. Believing the recording to have broken down, he turned
inquiringly to Captain Strong, but received only a blank stare in
return. Tom hesitated for a split second, then turned back to the
controls. He quickly flipped the teleceiver button on and began plotting
the course of the approaching asteroid, ignoring for the moment his
other duties on the control deck. When he had finished, he gave the
course shift to the power deck and ordered a blast on the starboard jet.
He waited for the course change, saw it register on the gauges in front
of him, then continued his work.
Strong suddenly leaned over and clapped him on the back
enthusiastically.
"Good work, Corbett. That broken recording was put there intentionally
to trap you. Not one cadet in twenty would have had the presence of mind
you showed in plotting the course of that asteroid yourself.
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