On intersecting
orbit. Change course two degrees, hold for fifteen seconds, then resume
original heading. Will compensate for change nearer destination!"
Roger watched the scanner a moment longer. When the rumbling blast of
the steering jets sounded in the chamber and the meteor flash shifted on
the scanner screen, he returned to the problem in his hand.
Seven minutes later he turned to Strong and handed him the answer.
"Present position by dead reckoning is northwest quadrant of Mars,
chart O, area thirty-nine, sir," he announced confidently.
[Illustration: "_I was unable to get a sight on Alpha Centauri_"]
Strong tried to mask his surprise, but a lifted eyebrow gave him away.
"And how did you arrive at this conclusion, Manning?"
"I was unable to get a sight on Alpha Centauri due to the present
position of Jupiter, sir," replied Roger easily. "So I took a fix on
Earth, allowed for its rotational speed around the sun and took the
cross-fix with Regulus as ordered in the problem. Of course, I included
all the other factors of the speed and heading of our ship. That was
routine."
Strong accepted the answer with a curt nod, motioning for Roger to
continue. It would not do, thought Strong, to let Manning know that he
was the first cadet in thirty-nine years to make the correct selection
of Earth in working up the fix with Regulus, and still have the presence
of mind to plot a meteor without so much as a half-degree error.
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