"That's her," he announced.
"Congratulations, Roger. You hit it right on the nose!"
"How shall we approach her, sir?" asked Tom.
"We'd better wait until she sends up her flares."
"You mean the identification flares for safety factors?"
"That's right," replied Strong. "A white flare means it's all right to
come alongside and couple air locks. A red one means to stand off and
wait for instructions." Strong turned to the intercom.
"Control deck to power deck. Reduce thrust to one quarter space speed!"
"Power deck, aye," answered Astro.
"We'll wait until we're about two miles away from her and then use our
braking jets in the bow of the ship to bring us within a few thousand
feet of her," commented Strong.
"Yes, sir," said Tom.
"Work up an estimated range, Roger," said Strong, "and give me a
distance on our approach."
"Aye, aye, sir," Roger replied. "Objective four miles away now, sir."
"When we hit three miles," said Strong to Tom, "have Astro stand by the
forward braking jets."
"Aye, sir," said Tom.
"Three-and-a-half miles," said Roger a few moments later. "Closing in
fast. _Lady Venus_ looks like a dead ship."
"That could only mean one thing," said Strong bitterly. "There has been
a power-deck failure of some sort."
"Three miles to objective, sir," reported Roger. "I think I can pick her
up on the teleceiver now, but only one way, from us to her.
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