Transcriber's Note:
This etext was produced from Analog Science Fact & Fiction April 1963. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.
LAST RESORT
The phenomenon of "hysterical strength" at the physicallevel is well known. Wonder what the equivalent phenomenonat the psychological level might do....
by STEPHEN BARTHOLOMEW
ILLUSTRATED BY GEORGE SCHELLING
I inflated a rubber balloon and set it adrift. The idea was that infree fall the balloon would drift slowly in the direction of the leak.This was the first thing I did after I had discovered the trouble. Imean it was the first action I took. I had been thinking about it forsome time. I had been thinking about what a great distance it was fromPacific Grove, California to Mars, and how I would never breathe theodor of eucalyptus again.
I watched the white balloon floating in the middle of the cabin. Lightreflected from a spot on its surface, and it made me think of aMoonglobe I used to keep on my desk when I was in college. I hadturned off the fan, and tried to hold my breath to keep fromdisturbing the air. The balloon drifted slowly a few feet aft, wobbledthere for a minute or two, then began to drift forward again. Idecided to indulge in the rare luxury of a cigarette. I lighted one,reached over, and popped the balloon. The piece of rubber hung in theair, limp and twisted. I had not expected that trick to work.
The rate of leakage was very low. It had been some thirty-six hourssince I'd first noticed it. This was one of those things, of course,that were not supposed to happen in space, and often did. Everyprecaution had been taken against it. The outer shell of the ship wastough enough to stop medium-velocity meteoroids, and inside the shellwas a self-sealing goo, like a tubeless tire. Evidently the goo hadn'tworked. Something had got through the hull and made a pinhole leak. Infact the hole was so small that it had taken me nearly thirty-fivehours to compute the rate of leakage exactly. But it was big enough,it would do.
I had held the clipboard in my hand for a long time, rechecking thelittle black numbers on it again and again. Then I had warmed up thetransmitter, raised Lunar Base, and reported what had happened. I hadnot reported before because I had not even been sure I had a leak.There's a normal seepage rate, of course; a certain amount of air willseep right through the molecular structure of the hull. That's whatthe reserve tanks are for. But I had been out a long time, and therewasn't enough left in the tanks to compensate for this. Not quite.
So I reported to Base. The operator on the other end told me to standby for instructions. That was for my morale. Then I spent some timethinking about Pacific Grove, and the white house there, and the standof eucalyptus. Then I blew up the balloon and popped it. As I waswatching the piece of rubber hang motionless in the air the receiverbegan clicking. I waited till it stopped, then pulled out the tape andread it. It said, HAVE YOU INSPECTED HULL? I switched on the send keyand tapped out, JUST GOING TO. STAND BY.
I opened the locker and broke out my spacesuit. This was the firsttime I had put it on since lift-off. Without help, it took me nearlyhalf an hour to get it on and then check it out. I always did hatewearing a spacesuit, it's like a straitjacket. In theory I could havekept it on, plugg