The following day I had to use my crutches again; up to that moment I had almost forgotten that I was handicapped. But I didn’t really mind, because I knew that high adventure was right ahead.
In the morning there had been a decided change. It was bright, brilliant daylight; the two pilots on duty were wearing very dense sunglasses. Charlie, who had been up all night taking down the guide ropes inside the cabin and performing other duties, told me that we were back on conventional control and if all went well we would land in a matter of hours. Dr. Kawaziki had already sampled the atmosphere, through a special vent for the purpose, to see if it was fit for us to breathe.
Almost the whole crew was on the bridge now, attending to hundreds of minor things all of which seemed to have been th
