CHAPTER THREE
"Status report!" Ponkert yelled to the monitor over the blare of the siren, as he and Jan scrambled into their jumpsuits. They were professionals, trained to react to emergencies and overcome them. Their pleasure of seconds ago was forgotten in the urgency of the ship's situation.
"Malfunction of the fusion reactor," the monitor responded. Its calm recorded voice seemed out of place in light of the pending disaster. "The magneto hydrodynamic field has collapsed. Eight minutes until destruction. Instruction?"
"Jesus God!" Ponkert muttered to himself, then shouted to the computer. "Emergency ejection of return pods. Program landing radius one mile of the first pod's touchdown. Begin immediate ejection of the matter transmitter, then the remaining pods. Jettison Jan and me as
