Charles Dye

Name: Momentum
Author: Charles Dye

Momentum (1951)

Summary

“Momentum”, published in 1951, is a work by Charles Dye. It explores elements such as Ballard, Walton and rotenite.

Quotes from Momentum (Charles Dye)

Charles Dye, Momentum (1951)

“ He couldn't spare the time to turn his head and watch Walton, but he could follow the other's progress in welding the framework of the blinker tower by the irregular breathing and clanks and buzzes coming through his earphones. He listened to Walton's motions with an automatic alertness developed over six long weeks of tension—ever since the finding of the rotenite nuggets on the second of the light-marker asteroids. The rotenite represented enough wealth to make them among the richest men in the solar system. Or one of them—the richest. That was what Ballard was afraid of. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Charles Dye, Momentum (1951)

“ Forty-five minutes to go. The beam wasn't going to work. The sudden realization cut into Ballard like a knife. He should have known that in the first place; a beam meant for plastic wasn't intense enough for the skin of a spaceship.
This time as Ballard once more climbed the hill, the stars seemed to be smiling at him. But not with friendliness. They seemed to smile death.
He got the jackhammer all the way down to the ship before a devastating thought struck him. He'd forgotten that the hammer had a cracked 5R bit; it would fly to pieces on the diamond hardness of the hull. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Charles Dye, Momentum (1951)

“ The power-pack was empty.
Ballard's reason reeled. He grabbed the crowbar and jabbed at the fast cooling metal.
Too late.
In the one minute he had left to live, Ballard suddenly became calm, reconciling himself to his end. Wearily he crawled out of the tube. At least Walton would be in for a nasty surprise, with the main drive recoil plate gone. And to make sure, he would push it off into space. With one last surge of fury he dragged up the foot thick plate he could never have lifted back on Earth, and started shoving to give it momentum.
Momentum equals velocity times mass. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Charles Dye, Momentum (1951)

“ Mass is a constant. Weight is a variable, but mass is what knocks holes in things—spaceships, for instance.
Just one thing could save him now—momentum. Ballard glanced at his wrist. Twenty seconds to go. Then maybe another twenty from the oxygen in the connecting tube. Not much time—
He bounded off after the still-drifting plate, then began forcing it around in a semi-circle back toward the ship. The recoil plate sluggishly began to move faster as it gained momentum. It started getting ahead of him so he gave it one last push, and it slowly crept away heading straight for the hull. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Charles Dye, Momentum (1951)

“ Carefully, so not to exert himself and waste oxygen, he glided down with his gear to the aft section of the Minnow's hull just forward of the tubes where the skin was thinnest. As he ignited the torch, he was aware of what a temptation it was to drain off all the oxygen contained in the power-pack into his own cylinder. Quickly he went ahead and applied the torch to the skin of the ship. Ballard glanced at his chronometer: An hour and a half to go. Good. Fifteen minutes would be long enough to tell whether the torch would cut through the skin or not. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Charles Dye, Momentum (1951)

“ Asteroid 1207 came spinning into the auxiliary ship's viewplate like a glittering black mirage. The eight-mile chunk of rock was the last link in a chain of nine asteroid navigational-markers still needing blinker equipment installation. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Charles Dye, Momentum (1951)

“ So—the lock is jammed and you have left little over two hours of suit oxygen. And while you're out there suffocating to death, I'll be waiting in my sleep-tank on a nice euphoriac jag. It's going to be nice being the richest man in the—"
"Wait! Walton, listen! You're all wrong! I—"
Walton had cut his radio. For a moment, Ballard dumbly stood there, his mind racing around like a pin-wheel. Slowly it stopped, as numbing fear coursed through his nervous system. He'd under-concealed his suspicions, after all; Walton had suspected him of the very same thing he'd suspected Walton of. ”

Charles Dye

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Quotes from Momentum (Charles Dye)

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