Oli, A Very New Moon
Page 38
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“It disappeared behind the moon,” George tried to explain as Doctor Branith lent over his shoulder surveying the screen.
“Widen the sweep then!” ordered Doctor Branith. “Search the circumference of the moon in case the ship appears.”
George altered the sweep, although he was fully aware that over such a great distance, the chances of picking up a clear signal of anything smaller than Gibraltar were slim. He was glued to the screen which displayed the moon as a round blue blob in the middle, when a small blip appeared to the right of the moon. Doctor Branith was still peering over his shoulder and immediately pointed at the object.
“What’s that?” he shouted.
George focused the radar to that point to get a clearer signal and printed out a data sheet.
“It appears to be an object, about one hundred metres in length with a mass of approximately two thousand tons and it’s stationary in space above the moon.”
George handed the printout to Doctor Branith, even though George was the only person who could possibly decipher the reams of numbers contained on the perforated A4 sheet of paper. Doctor Branith examined it.
Could this be a mothership? It’s definitely too big to be the little ship. Could the potential prize be even greater than I first imagined?
“Keep an eye on that object George,” said Doctor Branith. “I want to know if it moves an inch.”
George was on the verge of explaining that the equipment didn’t really possess sufficient sensitivity to determine such a small movement, but thought better of it.