Chapter 25 Chapter 5 The First Man to Saturn

Frank Poole had done this sort of routine check before, but he didn't take it lightly—in space, it was suicide.He did the usual overhaul of Betty and her supplies of consumables; although he wouldn't be outside for more than thirty minutes, he made sure he had everything he needed for twenty-four hours before he told Hal to open the Airlock, use jet propulsion to plunge into that abyss. He moored Betty again to within twenty feet of the base of the antenna stand, and handed the controls over to Hal before stepping out of the capsule. "Going out," he reported to Bowman, "everything is under control."

"I hope you're right. I'm anxious to see that AE-35 part." "I promise to have it on the test bench in twenty minutes." There was a moment of silence as Poole drifted unhurriedly toward the antenna.Then, standing in front of the console, Bowman heard various gasps and grunts. "Maybe it won't do what was said; a locking bolt is stuck. I must have overtightened it—hey—it's out!" There was another silence; then Poole called out: "Hal - turn the pod searchlight twenty degrees to the left - thanks - done." Somewhere in the depths of Bowman's consciousness a faint alarm bell rang.Kind of weird - not really serious, just not quite normal.It took him a few seconds of worry to find out exactly why.

Hal carried out the order without first accepting it, as he usually does first.After Poole's work is over, they're going to investigate... Poole was too busy on the antenna brackets outside to notice anything unusual.He grabbed the circuit's chassis with gloved hands and shook it trying to pull it out of the groove. It was pulled up and Poole held it out into the less intense sunlight. "Here's the little dog bastard," he said, both specifically to Bowman and to the universe in general. "There's still nothing wrong with it in my opinion." Then he shut up.Suddenly he saw a movement in his eyes—in this space where no movement is possible.

He looked up in panic, and the two searchlights in the space capsule, which were supposed to fill in the shadow created by the sun, began to move away from him. Maybe it was Betty fluttering; maybe he accidentally dropped anchor.Then he saw the space pod coming straight at him at full speed, and he was too startled to be afraid. The scene was so unimaginable that even his ordinary physical reactions failed; he didn't try to avoid the monster that was charging straight at him.At the last moment, he regained his ability to speak, shouting: "Hal! Full brake..." But.It was too late.

On the Discovery, a half-cry on the radio made Bowman jump up, and only his seatbelt kept him from throwing him out of his chair. "What's the matter, Frank?" he called. no answer. he yelled again.Still no reply. Then, through the wide observation window of the ship, something came into his field of vision.He was no less amazed than Poole at seeing the pod fly at full speed toward the stars. "Hal!" he yelled. "What's going on? Full brake on Betty! Full brake!" Nothing happened.Betty continued to accelerate and fly in the direction she slipped away.

At the other end of the safety line trailing behind her, a spacesuit emerged.Bowman saw at a glance that the worst was coming.The limp shape of the spacesuit can only mean that it has lost air pressure and is open to the vacuum. But he still screamed for a while.As if chanting a mantra to bring the dead back to life, "Hey, Frank...Hey, Frank...can you hear me?...Can you hear me? ...Wave your hand if you can hear it...Maybe your transmitter is broken...Wave your hand! " Then, as if in answer to his entreaty, Poole actually waved his hand. For a moment, Bowman felt tingling at the root of his hair.The words he was about to shout disappeared on his suddenly parched lips.Because he knew that his friend could not be alive; yet he waved his hand...

In less than five minutes, the capsule and its satellites disappeared among the stars.Bowman watched her enter the extreme space for a long time, and hundreds of millions of miles ahead, there was a goal that he knew he would never reach at this time.Only one thought swirls in his mind. Frank Poole will be the first man to reach Saturn.