Calhoun looked at a clock and opened his mouth to speak again, when a taped voice said abruptly: "When the gong sounds, breakout will be five seconds off.
When breakout came, the overdrive field must collapse and the Duhanne cells down near the small ship's keel absorb the energy which maintained it.
More would have been fatal for had we been forced to resort to a quick breakout to avoid enemy action, and if we were travelling above one Lume when we hit threespace, we'd simply disappear, leaving a small spatial vortex in our wake.
There was no answer from the ground when breakout came and Calhoun drove the Med Ship to a favourable position for a call.
Calhoun had his four students estimate its distance again, pointing out the difference that could be made in breakout position if the Med Ship were mis-aimed by as much as one second of arc.
On the ship-day after, the time forbreakout approached.
A breakout at no more than sixty light-hours from one's destination wasn't bad, in a strange sector of the galaxy and after three light-years of journeying blind.
As the investigating small ship drew nearer to the deathly-still cargo vessel, the guesses about the meaning of its breakout and following silence grew more and more wild.
But the first breakout was just far enough from the Wealdian system for Calhoun to be able to pick out its planets with the electron telescope at maximum magnification.
His young students took command in four-hour watches, with at least one breakout from overdrive in each watch.
A breakout at no more than sixty light-hours from one's destination wasn't bad, in a strange sector of the Galaxy and after three light-years of journeying blind.
As the investigating small ship drew nearer and nearer to the deathly-still cargo vessel, the guesses about the meaning of its breakout and following silence grew more and more wild.
But the first breakout was just far enough from the Wealdian system for Calhoun to be able to pick out its planets with electron telescope at maximum magnification.
Presumably, it had made the customary earlier breakout to correct its course and measure the distance remaining to be run.
The Isis drove for that planet, while Bors tried to decide whether the remarkable accuracy of this breakout was due to accident or to Logan's computations.
There was the unbearable double sensation of going into, and breakout from, overdrive simultaneously.
Bors almost chanted, while with gestures toward the radar-screen he picked out the objects near which breakout should fall.
Space-yacht Sylva reports breakout from overdrive and asks coordinates for landing.
He sketched out in his own mind a course of action that would be possible to follow after breakout off Mekin.
A voice said, "Sir, the space-liner Vestis reports breakoutfrom overdrive.
It gave an exact time for the breakoutof the Mekinese fleet.
The intolerable discomfort of entry and immediate breakout from overdrive was ever present.
It would have assembled itself at that breakout point, but it would still arrive in a disorderly mob.
Bors aimed the ship according to the calculation Logan had given him, scrupulously setting the breakout timer to the exact figure listed.