(Beware the errors. Hot off the press!)

The Argent cleared the Earth’s atmosphere and slowed to a stop. Guthrie powered down the ship’s engines and she floated freely.

“Master Billy,” Guthrie said, “I have parked us in a stable orbit and we will need to remain here while I go to the observatory.”

“Yeah. Sure.” Billy snatched a sheet of paper from the air nearby. “Here’s the form. I know you don’t believe in writing anything down, but us humans can’t remember numbers worth a damn. Well, that’s not quite true. I did know one fellow who could remember numbers.”

“Master Koothrappally?” Guthrie asked. “You have alluded to him in the past.”

“I’m willing to bet he could out-compute even you,” Billy said.

“I will make a full recording of everything required,” Guthrie said. “I calculate that we are twenty-seven hours behind in our launch window. We will likely need…