Read the following passage and questions, then choose the right answer from options, the answer should be one of A, B, C, D.

<passage>:
viscous mud of Venusport Base and surveyed his new command with a for two-thirds of the 720-hour day had stopped at last, but now a of feeling. Then he motioned wearily to his companion, and together unhappily into the thick air above the two men as they reached the Aphrodite's Executive, and he had been with her a full year ... which was a record for Execs on the Aphrodite . She generally sent them Earthside with nervous breakdowns in half that time. "Tell me, Captain," continued Cob curiously, "how does it happen "The same." this?" He indicated the monitor expressively. Strike sighed. "Well, now, Cob, I'll tell you. You'll be spacing with me and I guess you've a right to know the worst ... not that you "In the first place I seem to have an uncanny talent for saying the danger...." to his former aide. I got this." after the "I begin to see what you mean, Captain." Aphrodite's nether belly affectionately. "She's old ... but she's loose. And we're not likely to "A surge-circuit monitor, so help me." formative stage, and at the time of the Aphrodite's All three were miserable failures. The eager officers commanding the three monitors had found the circuit too appealing to their hot little hands. They used it ... in some way, The And the Aphrodite's starboard tubes blew, causing her to spend her store of vicious energy spinning like a Fourth of July pinwheel under 20 gravities until all her interior fittings ... including crew were a tangled, pulpy mess within her pressure hull. The Aphrodite was refitted for space. And because it was an integral part of her design, the circuit was rebuilt ... and sealed. She became a workhorse, growing more cantankerous with each passing year. She Strike felt vaguely uncomfortable. He knew, of course, that at least a uncomfortable." rheostat. bridge at 600 hours for Captain's briefing. Officer of the Deck will "Orders, Captain?" 600 hours. In the meantime you'll take over his part of the work. See to it that we are fueled and ready to lift ship by 602. Base will start loading the mail at 599:30. That's about all." paused. "Captain," he asked, "Who is the new E/O to be?" Hendricks, I. V. Hendricks, is what the orders say." shoulder-straps, and even the shapeless garment could not hide the obvious trimness of her figure. Strike's back was toward the bulkhead, and he was addressing the others. "... and that's about the story. We are to jet within 28,000,000 miles specific about mail runs. This is important to you, Evans. Your astrogation has to be accurate to within twenty-five miles plus or minus the shortest route. And there'll be no breaking orbit. Now be nodded. "That's the story. Lift ship in...." He glanced at his wrist chronograph, "... in an hour and five." Strike was perplexed, and he showed it. "Why, certainly ... uh ... Aphrodite had burned a steering tube through, and it had been necessary to go into free-fall ten hours behind schedule, and Strike and Evans, the Astrogation Officer, were sweating out the unforeseen changes introduced into the orbital calculations by the time spent in free-fall. The Aphrodite rumbled on toward the orbit of Mercury.... For all the tension between the occupants of the flying-bridge, Strike space, a reluctant admiration was replacing the resentment between spent a lot of time at the controls, and Strike was forced to admit that he had never seen a finer job of piloting done by man or woman. At 30,000,000 miles from the sun, the Aphrodite's refrigeration units could no longer keep the interior of the ship at a comfortable and the routine business. But the thing that made Strike curse under his breath was Celia Graham's notation that the Atropos weight and balance. Ivy went about her work on the bridge without speaking, and Strike made no attempt to brighten her sudden depression. scrambler. It was a distress signal from the . The The trying to pull the heavy vessel to safety, but even the thundering power of the Lachesis' mighty drive wasn't enough to break Sol's "Well, dammit, hold it still so I can!" snapped Strike. He read the it ! This is the chance I've been praying for, Strike!" I mean this!" She touched the red-sealed surge-circuit rheostat. the woodwork ... very messily, too." "Let me understand you, Ivy," said Strike in a flat voice. "What you "Frankly, Ivy, I haven't enough sense to be afraid. But are you so certain that we can pull this off? If I make a mistake this time ... it'll be the last. For all of us." "We can do it," said Ivy Hendricks simply. Strike turned to Cob. "What do you say, Cob? Shall we make it hotter in and hold it. We'll home on their carrier wave. They're in trouble and we're going after them. Plot the course." "Yes, Captain?" Her voice was low. "Take over Control ... and Ivy...." "Yes?" She nodded silently and took her place at the control panel. Smoothly Lashed together with a length of unbreakable beryllium steel cable, the Lachesis and the frantic flame that lashed out from the Lachesis' tube was fading, her fission chambers fusing under the terrific heat of splitting atoms. the darkened viewport. perspiration. Sweat ran from her hair into her eyes and she gasped for breath in the oven hot compartment. Strike watched her with apprehension. Atropos . It plunged straight and true, spilling cable as it flew. It slammed up against the hull, and stuck there, fast to the battleship's flank. Quickly, The heat in the Aphrodite's bridge was unbearable. The thermometer comparison. Ivy fought her reeling senses and the bucking ship as the slack came panel. " Strike was beside her, cradling her head in his arm. "I ... I ... can't make it ... Strike. You'll ... have to run ... the show ... after ... all." Strike laid her gently in an acceleration chair and turned toward the control panel. His head was throbbing painfully as he broke the seal on the surge-circuit. Slowly he turned the rheostat. Relays chattered. From deep within tube-rooms. The whining rose in pitch. The spinning of the ships in space slowed. Stopped. With painful deliberation, they swung into line. More power. The whine changed to a shriek. A banshee wail. gauges showed the accumulators full. " Now! " He spun the rheostat to the stops, and black space burst over his brain.... The last thing he remembered was a voice. It sounded like Bayne's. And it was shouting. "We're moving 'em! We're pulling away! We're...." And that was all. Lachesis , and old Aphrodisiac ... lashed together and drifting in space. Every man and woman aboard out cold from the acceleration, and Aphrodite's tanks bone dry. But they "All right," said Strike, setting down his glass. "What's on your mind, "All I said to him...." "I know. I know what you said ... and it won't bear repeating. But

<question>:
How would you describe the changes in tone throughout the passage?

<options>:
A The story remains relatively calm except for the climax
B The story has an early climax with a big reveal, but the majority of the story is nerdy and filled with space-travel details
C The story is intense at the beginning but calms by the end
D The story remains fast-paced and stressful throughout

<answer>:

A