Evda Nahl returned slowly to her place. Groin Orme asked if anyone else wished to speak but nobody responded.
The members of the Council asked the President to propose final judgement. The thin, wiry figure of Grom Orme leaned forward on the rostrum and his piercing glance penetrated to the back of the hall.
“The circumstances on which we have to give judgement are quite simple. I do not hold Renn Bose in any way responsible. What scientist would not take advantage of such possibilities, placed at his disposal, especially if he were certain of success? The disastrous failure of the experiment will serve as a lesson. There has, however, been something gained that will, to a certain extent, recompense us for the material losses; the experiment will help solve a number of problems that the Academy of the Bounds of Knowledge has only just begun to think about.
“We have long since given up petty economies when it comes to the solution of great problems or the employment of our productive forces and have abandoned the tendency to utilitarian adaptation typical of the old economic system. Problems that arise during the reconstruction of production processes or during research are solved on a grand scale. Even today, however, the moment of success is sometimes incorrectly understood because there are people who forget that the laws of development are immutable. It seems to them that progress must be endless….
“The wisdom of a leader lies in his ability to recognize the highest permissible level at a given stage and in his ability to stop, wait or change his course. Mven Mass has proved incapable of such leadership. The Council made a wrong choice and the Council are as much responsible as the man they selected. In the first place I am at fault myself, since I supported the proposal of two members of the Council to invite Mven Mass for the post.
“I propose that the Council exonerate Mven Mass as having acted from the highest motives but forbid him to occupy any post in the governing bodies of the planet. I should also be removed from my position as President of the Council and sent to make good the damage done by my unfortunate selection — I should help build the new satellite.”
Grom Orme cast a glance round the hall and saw the sincere regret expressed on many faces. The people of the Great Circle Era, however, did not try to persuade one another but respected other people’s decisions and trusted to their correctness.
Mir Ohm discussed the matter with the other members of the Council and the calculating machine announced the result of the voting. Grom Orme’s proposal was accepted without dissension but with the proviso that he conduct the present meeting to the end of the session.
He bowed and his face, controlled by his iron will, did not change its expression.
“I must now explain my reason for postponing the discussion of the Cosmic Expedition,” continued the President in a calm voice. “It was obvious that the matter would end favourably and I think the Control of Honour and Justice will agree with us. I may now ask Mven Mass to take his seat in the Council as we are faced with a serious discussion. His knowledge is essential to us for the correct solution of our problems, especially as Erg Noor cannot participate in today’s discussion.”
Mven Mass walked over to the Council seats and green lights of good-will flashed up all over the hall, lighting his way.
The maps of the planets moved noiselessly aside and their place was taken by grim black charts with the stars shown in coloured lights, the blue lines of the interstellar routes proposed for the next century linking them up. The President of the Council was a changed man. His cold passionless attitude had vanished, a warm glow lit up his greyish cheeks, his steel-grey eyes grew darker. Grom Orme mounted the rostrum.
“Every Cosmic expedition is a long-cherished dream; it is a new hope that is carefully nurtured for many years, it is another step upward in the great ascent. It is also the labour of millions of people for which there must be due recompense, a very substantial economic or scientific gain, otherwise our forward movement would cease and there would be no further victories over nature. That is why we enter into such detailed discussions and make such careful calculations before a new ship shoots off into interstellar space.
“It was our duty to send out the 37th Cosmic Expedition to learn the fate of Zirda instead of continuing our own exploration. To compensate for this we have been able to discuss the 38th Expedition more thoroughly.
“A number of events that occurred last year have brought changes that necessitate a re-examination of the route and objectives of the expedition that had been approved by previous Councils and by a planet-wide discussion. The discovery of methods of processing alloys under high pressure at absolute zero temperature gives us material of higher durability for the hulls of the ships. Anameson motors have been improved and are now more economical which, of course, increases the ship’s radius of activity. The spaceships Aella and Tintagelle that had been earmarked for the 38th Expedition are now out of date in comparison with the newly built Lebed, a round-hulled vessel of the vertical type with four stability keels. Longer flights are becoming possible.
“Erg Noor, now back from the 37th Expedition, has informed us of his meeting with a black star of the T class, on whose planet his expedition discovered a spaceship of unknown construction. Efforts made to enter it nearly cost the whole party their lives but they managed to bring back a piece of the metal of its hull. It is a substance that we do not know, here on Earth, although it resembles the 14th isotope of silver discovered on the planets of the very hot Os class star long since known by the name of Zeta Carinae.
“The spaceship is a disc, convex on both sides, with a crudely spiral surface, a design that has been discussed by the Academy of the Bounds of Knowledge.
“Junius Antus has been through the information records of the Great Circle for the entire eight hundred years since we joined it. A spaceship of this type cannot be built by science and engineering that follow our line of development and are at our present level of knowledge. Such ships are unknown in those worlds of the Galaxy with whom we have exchanged information.
“A disc spaceship of such gigantic proportions is undoubtedly a visitor from some inconceivably distant planet, perhaps, even, from some extragalactical world. It could have continued its journey millions of years after the death of its crew before landing on the planet of the iron star in our desert region on the fringe of the Galaxy.
“There is no need for me to enlarge on the importance of a study of that ship by a special expedition to star T.”
Grom Orme switched on the hemispherical screen and the hall disappeared. The records of the memory machines moved slowly across the screen.
“This is a recently received communication from planet CR 519,1 will omit the detailed coordinates for the sake of brevity, about their expedition to the Achernar system.”
The positions of the stars seemed peculiar and even the most experienced eye could not recognize well-known heavenly bodies. The screen showed patches of dully luminous gas, dark clouds and, lastly, huge dead planets that reflected the light of a terrifically bright star.
Achernar had a diameter only three and a half times that of our Sun but its luminosity was 280 times greater: it was an indescribably bright blue star belonging to spectral class B5. The spaceship that had made the record had travelled a long way to one side, dozens of years’ journey, perhaps.