Latymer operated the sliding panel again. The map disappeared. “It sounds fair enough, Shaw, for a try-out. Once we find that recovery base, we’re half-way home — or even nearer than that. We can show ’em up before the world and after that they’ll pack their bags and go home and forget all about Danvers-Marshall and the capsule. Butter won’t melt in their mouths.” He stubbed out his cigarette. “I’ll suggest to Washington that the North Pacific might well be worth giving priority attention to, and as for you — you can leave for Hong Kong by the first available aircraft and see if you can pick up something ahead of the Americans. If you can do that, we might just be forgiven for the export of Danvers-Marshall.”
Latymer had the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence out of bed early. A full report for Washington was authorized and encyphered and passed to the radio branch for urgent priority transmission at 0536 hours GMT and this was received in the American capital at 0119 hours Eastern Standard Time. In this message the British Government suggested that there was no point whatever, in view of Thixey’s statement that the capsule could be interfered with at any time it was ordered to ditch, in making any further attempts at an early splashdown. The longer it could remain in orbit, the message said, the better would be the chances of finding the interference base. In the view of the British Government, to find the base before anything happened represented the only hope the West would have of preventing an act of war taking place. There was also a suggestion that Danvers-Marshall himself could possibly, and for reasons not so far known, have intentionally inhibited the retro-rockets in order to delay the premature ditching. This was advanced simply as a theory in the light of the startling information that Danvers-Marshall was known to be an intending defector to the East and that he had a part to play in the interception; it was admitted that such an action did not tie up with Thixey’s statement that the interference programme could be put into effect at any time.
“It’s screwy and they seem to admit just that,” Klaber said. “God knows, though, we need something to work on!” He was still rocked rigid by what he had been told of the London report concerning Danvers-Marshall and also he’d been having a bad time reading the papers. These had been rushed to him almost on the heels of London’s message, which had been phoned through on the closed line from Washington after decyphering and due deliberation by the President and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Klaber looked up at the clock; even now the time was only 8:15… his mind went back to the papers. Another carefully prepared statement had been issued by the Press the night before, saying that everything was under control, that the spacemen were unworried and the fault would be rectified shortly. The speculation of the newspapers’ opinion-writers, however, was coming pretty close to the truth — which was, that no-one could even guess at what would happen to the capsule now and no-one had the vaguest idea what to do about it. Klaber went on, “We all know the British are not too clever securitywise, but Danvers-Marshall was screened over here as well. So if he’s a Red we slipped up too — or your boys did, anyway.” The man he was talking to was from Washington, a top man from CIA who had flown south without delay shortly after the British Government’s report had been considered in the capital. “God damn it, Grant, I know Danvers-Marshall, well!” Klaber shook his head; faith in his own judgment showed obstinately in his face. “I don’t see him as a traitor. And what in heaven’s name could he do to the equipment up there and still leave no indications of any fault, even if he could do anything without Schuster or Morris being aware of it?”
Grant sidestepped the question. “Not my job to know that, Mr. Klaber. It’s yours.” He smiled. He was a bleak man, with a pointed face and sharp eyes, wearing a cheap suit possibly because he felt more anonymous in it.
Klaber sighed, got up from his desk and began pacing the room, backwards and forwards. After a while he stopped. He said, “Listen. There’s one thing I’m not having, and it’s this: I’m not alerting those men in space that Danvers-Marshall’s supposed to be a Red, that—”
“But wait a minute, Mr—”
“Wait a minute, nothing!” Klaber snorted. “Look… you’ve never been in space. Neither have I — but I’ve lived a good many years now with men who have, and I’ve been in the simulator for longish periods. That gave me at least a little insight into what it’s like for them. I can understand the stresses and strains on those men up there. I can understand the loneliness, the feeling of being so totally cut off from earth and families and all the ordinary things of life. Those men are up there for a hell of a long time, Grant. Twenty-one days may not seem much to you, it soon goes.” He waved his arms. “Okay — it does, down here! But up there — well, it’s entirely different. I doubt if I can ever make you appreciate fully just how different everything appears. Physically you’re different, too— weightlessness is not just a lack of gravitational pull, it’s a way of life while it lasts. That’s just one point. I could go on for hours if I had the time. But I’ll just add this: any trouble in that capsule resulting from the sort of disclosures you want to make, could lead to minder being done. At the least there could easily be some irreparable damage to the equipment and the control systems and then they’ll never come down again, whether or not these people interfere as London says they will! So — it’s just not on. I’m sorry, but I guess the thought of a fight in space just scares the pants off me. Remember, I’m responsible for the safety of those men, and I just can’t see what’s to be gained by stirring things up inside the capsule. It can’t possibly help the situation, Grant.”
Grant said peaceably, “Now look, Mr. Klaber—”
Klaber snapped, “No-one but the President himself is going to get me to change my mind.”
Grant said, “Uh-huh. Now, if you’ll just let me put my point of view — right? That’s fair, isn’t it?” He looked at his watch.
Klaber’s teeth came together with a snap. He took another couple of turns up and down the room, getting himself under control. Then he sighed. “All right,” he said with resignation. “Go ahead, if you must.”
“Thanks.” The CIA man cleared his throat and pointed his face at Klaber. “I’m going to suggest, and I know I’ll have full backing on this from Washington, that a message is drafted and cyphered up right away for transmission to Schuster, with full information on all we know from the British Government, the message to be despatched from the Pentagon as soon as it has Presidential authority, which I guess it’s going to have in fact after I’ve talked to the White House, Mr. Klaber.” He raised his voice as the NASA chief broke in again. “Please let me finish. I suggest Schuster be told the order to ditch ahead of schedule is now countermanded, whether or not the retro-rockets are serviceable, or become serviceable, unless he himself can deal with Danvers-Marshall and put him out of action so he can’t play his part in the interference programme. Failing this, we follow the British suggestion that Skyprobe IV remains in orbit right to the end of its twenty-four hours maximum extension limit to give the longest time possible to find the base these people are using. Schuster must in fact be told all we know about Danvers-Marshall… just a moment, Mr. Klaber… because if Danvers-Marshall is a defector as we now know he is, and an integral part of the plan, then he should know the whereabouts of this interference base. Right? It’s going to be Schuster’s job to deal with him and get that information out of him if he can. We can’t possibly pass up the only real chance we may have of finding out the whereabouts of that base in time. You see that, don’t you, Mr. Klaber?”