were given funeral rites suitable to space heroes, and other ships went out. «In the first 30 years, the unexplained disappearances were few,» Hara said. She was getting the facts verbally from Heath and from the computer readouts. «You'll notice that their frequency increases by a geometric ratio.» Heath said. «And, as they increased, the service began to make efforts to hush them up,» Hara said. «Had to,» Heath said testily. «The nuts were on to it. They were talking about how it was wrong to push into God's universe, and that God was warning us to stay home.» «According to this printout, a full two-thirds of all the disappearances have not been made public,» Hara said. «Aren't we risking the reputation
of the service? There's enough opposition to space spending as it is. If the not-so-loyal opposition should find out we've covered up some rather serious information…» «They'd have the secretary's head for lunch,» Heath said. «And they'd push a 50 percent cut in funds through Congress.» He leaned back in his chair and put his feet on the desk. «But we've painted ourselves into a corner. At first we held back on giving out information about a ship here, a ship there. Then the total was so high that we couldn't release it all at once. Total shock if we suddenly announced that, instead of nine or ten ships, more than 30 have just vanished in space.» «Forty counting the blink test vehicles,» Hara said. «Not the same thing,» Heath said. «We're dealing with the true unknown, in the case of the blinks. We're entering a new ball game with a
different set of rules. With the blink, it's just a matter of insufficient data.» «I don't see the difference,» Hara insisted. «Both types of ship disappear.» «But the manned ships do so in time and space,» Heath said with some irritation. «Are you sure that the blink ships don't?» When Heath looked at her blankly, she continued. «Could your instruments see or detect the blink ships at the other end of the jump?» «I like that,» Heath said. «No.» «So you're not sure that the ships didn't blink back into normal space and then disappear.» «It could have happened that way,» Heath admitted. «Yes, I like that.» He scratched his left knee musingly. «I see what you're getting at, young
lady. Yes, you're right. Forty-plus ships have disappeared. All, presumably, at a considerable distance from the Earth. For example, the shortest jump we programed into a blink test ship was a quarter light-year. We were going to program some shorter jumps, but the program was stopped. At first, since we were dealing with something totally new, it was decided not to allow a ship to blink back into space too near Earth. We didn't know what happened when a ship came back in, you see. We had no idea what disturbance it would make. We knew what happened at the start of a blink, because old John Blink had sent small generators off into nowhere; so did we in the beginning of the program. The effects of reentry into normal space—» «If your blink ships went out for a quarter light-year, they'd be in the
approximate position of turnover and the initial blast of deceleration for a homecoming ship,» Hara said. «A sudden and spectacular burst of power,» Heath mused. «Yes. However, we have to assume that the manned ships disappeared at turnover to gather any valid assumptions of correlation.» «If anything could go wrong, it would be at turnover,» Hara said. «You're moving at just under light, still pushing to maintain speed against the resistance of the constant. You cut power for a period of hours, turn the ship on her gyros, then build the drive to full power in a matter of minutes.» «It's all assumption,» Heath said. «And I must say that I resent highly your walking in here and coming up with an assumption I should have made years ago.» «Sorry about that,» smiled Hara. «We know what happens when a ship turns and builds power to decelerate,» Heath said. He let his feet drop to the floor and squinted at Hara. «How much do you care about this Plank of yours?» «Quite a lot,» she said. «Enough to stick your pretty neck out?» «That depends on the possibility of it doing any good,» she said. «There is a completed blink test vehicle in mothballs over on the dark side,» Heath said. «It could be made operational within weeks. In the meantime, we could mount the control console aboard a hydrodrive ship. Take both of them out. Move the blink ship in short jumps. Find out what happens when she comes back into normal space.» «I like that,» Hara said, smiling. «It won't be simple,» Heath said. «But the secretary is coming in a few days. Annual inspection. He knows me and thinks I'm a pest. He wouldn't give me two minutes of his time. But a pretty first nav. officer just back from her second Centauri run…» «What do you expect me to do,» she asked, «vamp him?» «If all else fails,» Heath said, «I expect you to blackmail him.» «I don't like that,» Hara said. «Do you want to be an admiral or find out what happened to Plank?» «Both,» Hara said. «Forget it.» CHAPTER FIVE Secretary Maxwell Seagle was not a run-of-the-mill politician. He had
the look of a spacer about him. In the last years of his reasonably expected vigor, as he faced retirement and the brief downhill plunge of old age, he stood tall and straight. As a young man he'd made Mars flights on the old solid fuel rockets and he had fought for space from the time he was an adult. He had tightly curled gray hair that had once been blond; his skin, although showing the effects of his age, was still bronzed and tight on his well-formed face. He had been Space Secretary for three decades. On his rare inspection trips Seagle wore the uniform of a fleet admiral. He enjoyed the trips, looked forward to them. He was always trying to get away from his office, and the pressure of his position was always preventing it. During the trip out on the moon ferry he had scant time to look out a viewer to see Earth behind him, blue and beautiful, because he was on the radio with various congressmen and senators lobbying against still another attempt to cut space's budget. But as the ferry neared and began preparations for landing, he cut off his political activity and concentrated on the sensation, always new, of landing on a surface other than Earth's. He found the moon base to be functioning perfectly, the service ships to be in gleaming condition, the men and women of the service sharp and eager. He donned LSG for his self-promised excursion outside, hopped and grinned like a small boy, ate a huge meal and toasted the future of the
service to a gathering of officers and civilian workers. He slept the sleep of the happy man and dreaded the return to office routine. He talked personally with the last ship's captain to make the Centauri run and smiled when he shook hands with a pretty first nav. officer named Sahara. Sahara returned his smile and held onto his hand for long seconds. She was standing in a reception line and had little time to make her request.
«Sir,» she said, holding the secretary's hand in her strong grip, «I request an appointment.» «You'll have to see my secretary.» Seagle moved on down the line, but not before nodding at his secretary and gesturing toward Sahara. She saw the secretary, was told that the chiefs time was severely limited, but that she might be squeezed in for two minutes just before the ferry lifted off for the trip home. She presented herself at the ferry dock an hour ahead of time, waited, saw Seagle board, reminded the secretary's secretary that she had an appointment, and boarded the ferry while the ground crew was making last-minute checks. Seagle was seated in the lounge. He rose when Sahara entered, looking very smart in her best uniform. «Sir,» she said, «I would not ask you to see me if I didn't feel it necessary. I know your time is limited.» «We have very little of it,» said Seagle. «So, Sir, I will not go into too much preliminary,» Hara said. «I have been cleared to know the number of ships that have disappeared on the Centauri run.» Seagle frowned. «May I ask why?» «Because the last ship to disappear was captained by…» She paused, wondering how to phrase it. She decided to be slightly sticky about it. «… the man I love and intend to marry.» «I see,» Seagle said. «I have been talking with Commander Heath—» Seagle made a motion with one hand, a motion of complete disgust. «—and we've come to a conclusion,» Hara continued. «We feel that there is a correlation between the disappearance of manned ships and the disappearance of the blink test vehicles.» «Nonsense,» Seagle said. He was angered. He had been expecting some simple request from the pretty nav. officer, a request that he could grant with a smile, thus enhancing his image with the service. «Our theory is that both types of ships disappear in the same general