Cities in Flight

“While it’s in operation, it absolutely refuses to notice any atom outside its own influence. Furthermore, it will notice no other strain or influence which holds good beyond the borders of that field. It’s so snooty that it has to be stopped down to almost nothing when it’s brought close to a planet, or it won’t let you land. But in deep space … well, it’s impervious to meteors and such trash, of course; it’s impervious to gravity; and—it hasn’t the faintest interest in any legislation about top speed limits. It moves in its own continuum, not in the general frame.”

“You’re kidding,” Helmuth said.

“Am I, now? This ship came to Ganymede directly from Earth. It did it in a little under two hours, counting maneuvring time. That means that most of the way we made about 55,000 miles per second—with the spindizzy drawing less than five watts of power out of three ordinary No. 6 dry cells.”

Helmuth took a defiant pull at his drink. “This thing really has no top speed at all?” he said. “How can you be sure of that?”

“Well, we can’t,” Wagoner admitted. “After all, one of the unfortunate things about general mathematical formulae is that they don’t contain cut-off points to warn you of areas where they don’t apply. Even quantum mechanics is somewhat subject to that criticism. However, we expect to know pretty soon just how fast the spindizzy can drive an object. We expect you to tell us.”

“I?”

“Yes, you, and Colonel Russell, and Miss Abbott too, I hope.” Helmuth looked at the other two; both of them looked at least as stunned as he felt. He could not imagine why. “The coming débâcle on Earth makes it absolutely imperative for us—the West—to get interstellar expeditions started at once. Richardson Observatory, on the Moon, has two likely-looking systems mapped already—one at Wolf 359, the other at 61 Cygni—and there are sure to be others, hundreds of others, where Earth-like planets are highly probable.

“What we’re doing, in a nutshell, is evacuating the West—not physically, of course, but in essence, in idea. We want to scatter adventurous people, people with a thoroughly indoctrinated love of being free, all over this part of the galaxy, if it can be done.

“Once they’re out there, they’ll be free to flourish, with no interference from Earth. The Soviets haven’t the spindizzy yet, and even after they get it, they won’t dare allow it to be used. It’s too good and too final an escape route for disaffected comrades.

“What we want you go do, Helmuth … now I’m getting to the point, you see … is to direct this exodus, with Colonel Russell’s help. You’ve the intelligence and the cast of mind for it. Your analysis of the situation on Earth confirms that, if any more confirmation were needed. And—there’s no future for you on Earth now.”

“You’ll have to excuse me for a while,” Helmuth said firmly. “I’m in no condition to be reasonable now; it’s been more than I could digest in a few moments. And the decision doesn’t entirely rest with me, either. If I could give you an answer in … let me see … about three hours. Will that be soon enough?”

“That’ll be fine,” the senator said.

For a moment after the door closed behind Helmuth there was silence in the senator’s cabin. At last Paige said:

“So it was long life for spacemen you were after, all the time. Long life, by Cod, for me, and for the likes of me.”

Wagoner nodded. “This was the one part of this affair that I couldn’t explain to you back in Hal Gunn’s office,” he said. “Until you had ridden in this ship, and understood as a spaceman just what kind of a thing we have in it, you wouldn’t have believed me; Helmuth does, you see, because he already has the background. In the same way, I didn’t go into the question of the anti-agathic with Helmuth, because that’s something he’s going to have to experience; you two have the background to understand that part of it through explanation alone.

“Now you see why I didn’t give a whistle about your spy, Paige. The Soviets can have the Earth. As a matter of fact they will take it before very long, whether we give into them or not. But we are going to scatter the West throughout the stars, scatter it with immortal people carrying immortal ideas. People like you, and Miss Abbott.”

Paige looked back to Anne. She was aloofly regarding the empty space just above Wagoner’s head, as though still looking at the bewhiskered picture of the Pfitzner founder which hung in Gunn’s office. There was something in her face, however, that Paige could read. He smothered a grin and said: “Why me?”