"He kept Cole alive! I wanted him killed from the start." Suddenly
Reinhart jumped from his chair. His hand clutched convulsively at his
gun. "And he's _still_ alive! Even if we've lost I'm going to have the
pleasure of putting a blast beam through Cole's chest!"
"Sit down!" Margaret Duffe ordered.
Reinhart was half way to the door. "He's still at the Euthanasia
Ministry, waiting for the official--"
"No, he's not," Margaret Duffe said.
Reinhart froze. He turned slowly, as if unable to believe his senses.
"_What?_"
"Cole isn't at the Ministry. I ordered him transferred and your
instructions cancelled."
"Where--where is he?"
There was unusual hardness in Margaret Duffe's voice as she answered.
"With Peter Sherikov. In the Urals. I had Sherikov's full authority
restored. I then had Cole transferred there, put in Sherikov's safe
keeping. I want to make sure Cole recovers, so we can keep our promise
to him--our promise to return him to his own time."
Reinhart's mouth opened and closed. All the color had drained from his
face. His cheek muscles twitched spasmodically. At last he managed to
speak. "You've gone insane! The traitor responsible for Earth's
greatest defeat--"
"We have lost the war," Margaret Duffe stated quietly. "But this is
not a day of defeat. It is a day of victory. The most incredible
victory Terra has ever had."
Reinhart and Dixon were dumbfounded. "What--" Reinhart gasped. "What
do you--" The whole room was in an uproar. All the Council members
were on their feet. Reinhart's words were drowned out.
"Sherikov will explain when he gets here," Margaret Duffe's calm voice
came. "He's the one who discovered it." She looked around the chamber
at the incredulous Council members. "Everyone stay in his seat. You
are all to remain here until Sherikov arrives. It's vital you hear
what he has to say. His news transforms this whole situation."
* * * * *
Peter Sherikov accepted the briefcase of papers from his armed
technician. "Thanks." He pushed his chair back and glanced
thoughtfully around the Council chamber. "Is everybody ready to hear
what I have to say?"
"We're ready," Margaret Duffe answered. The Council members sat
alertly around the table. At the far end, Reinhart and Dixon watched
uneasily as the big Pole removed papers from his briefcase and
carefully examined them.
"To begin, I recall to you the original work behind the ftl bomb.
Jamison Hedge was the first human to propel an object at a speed
greater than light. As you know, that object diminished in length and
gained in mass as it moved toward light speed. When it reached that
speed it vanished. It ceased to exist in our terms. Having no length
it could not occupy space. It rose to a different order of existence.
"When Hedge tried to bring the object back, an explosion occurred.
Hedge was killed, and all his equipment was destroyed. The force of
the blast was beyond calculation. Hedge had placed his observation
ship many millions of miles away. It was not far enough, however.
Originally, he had hoped his drive might be used for space travel. But
after his death the principle was abandoned.
"That is--until Icarus. I saw the possibilities of a bomb, an
incredibly powerful bomb to destroy Centaurus and all the Empire's
forces. The reappearance of Icarus would mean the annihilation of
their System. As Hedge had shown, the object would re-enter space
already occupied by matter, and the cataclysm would be beyond belief."
"But Icarus never came back," Reinhart cried. "Cole altered the wiring
so the bomb kept on going. It's probably still going."
"Wrong," Sherikov boomed. "The bomb _did_ reappear. But it didn't
explode."