_The extremes of mysticism and of pragmatism have their own
expressions of worship. Each has its form, and the difference
between them is the difference between_ deus ex machina _and_
deus machina est.
--_E. Hunter Waldo_
"Of course it will open," said Hoskins. He strode past the stunned pilot
and confidently palmed the control.
The port didn't open.
Hoskins said, "Hm?" as if he had been asked an inaudible question, and
tried again. Nothing happened. "Skipper," he said over his shoulder,
"Have a quick look at the meters behind you there. Are we getting
auxiliary power?"
"All well here," said Anderson after a glance at the board. "And no
shorts showing."
There was a silence punctuated by the soft, useless clicking of the
control as Hoskins manipulated it. "Well, what do you know."
"It won't work," said Johnny plaintively.
"Sure it'll work," said Paresi swiftly, confidently. "Take it easy,
Johnny."
"It won't work," said Johnny. "It won't work." He stumbled across the
cabin and leaned against the opposite bulkhead, staring at the closed
port with his head a little to one side as if he expected it to shriek
at him.
"Let me try," said Ives, going to Hoskins. He put out his hand.
"_Don't!_" Johnny cried.
"Shut up, Johnny," said Paresi.
"All right, Nick," said Johnny. He opened his face plate, went to the
rear bulkhead, keyed open an acceleration couch, and lay face down on
it. Paresi watched him, his lips pursed.
"Can't say I blame him," said the Captain softly, catching Paresi's eye.
"It's something of a shock. This shouldn't _be_. The safety factor's too
great--a thousand per cent or better."
"I know what you mean," said Hoskins. "I saw it myself, but I don't
believe it." He pushed the button again.
"I believe it," said Paresi.
Ives went to his desk, clicked the transmitter and receiver switches on
and off, moved a rheostat or two. He reached up to a wall toggle, turned
a small air-circulating fan on and off. "Everything else seems to work,"
he said absently.
"This is ridiculous!" exploded the Captain. "It's like having your keys
home, or arriving at the theater without your tickets. It isn't
dangerous--it's just stupid!"
"It's dangerous," said Paresi.
"Dangerous how?" Ives demanded.
"For one thing--" Paresi nodded toward Johnny, who lay tensely, his face
hidden. "For another, the simple calculation that if nothing inside this
ship made that control fail, something outside this ship did it. And
_that_ I don't like."
"That couldn't happen," said the Captain reasonably.
Paresi snorted impatiently. "Which of two mutually exclusive facts are
you going to reason from? That the ship can't fail? Then this failure
isn't a failure; it's an external control. Or are you going to reason
that the ship _can_ fail? Then you don't have to worry about an external
force--but you can't trust anything about the ship. Do the trick that
makes you happy. But do only one. You can't have both."
Johnny began to laugh.