Commander Breckenridge nodded curtly. "You will man the perimeter
alien-spacecraft detection station and the astrogation beacon distance
and direction equipment located on Flatbush, Lalande 25372. And you
will stay there until you have Hansen's Folly completely solved. Do you
understand?"
Junior Spaceman Howard Reed nodded unhappily.
Lalande 25372 was close to the maximum range, the seventeen-light-year
point of no return. Any enjoyment in knowing that he would have to be
commissioned one of the finer, more efficient little spacecraft in
order to get there in the first place was completely wiped out in the
knowledge that once there, it would have to stand inert awaiting his
return, because there would be no power to spare on side trips. One did
not, with subatomic power, carry a spare can of fuel for emergency.