"Yes, Brian. I was to have been a member of that gallant party. But I
was delayed in reaching their Arizona rendezvous, and their departure
was hastened by an unexpected attack. They left without me. But,
fortunately, Wrenn had confided in me the plans for his spaceship. For
years, now, with what scraps of metal I could steal from a war-ridden,
metal-hungry humanity, I have been secretly building a small duplicate
of the _Goddard_.
"You wonder where it is hidden? Our Kentucky hills conceal great
caverns, Brian. There is one beneath the hill on which this house
stands. Below us--as I will show you shortly--is a gigantic cave. In it
is my almost completed craft."
I had not noticed that Maureen's hand was in mine until I felt its soft
whiteness tense within my grasp. She cried, "But why the moon, Dr.
Mallory? Why not follow the Wrenn expedition--?"
"You ignore a major factor, my dear. Celestial mechanics. Wrenn's
flight was planned for a time when Venus and Earth were in conjunction.
Such is not the case now. Earth approaches the Sun, while Venus is at
aphelion. And my craft is, as I have said, but a small copy of Wrenn's.
Moreover, I have been able to collect only a small amount of fuel.
"There is only one body within our cruising range--Earth's moon. It is
my dream that we shall go there--"