"Meaning?" asked Redmond coldly.
"You are basing everything on the fact that an alien spacecraft passed
through here. How do you know?"
Redmond laughed in a superior manner. "Since matter cannot exceed
the velocity of light without being encased in a volume of unreal
space--and since a volume of unreal space would kick up the same
sort of wake as we measured--we can assume that some intelligence
has developed negative space and is using it. Negative space, Doctor
Hanson, is not to be found free in nature."
"But you've really added nothing to Maculay's Equations."
"We've proven by observation that the sustained destruction of the
universe will not obtain; we'll prove it, too."
Hanson snorted. "This isn't a game of bridge," he said; "you're not
bidding a grand slam just to see if you can make it without the ace of
trump."
"But we know that it has been done. Nothing more need hold us up; we
know!"
Hanson added another page to his mental notes regarding Redmond.
Frustrated genius, second rater really, Redmond was the type of man who
had always been protected against danger. In the course of his life,
he had never faced the consequences of one of his own acts; therefore
he fully believed that every time he was about to step off of the deep
end, some Divine Providence would save him. If Redmond were permitted
to do as he wanted to do, it was "Sign to Redmond" that he was on the
right track. Some people call it superstition; some call it intuition;
some call it foolishness. To Redmond, it was a sort of Fate.
* * * * *
Maculay stood up and led the way to the doorway. "Let's look at this,"
he said.
"Cliff," said Hanson, "nothing has changed since you went away. Real
and unreal space are still mutually destructive. And if you couldn't
figure it out, no other man on earth could."
Redmond said, "True, at that time. But we've had extra evidence to work
on."
"But--"
"Forget it," said Redmond; "we know what we're talking about."
Maculay entered the control room of the ship first. He looked it over
with interest, then nodded. "Everything is in ship-shape fashion," he
said.
"We could start tomorrow if we had to."
Maculay looked at the controls that projected side by side on the
polished black panel labelled _Upper_ and _Lower_.
"Dunno," said Maculay thickly.
Hanson watched him carefully. "Cliff," he said quietly, "you knew about
the streak of energy, too. If that were the answer, you'd have come out
of your mental tizzy."
Maculay turned to Redmond. "What means have you to prevent the
sustained reaction?"