adeserted bee-stump after the bears get through with it!"
"Little Millie," said Ishie, looking up at the figure nearly as tinyas his own, "you must be telepathic as well as beautiful. Confusionsay 'Gee, I'm hungry!'"
"I'm told that the fate of the satellite depends on you two," Milliesmiled. "I thought I'd just give our fate a little extra chance. Nowdrop what you're doing and light into this.
"After that, if you've got a job for a mere biologist, I've got my labreadied up where it can last till I get back and--I'm not bad with asoldering iron. Meantime, why don't you let Paul and Tombu go eatwhile you eat?"
"Good idea," said Mike. "You two. You heard the lady. We gotta giveour fate the benefit of victuals. Scat."
* * * * *
As soon as the physicist and the engineer were settled to the plasticcontainers of food and coffee she had brought, wolfing them downhungrily, Millie opened up.
"While we're alone, I'm going to speak my piece," she said. "You twowill do me the honor of not taking offense if I say that you have themost brains and the least consciences aboard--and I happen to sharethe latter characteristic."
The two looked up guiltily and waited.
"Now don't stop eating, for I'm not through talking," she said. "Thatmagneto-ionic effect canceler you dreamed up would probably cancel thesix hundred forty pound magneto-ionic effect pull you dreamed up--ifsuch a thing existed.
"What I want to know ... don't stop eating until you've decidedwhether you're going to let me in on your game or not ... is whatreally does exist? I might be of some help, you know."
"But--" Mike and Ishie simultaneously choked over their food, lookedat each other, and then Mike blurted out, "but how could _she_ know?"
"Don't worry," said Millie. "I'm probably the only one. It takes aperson with little conscience and much imagination--takes a thief tocatch a thief, I mean--yes, I think I mean that quite literally.Besides, I can help with some of that glassware that disappeared outof my supplies several days ago. Oh yes, I knew it was gone and whereit went--but I figured any purpose you had was a good one, Ishie.
"But for how I personally canceled the idea of your magneto-ioniceffect from the flare--it just happens that last night I was curiouswhile everybody was asleep. When Bessie first came on duty thismorning, I offered to relieve her while she had a cup of coffee, and Igot a half-hour all by myself with the Cow. The captain wasn't up yet.Her console's so simple anyone with a basic knowledge of computers andcybernetics could figure her out.
"Practically the first question I asked--something about ourorbit--the Cow told me that the information was top secret, and to getit I must go to the proper channel and identify myself as Mike. Istarted to intercom you, Mike, to tell you that your machinations wereshowing, but Bessie came back about then. I hung around to see whatwould happen, and pretty soon Bessie asked the Cow about the samequestion--but instead of getting the same answer, the Cow told herthat an external magneto-ionic field was pulling us out of line.
"So I went up to your engineering place. I rather thought you'd liketo know what the Cow had told me--but Dr. Ishie was there, and soinstead I went about my own business until I could figure things out.
"Now I couldn't figure things out. But I could figure there's a monkeywrench somewhere--and since the two of you have been sticking togetherlike Siamese twins, I know it will be perfectly all right to ask youin front of Ishie.
"Now," she finished, "do I get my girlish curiosity satisfied? Youdon't have to tell me. I'll just keep on being puzzled quietly andwithout indicating the slightest magneto-ionic dubiousness, if you'drather. But I might be helpful; and I _would_ like to know."
"Confusion say," Ishie declared through the side of his mouth, "thathe who inadvertently puts big foot in mouth is apt to get teeth kickedloose. We are very lucky, Mike, that it was Millie who asked thequestion of the Cow at that time. Besides, we've got to tell somebodysooner or later. We can't just run off by ourselves.
"Yes, Millie, I think you have a job," he said. "Your help here willbe appreciated, of course. But what we really need is a way ofbridging the gap between ourselves and the rest of the personnelbefore it gets too wide. How's your P.R. these days?"
"That's something I learned in a hard school, public relations," sheanswered nonchalantly. "De-segregation was just beginning when I was agirl back in Georgia. But maybe I'd better know what the gap is."
* * * * *
The two began to talk, interrupting each other, incoherentlyoutlining the Confusor and the various forces it exerted, andthe--what Mike kept calling the inertial fish hook.
Finally Mike took over. "To put it simply," he said, "our pet didn'tdo at all what we expected--it hooked in on inertia and it took usoff. A confusing little Confusor--but Millie--it's a space drive! Areal, honest-to-gosh space drive!"
Millie gulped. It was far, far more than she had expected. Perhapsthis was another form of disguise like the magneto-ionic....
"Are you sure?" Then she answered her own doubts. "Of course you'retelling the truth now. That's not something you two would play gamesabout." Then in awe--"You've really got it!"
"But why, then," she said, uncomprehending, "are you hiding it?" Butbefore they could answer, she answered her own question again. "You'dhave to. Of course. Otherwise it'll be strangled in red tape.Otherwise nobody'll let you work on it any more, except as head of aresearch team stuck off somewhere. Otherwise, Budget Control wouldtake it over and make a fifteen-year project out of it--and the two ofyou will probably have it in practical operation...."
She looked at the molds and wiring taking form all across the machineshop.
"Oh, no! You'll have it in operation--soon!"
"Yes, soon--and we hope soon enough." Ishie sighed, then grinnedimpudently. "There is," he said, "the little matter of the factthat--in all innocence but nevertheless quite actually--we wiped outThule Base.
"If we don't get the big Confusor in operation very soon, it may bethat we shall spend a good deal of time in Earth's courts proving ourinnocence while someone else botches most thoroughly the job ofcreating a Confusor that could take us to the stars. And that," headded mournfully, "neither of us would enjoy. We might not even beable to prove our innocence, for there would be many very anxious toprove us sufficiently guilty to keep us out of the way for many years.
"So you see," he said, "you have a very real P.R. problem. Ourassistants here could work better if they knew what they were doing.The people aboard the wheel would be most excited by a space drive,and would give us every aid.
"But what the law says, it says--and the captain would have no choicebut to put us in irons if he heard, though I think our captain is suchthat he would not want to do it.
"We must tell everyone what we have, for where the wheel takes us,they will go. But we can't tell them, for if we tell anyone, it willget back to Earth--and we murdered Thule, according to the law ofEarth.
"It is a very neat problem," he said.
* * * * *
Major Steve Elbertson arrived first at Project Hot Rod, and trailingbehind him on their scuttlebugs, the other six men.
As he slipped through the lock and out of his spacesuit, he reacheddown the neck of his coveralls and carefully extracted the Securitykey in its flat, plastiskin packet, from between his shoulder blades.At least the villainous captain had not gotten his hands on this, hethought, and whatever damage had been done to Hot Rod probably couldbe quickly repaired.
He had heard of the hunt for the key, and been silently amused, thoughhe had volunteered no information to his briefing officer,Chauvenseer.
Stepping forward as briskly as a sick rag doll, he fitted the key intothe Security lock and snapped open the bar that prevented Hot Rod'suse.
As the others entered, he turned to them. Supporting himself againstthe edge of the console and managing to look perfectly erect andcapable despite his weakness, he said: "I have instructed each of you
to learn as much as you could of the operation of this device. It isnow necessary that the civilian scientists," he pronounced the"civilian" as though it were a dirty word, "be relieved of their ruleover this weapon, and that the military take its proper place, as themasters of the situation. I trust each of you has learned his lessonscarefully, because it is now too late for mistakes--although we havewith us assistance far superior to that of the civilians.
"Gentlemen," he said, and his voice took on power as he talked, "it isa pleasure to