and crossed your fingers. He might grow up to be an E.

Tom wondered what it would be like to doubt the realities, the very
machinery under his hands, to assume that although it had always worked
it might not work this time. He could not conceive that state of mind,
or how a man could live in it without going insane. Every time he saw
these tortured kids saying, "Well, maybe, but what if ..." he was glad
to be nothing more than a ship captain who knew his machinery was
exactly what it was supposed to be and nothing else.

But, in a way, it was nice for the lads too. After thousands of years of
man's almost rabid determination to destroy the brightest and best of
his young, the world had finally found a place for the bright boy.

This morning, probably because of the early dawn hour, there were only
two of them in the generator room. As expected, they were arguing over
the space-jump band. Frank was standing over to one side, observing but
not participating. His cap was pushed back on his blond head, his big
face expressionless. It was common gossip throughout flight crews
everywhere that Frank, blindfolded, could take a cruiser apart and put
it back together without missing a motion.

"The jump band is founded on the basic of the Moebius strip," one
student E was saying heatedly. "This little gadget sends out a field in
the shape of such a strip, a band with a half twist before rejoined. Its
width is as variable as we need it, up to a light-year."

"Only it hasn't any width at all," the other student argued. "That's the
whole point. The Moebius strip has only one edge, so it can't have
width. We enter that edge, go through a line that doesn't exist, and
come out a light-year away, without taking any longer than the time to
pass a point."

"But that's _what_ happens, not _how_," the other shouted angrily.
"Everybody knows _what_ happens. Tell me _how_ and maybe I'll listen."

Tom caught his flight engineer's eye and signaled with his head that it
might be a good idea to get rid of the students. Any other time it would
be all right, a part of their stand-by job, but they'd got word last
night to have the ship in readiness from six o'clock on. They might have
to wait all day, but then again, some E might get an idea and want to go
shooting out to Eden right off.

Frank caught the signal, grinned, and began to herd the two students
toward the door. They were in such heated argument now, accusing one
another of parr