uilding to do to get that blasted thing
snaked over those hills?" Connel pointed to the protective ring of high
rugged peaks that surrounded the Academy.

"That's why Dave Barret here is so important," replied Hemmingwell. "He
figured out a way of tunneling through this section here"--he pointed to
a particularly rugged section of the hills--"at half the cost of
bringing it straight in on that plain there."

Connel and Walters studied the map closely. "Very good," said Walters.

"You think you can do it, Dave?" asked Connel.

"I'm sure I can, sir," replied the young man.

"And save time?" growled Connel.

"I'll have that line through, and in operation, bringing in the first
haul of hangar material in three weeks."

Impressed by the young man's confidence, Connel turned to Commander
Walters and nodded.

"Well, if you can do that, Barret," said Walters, "Professor Hemmingwell
will have to begin his operations now, won't you, Professor?"

"That's right," said the wiry old man. "Right now, this very minute."

Devers suddenly spoke up. "I would like to have one thing explained,
Commander, unless, of course, it's a breach of security, but--" He
hesitated.

"What is it?" asked Connel.

"I've been going along with you for some time now," explained Devers.
"But I still don't know the exact nature of the projectile you propose
to build. What's the purpose of it?"

"You certainly deserve an answer to that question," said Commander
Walters warmly. "You've contributed your services to this operation
absolutely blindly. Now you should know everything." He paused and
looked at Hemmingwell and Connel, who nodded in return. "Carter," he
resumed, "we are going to create a spaceship that can launch a large
projectile filled with cargo and send it to any small area."

Carter Devers' face lighted up. "You mean, you are going to fire
payloads from space freighters instead of landing with them?"

"Exactly," said Walters. "These freighters will deliver mail and
supplies to out-of-the-way settlements that do not have a spaceport
large enough to handle the giant freighters and have to depend on
surface transport from the larger cities."

Carter Devers shook his head slowly. "This is the most amazing thing
I've ever heard of in my life."

"I thought you'd be surprised, Carter," said Walters, his face glowing
with pleasure. "The big item, of course, is to lick the problem of
standardizing the receivers for the projectiles. The