ective. Therefore I assume that
this is not a conventional ship. I might accept that the Government
has sent us out in a futile attempt to do the impossible, but I
wouldn't believe that of M'Clare."

Cray is the only Terry I know acts like an Outsider's idea of one;
many find this difficult to take and the colonel is plainly one of
them. Eru intervenes quickly.

"I imagine we all realized that. Anyway this ship is obviously not a
conventional model. If you accept the usual Mass-Time relationship
between the rate of transition and the fifth power of the apparent
acceleration, we must have reached about four times the maximum
already."

"Ram!" says B suddenly, "What did you do to stop the Hotel scope
registering the little ship you picked up me and Lizzie in?"

Everybody cuts in with something they have noticed about the
capabilities of this ship or the hoppers, and Lenny starts hammering
on the table and chanting! "Brief! Brief! Brief!" and others are just
starting to join in when Eru bangs on the table and glares us all
down.

Having got silence, he says very quietly, "Colonel Delano-Smith, I
doubt whether this discussion can usefully proceed without a good deal
more information; will you take over?"

The colonel looks round at all the eager earnest interested maps
hastily put on for his benefit and decides to take the plunge.

"Very well. I suppose it is ... very well. The decision to use
students from Russett was made at a very high level, and I suppose--"
Instead of saying "Very well" again he shrugs his shoulders and gets
down to it.

"The report from the planet we decided to call 'Incognita' was
received thirty-one days ago. The Department of Spatial Affairs has
certain resources which are not generally known. This ship is one of
them. She works on a modified version of Mass-Time which enables her
to use about a thousand channels instead of the normal limit of two
hundred; for good and sufficient reasons this has not been generally
released."

Pause while we are silently dared to doubt the Virtue and sufficiency
of these reasons which personally I do not.

"To travel to Incognita direct would take about fifteen days by the
shortest route. We shall take eighteen days as we shall have to make a
detour."

But presumably we shall take only fifteen days back. Hurrah we can
spend a week round the planet and still be back in time for
Commemoration. We shall skip maybe a million awkward questions and I
sha