r over a year it had been taken for granted that
would be its only crew.

* * *

As the _Pleiades_ neared completion, however, it became clearer and
clearer that the displacement-control presented an unsolved, and quite
possibly an insoluble, problem. It was mathematically certain that, when
the Gunther field went on, the ship would be displaced instantaneously
to some location in space having precisely the Gunther coordinates
required by that particular field. One impeccably rigorous analysis
showed that the ship would shift into the nearest solar system
possessing an Earth-type planet; which was believed to be Alpha Centauri
and which was close enough to Sol so that orientation would be automatic
and the return to Earth a simple matter.

Since the Gunther Effect did in fact annihilate distance, however,
another group of mathematicians, led by Garlock and James, proved with
equal rigor that the point of destination was no more likely to be any
one given Gunther point than any other one of the myriads of billions of
equiguntherial points undoubtedly existent throughout the length,
breadth, and thickness of our entire normal space-time continuum.

The two men would go anyway, of course. Carefully-calculated pressures
would make them go. It was neither necessary nor desirable, however, for
them to go alone.

Wherefore the planets and satellites were combed again; this time to
select two women--the two most highly-gifted psionicists in the
eighteen-to-twenty-five age group. Thus, if the _Pleiades_ returned
successfully to Earth, well and good. If she did not, the four selectees
would found, upon some far-off world, a race much abler than the
humanity of Earth; since eighty-three percent of Earth's dwellers had
psionic grades lower than Four.

This search, with its attendant fanfare and studiedly blatant publicity,
was so planned and engineered that two selected women did not arrive at
the spaceport until a bare fifteen minutes before the scheduled time of
take-off. Thus it made no difference whether the women liked the men or
not, or vice versa; or whether or not any of them really wanted to make
the trip. Pressures were such that each of them had to go, whether he or
she wanted to or not.

* * *

"Cut the rope, Jim, and let the old bucket drop," Garlock said. "Not too
close. Before we make any kind of contact we'll have to do some
organizing. These instrume