and get started we will go faster
than light, and we'd be hopelessly beyond the range of the molecular
motion drive in an instant. In other words, if the space-control drive
doesn't work, we can't come back, and if it does work, there's no need
to come back.

"And if anything goes wrong, we're the only ones who could fix it,
anyway. If anything goes wrong, I'll radio Earth. You ought to be able
to hear from me in about a dozen years." He smiled suddenly. "Say! We
might go out and get back here in time to hear ourselves talking!

"But you can see why we felt that there was little reason for a trial
trip. If it's a failure, we'll never be back to say so; if it isn't,
we'll be able to continue."

His father still looked worried, but he nodded in acquiescence. "Perfect
logic, son, but I guess we may as well give up the discussion.
Personally, I don't like it. Let's see this ship of yours."

The great hull was two hundred feet long and thirty feet in diameter.
The outer wall, one foot of solid lux metal, was separated from the
inner, one-inch relux wall by a two inch gap which would be evacuated in
space. The two walls were joined in many places by small lux metal
cross-braces. The windows consisted of spaces in the relux wall,
allowing the occupants to see through the transparent lux hull.

From the outside, it was difficult to detect the exact outline of the
ship, for the clear lux metal was practically invisible and the foot of
it that surrounded the more visible part of the ship gave a curious
optical illusion. The perfect reflecting ability of the relux made the
inner hull difficult to see, too. It was more by absence than presence
that one detected it; it blotted out things behind it.

The great window of the pilot room disclosed the pilot seats and the
great switchboard to one side. Each of the windows was equipped with a
relux shield that slid into position at the touch of a switch, and these
were already in place over the observatory window, so only the long,
narrow portholes showed the lighted interior.

For some minutes, the elder men stood looking at the graceful beauty of
the ship.

"Come on in--see the inside," suggested Fuller.

They entered through the airlock close to the base of the ship. The
heavy lux door was opened by automatic machinery from the inside, but
the combination depended on the use of a molecular ray and the knowledge
of the correct place, which made it impossible for anyone to ope