In the silence that followed the end of the President's message Nadya could be heard calling out from the crew compartment.

“Where are you? I can't get free of this couch.”

“I'll help you,” Coretta said, pushing towards the hatch.

“Is that you, Coretta? That voice, it woke me up. I heard what he said. Please, take me to the others.”

They emerged together, Nadya with her hand protectively before her blind eyes.

“Did you hear it, Gregor?” she asked. “Do you believe it?”

“What are you asking, Nadya?”

“You know perfectly well. This story of the mad officer with his finger on the button. Is it true?”

Gregor took a deep breath — then shook his head despairingly. “No, it cannot be true. This sort of thing does not happen in our country. This now is, what do you call it? A cover-up. That missile was ordered to be launched. If there was panic it was closer to the top. Now they attempt to hide the truth. I am ashamed for my people, I apologize….”

“Forget it,” Patrick said. “It's not going to make any difference in the long run — or the short run — in any case.”

“He's right,” Coretta said. “It'll all come out the same way. And I'll bet we have a couple of generals who're jealous of your boys and wish they could throw some of their bombs around too….”

“That's enough, Coretta,” Patrick said sharply. “I'm a military officer. I won't hear that kind of talk.”

“I'm sorry, Patrick. Nerves I guess.” True or not, she knew she shouldn't have spoken that way. At least they could have peace in their last moments. “You're right. It just won't make any difference, will it?”

“I'm afraid not. What is the time?”

“The GET says 24:59.”

“We should be into the Sunspot time now. Does it look any different, Coretta — “

“I'm no astronomer….”

“Doesn't matter. Could I have a drink, that stuff you gave me makes me thirsty.”

Flax glanced at the GET. 24:59, and no rise in solar radiation yet. The piece of paper caught his eye and he noted the time. Wolfgang would be home by now. So that was the official excuse, the old madman and the button routine. Would anyone in the world believe it? Probably not. But it would save face, very important to big nations and small. Maybe they were still thinking of keeping Prometheus going. Why not. The energy need was still there, growing larger every day. Another launch, another attempt. What could Wolfgang possibly want? Flax put the call through. The phone rang and rang, but there was no answer. The hell with it. Flax crumpled the scrap of paper for the final time and threw it away.

36

GET 25:03

“Where is Prometheus now?” Bandin asked.

Dillwater flipped through the pages of computation and made a check mark against the GET of 25:03. Then he rose and went to the Mercator map of the world that hung on the wall of the conference room, the eyes of the tired men following him as he moved. With precise motions he checked the latitude and longitude and moved the magnetized red circle that showed Prometheus's position from moment to moment. It was now in mid-ocean.

“That's better,” Grodzinski said. “Hit the water there and it would be all right.”

“But it will be over land again in a few minutes,” Banner-man pointed out. “What then? That thing is still a threat to the whole world. I wish to hell the Soviet aim had been better and they'd taken it out.”

“General, there are still five human beings aboard,” Dillwater said stiffly.

“And they'll be aboard whenever it hits and they'll buy it then. I'm a humanitarian, Simon, just like you. But I'm also a realist. A soldier who isn't doesn't win battles. Like it or not we have a big explosion coming up in the near future. If those solar flares do the job they can impact at any moment like right now, even while we're talking here. And if the Sunspots don't do their job the thing will still go bang in a couple more hours. Or have there been any changes in the first estimate?”

Dillwater shook his head. “None that matter. Closer measurements have brought the time forward a few minutes if anything.”

“Then there we are. The people aboard are dead, any way we look at it. Now what about the bomb that they're riding? I suggest we take it out with one of our missiles while it's over the ocean and that is that.”

“Are you insane?” Bandin shouted. “Do you want me to go down in history as the President who atom-bombed his own people?”

“A lesser instead of a greater tragedy,” the General insisted.

“I think you will find that the President is right,” Dr. Schlocter broke in. “Public opinion is a force that we cannot discount. There are already reports coming in of fallout from the Soviet missile, which was none too clean as none of their bombs are, and the world press and politicians are up in arms. By morning they will be in full cry — and the American press will be running in front of the pack. Atomic fallout is not popular. We have banned atmosphere testing for years. If we reverse our policy now and authorize this destruction I doubt if our party will get four votes in the next election.”