“I do not see any grounds for Pour Hyss’ suspicions. His statement was made too hurriedly and too maliciously for the solution of such a grave question. His views on the secret motives underlying people’s actions belong to the Dark Ages. Only people of the distant past could speak in that way about immortal fame. They did not know the joy and fulness of real life, they did not feel that they were particles of mankind engaged in collective creative activity, they were afraid of inevitable death and clung to the faintest hope of immortality. Pour Hyss, a scientist, an astronomer, does not understand that only those remain alive in the memory of mankind whose ideas, will and achievements remain active and once their activity has ceased the people are forgotten. It is a long time since I came into contact with such a primitive understanding of immortality and fame and am amazed to find it in a cosmic explorer.”

Evda Nahl stretched herself to full height and turned towards Pour Hyss who cringed in his chair illuminated by a large number of red lights of disapproval.

“Let us put aside all absurdity,” continued Evda Nahl, “and examine the action of Mven Mass and Renn Bose by the criterion of human happiness. They were advancing along an untrodden path. I do not possess sufficient knowledge in their field but it is obvious, even to me, that their experiment was premature. In that respect both are guilty and are responsible for considerable material losses and for the loss of four human lives. This, by the laws of Earth, constitutes a crime, but it was not committed for personal gain and, therefore, does not merit heavy punishment. The noble aspirations of the chief accused, Mven Mass, should be regarded as an extenuating circumstance.”

Evda Nahl returned slowly to her place. Groin Orme asked if anyone else wished to speak but nobody responded.

The members of the Council asked the President to propose final judgement. The thin, wiry figure of Grom Orme leaned forward on the rostrum and his piercing glance penetrated to the back of the hall.

“The circumstances on which we have to give judgement are quite simple. I do not hold Renn Bose in any way responsible. What scientist would not take advantage of such possibilities, placed at his disposal, especially if he were certain of success? The disastrous failure of the experiment will serve as a lesson. There has, however, been something gained that will, to a certain extent, recompense us for the material losses; the experiment will help solve a number of problems that the Academy of the Bounds of Knowledge has only just begun to think about.

“We have long since given up petty economies when it comes to the solution of great problems or the employment of our productive forces and have abandoned the tendency to utilitarian adaptation typical of the old economic system. Problems that arise during the reconstruction of production processes or during research are solved on a grand scale. Even today, however, the moment of success is sometimes incorrectly understood because there are people who forget that the laws of development are immutable. It seems to them that progress must be endless….

“The wisdom of a leader lies in his ability to recognize the highest permissible level at a given stage and in his ability to stop, wait or change his course. Mven Mass has proved incapable of such leadership. The Council made a wrong choice and the Council are as much responsible as the man they selected. In the first place I am at fault myself, since I supported the proposal of two members of the Council to invite Mven Mass for the post.

“I propose that the Council exonerate Mven Mass as having acted from the highest motives but forbid him to occupy any post in the governing bodies of the planet. I should also be removed from my position as President of the Council and sent to make good the damage done by my unfortunate selection — I should help build the new satellite.”

Grom Orme cast a glance round the hall and saw the sincere regret expressed on many faces. The people of the Great Circle Era, however, did not try to persuade one another but respected other people’s decisions and trusted to their correctness.

Mir Ohm discussed the matter with the other members of the Council and the calculating machine announced the result of the voting. Grom Orme’s proposal was accepted without dissension but with the proviso that he conduct the present meeting to the end of the session.

He bowed and his face, controlled by his iron will, did not change its expression.

“I must now explain my reason for postponing the discussion of the Cosmic Expedition,” continued the President in a calm voice. “It was obvious that the matter would end favourably and I think the Control of Honour and Justice will agree with us. I may now ask Mven Mass to take his seat in the Council as we are faced with a serious discussion. His knowledge is essential to us for the correct solution of our problems, especially as Erg Noor cannot participate in today’s discussion.”

Mven Mass walked over to the Council seats and green lights of good-will flashed up all over the hall, lighting his way.

The maps of the planets moved noiselessly aside and their place was taken by grim black charts with the stars shown in coloured lights, the blue lines of the interstellar routes proposed for the next century linking them up. The President of the Council was a changed man. His cold passionless attitude had vanished, a warm glow lit up his greyish cheeks, his steel-grey eyes grew darker. Grom Orme mounted the rostrum.

“Every Cosmic expedition is a long-cherished dream; it is a new hope that is carefully nurtured for many years, it is another step upward in the great ascent. It is also the labour of millions of people for which there must be due recompense, a very substantial economic or scientific gain, otherwise our forward movement would cease and there would be no further victories over nature. That is why we enter into such detailed discussions and make such careful calculations before a new ship shoots off into interstellar space.

“It was our duty to send out the 37th Cosmic Expedition to learn the fate of Zirda instead of continuing our own exploration. To compensate for this we have been able to discuss the 38th Expedition more thoroughly.

“A number of events that occurred last year have brought changes that necessitate a re-examination of the route and objectives of the expedition that had been approved by previous Councils and by a planet-wide discussion. The discovery of methods of processing alloys under high pressure at absolute zero temperature gives us material of higher durability for the hulls of the ships. Anameson motors have been improved and are now more economical which, of course, increases the ship’s radius of activity. The spaceships Aella and Tintagelle that had been earmarked for the 38th Expedition are now out of date in comparison with the newly built Lebed, a round-hulled vessel of the vertical type with four stability keels. Longer flights are becoming possible.

“Erg Noor, now back from the 37th Expedition, has informed us of his meeting with a black star of the T class, on whose planet his expedition discovered a spaceship of unknown construction. Efforts made to enter it nearly cost the whole party their lives but they managed to bring back a piece of the metal of its hull. It is a substance that we do not know, here on Earth, although it resembles the 14th isotope of silver discovered on the planets of the very hot Os class star long since known by the name of Zeta Carinae.

“The spaceship is a disc, convex on both sides, with a crudely spiral surface, a design that has been discussed by the Academy of the Bounds of Knowledge.

“Junius Antus has been through the information records of the Great Circle for the entire eight hundred years since we joined it. A spaceship of this type cannot be built by science and engineering that follow our line of development and are at our present level of knowledge. Such ships are unknown in those worlds of the Galaxy with whom we have exchanged information.