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.A ship which had to be found.In the control room Kennedy studied the stellar charts, points winking into life as he operated switches, stars, worlds, vortexes each depicted in its own color."The initial course is the one the ship from Reyud had to take," he said to Luden."From the point of dispatch to here between Faldarha and Erne.The shortest route and one which would avoid regular shipping.Then out towards the edge going under or over the Lemmarge Vortex.Which?" Luden studied the screen."Assuming it would then progress in a direct line, Cap, under.If over it would eventually reach nebula MM3725.A remote possibility, I admit, but Makkofaides would have refused to take the smallest chance.""I agree." The chart blurred, took on a new form as Kennedy made adjustments."The probability of the ship having passed through that point is in the region of 93.85 percent.Good enough.Veem, head for point 347903—695215.Top velocity."The soft pulse of the engines rose, the metal of the hull and bulkheads quivering with sympathetic vibration, a sussurating whisper augmented by the impact of interstellar atoms, the Siren Effect which had been known to drive lonely spacefarers insane.On the screens the stars blurred, flickered, steadied as they passed plus-C velocity, hurtling onwards at a speed which made that of light a mere crawl.Kennedy checked the figures taken from Punayiotis."Makkofaides read these, Jarl, though he didn't admit it.He was an old man faced with a difficult problem and he would have needed all the help he could get.He had to work alone in order to keep the final guidance programming a secret, but it's logical to assume that, even if subconsciously, he would have incorporated some of this data.""And certain figures would have held a special importance for him, Cap," agreed Luden."We are all unconscious victims of our conditioning.Give a man a set of figures and ask him to select one and it is highly probable that it will have some connection with a personal interest.His birth-date, financial resources, lucky number, age—" He broke off, musing, his eyes thoughtful."We'll need a complete report on Makkofaides from the moment of his birth.""Cel Evlogozi can supply it, Jarl.Get it and isolate all relevant factors, correlate them with Punayiotis'data, eliminate what seems inconsistent and convert the rest into coordinates.A thin chance but we have to take it.Terran Control can help."Kennedy passed on into the engine room as Luden busied himself at the communicator.Saratov was at his engines, listening to the soft hum of the drive, his big hands deft as he made delicate adjustments, maintaining the near-perfect match of the balanced coils."They aren't as finely tuned as they could be, Cap," he grumbled."Six nines of similarity might do for the fleet, we've got seven, but I want to get eight.""You want perfection, Penza.""Why not, Cap? Nothing less is good enough for the Mordain." Saratov straightened, the light gleaming on the rounded ball of his shaven skull."Veem's pushing us hard," he commented."Do you think we've got a chance?""Of getting there first?" Kennedy shrugged."First we have to know where to look.We'll have to set up an external scanner—wide coverage with narrow selection.We can couple it to the Larvic-Shaw on a feed-back circuit.Noise will be a problem but we may be able to filter most of it out and negate what we can't.The one advantage we have is that we'll be heading into inter-galactic space so interference will be low.We might even be able to spot Kaifeng's vessel.""Kaifeng!" The giant's big hands clenched into fists."I thought we'd taken care of him.""We didn't," said Kennedy bleakly."The last film proves it." He watched it again as the Mordain lanced through space, the two men, the shadow which appeared against the wall, the figure which had walked through stone."A development of the trans-dimensional apparatus he used on Epidoris, Cap," said Luden."A means to alter the vibratory rate of what is contained in the field and so allow it to pass through solid matter.Solid to us, naturally.To the man wearing the device, it would have seemed to be something like a heavy mist.""Could you duplicate it, Penza?""No, Cap." The giant was positive."U've tried.I can adjust the vibration to pulverise whatever is in the field, but I can't make an alloy which will remain stable during transition from one vibratory phase to another.""I believe the secret must lie in the metal of that building we destroyed, Cap," said Luden."The nexus which could only have been constructed by the Zhelryana.Kaifeng would have been able to examine it, refabricate it, perhaps.He had plenty of opportunity."His voice held regret, a touch of envy, more than a touch of bitterness.An emotion which Kennedy could understand, could even share.The building which he had destroyed could have given clues to the secret of that enigmatic race which had flowered to spread throughout the galaxy.The unknown beings which had vanished leaving behind only scraps and fragments of their presence, taking with them the tremendous scientific knowledge they must have possessed.As the film ended Luden reached towards the projector, rewound it, recommenced its run."One man," he mused thoughtfully."I think it logical to assume, Cap, that Kaifeng would have only one device.Its use must entail great danger, unless there is perfect synchronisation the chance of materialising within a solid object is high.The result would, of course, be devastating." Saratov frowned."Why only one, Jarl?""The available evidence leads to that conclusion, Penza." Luden was thinly precise."Review the situation as we know it.A sealed laboratory in which is known to be two men.One attacker, hampered by his equipment, would be at a disadvantage.The men could be in different compartments and each held a destruct-button.It would take only a moment for one to warn the other and the obvious target, that of the virus itself, destroyed.As it happened the killing of Patsalibou caused exactly that to happen.If Makkofaides hadn't panicked, had destroyed himself or at least have taken delaying action, we would not now be faced with our present problem.If Kaifeng had more than one trans-dimensional device it is logical to assume that he would have used them to ensure success.""He must have bundled Makkofaides in a sack," said the giant thoughtfully."Connected him up in some way to engulf him in the field.I'll bet he was sweating every step of the way." A chime from the communicator signalled the arrival of the requested data from Terran Control.Luden took it, studied it, supplying the one thing no computer could possess.The intuition which would always make a man the master of a machine."As we suspected, Cap, there are correlations.I will have to cross-check and eliminate and then, I'm afraid, it will be a matter of luck.A pity Makkofaides never married.If he had there would have been extra associated figures to work on."The toss of a coin to determine the fate of worlds— but it was the best they could do.As Luden crouched over the computer in the laboratory, his fingers dancing over the keys, Kennedy entered the control room.From the big chair Chemile gestured at the screens, now unusually dark, touched only by the light of a few scattered stars, the glow of distant nebulae, other galaxies separated from their own by millions of light years."It gets you, Cap, doesn't it.Will we ever be able to make the crossing?""Perhaps, Veem [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]