le eyes blinked and looked keenly on Halter's face.

"You want fuel to take you back out into space."

"That's right."

"And if you don't get it, you'll press a button on the arm of your
chair and you'll all die of carbon monoxide poisoning."

"Exactly."

"I'm curious about one point." Halter paused. "What did _you_ do,
Captain, while the others were working on their various projects?"

Captain McClelland scowled at Halter for a long moment. "Why do you
want to know that?"

"Your crew members became lost in some work they loved. They told me
about it with a certain amount of enthusiasm. You haven't told me what
you did. I'd like to know--for the records."

"I watched them, Colonel. I watched them and dreamed of the time when
I could take them and the ship back out into space under her own
power. I love space and I love this ship. I love knowing she's under
power and shooting out to the stars. There's nothing more for me."

"What else did you do besides watch them?"

"I activated the machinery that moved my bunk close to the controls. I
practiced taking the ship through maneuvers. I kept the controls in
perfect working order so I'd be ready to take off again someday."

"If we repaired the ship so you could take off, the first shock of
rocket thrust would kill you all."

"We're willing to take that chance."

Colonel Halter looked around the half circle of old faces. "And all
your long years of work would be for nothing. Each of you, except
Captain McClelland, has made a contribution to Earth and Man. You're
needed here, not in the emptiness of space."

He saw the eyes of the five watching him intently; saw a tiny flicker
of surprise and interest on their faces.

"You're destroying Earth," said the captain, his voice rising, "with
your wars and your quarrels. We've all of us found peace. We're going
to keep it."

* * * * *

Halter ignored the captain and looked at the five.

"There are many of _us_ on Earth, who are fighting a war without
blood, to save mankind. We've made progress. We've worked out
agreements among the warring nations to do their fighting on the
barren planets where there aren't any native inhabitants, so
noncombatants on Earth won't be killed and so the Earth won't be laid
waste. That was the fighting you saw while you were coming in.

"This is just _one_ example. And there're a lot of us contributing
ideas and effort. If all of us who're working for