toward something infinitely greater and more
important. With space on his hands men could get along without wars. But
if we waited for peacetime to go to space, we might never make it. It
might be too late.

"It was a dreadful undertaking. I saw the wealth in the company I
directed and controlled at the end of the Chinese war, and the idea grew
strong. I saw that a huge industrial amalgamation could be undertaken,
and succeed. We had a weapon in our favor, the most dangerous weapon
ever devised, a thousand times more potent than atomics. Hitler used it,
with terrible success. Stalin used it. Haro-Tsing used it. Why couldn't
Ingersoll use it? Propaganda--a terrible weapon. It could make people
think the right way--it could make them think almost _any_ way. It made
them think war. From the end of the last war we started, with
propaganda, with politics, with money. The group grew stronger as our
power became more clearly understood. Mariel handled propaganda through
the newspapers, and PIB, and magazines--a clever man--and Harry
Dartmouth handled production. I handled the politics and diplomacy. We
had but one aim in mind--to bring about a threat of major war that would
drive men to space. To the moon, to a man-made satellite, _somewhere or
anywhere_ to break through the Earth's gravity and get to space. And we
aimed at a controlled war. We had the power to do it, we had the money
and the plants. We just had to be certain it wasn't the _ultimate_ war.
It wasn't easy to make sure that atomic weapons wouldn't be used this
time--but they will not. Both nations are too much afraid, thanks to our
propaganda program. They both leaped at a chance to make a face-saving
agreement. And we hoped that the war could be held off until we got to
the moon, and until the Arizona rocket project could get a ship launched
for the moon. The wheels we had started just moved too fast. I saw at
the beginning of the Berlin Conference that it would explode into war,
so I decided the time for my 'death' had arrived. I had to come here, to
make sure the war doesn't go on any longer than necessary."

Shandor looked up at the old man, his eyes tired. "I still don't see
where I'm supposed to fit in. I don't see why you came here at all. Was
that a wild-goose chase I ran down there, learning about this?"

"Not a wild goose chase. The important work can't start, you see, until
the rocket gets here. It wouldn't do much good if the Arizona rocket got
her