correctly, Jack? The San Francisco area?"

"Yes."

"We'll have to try to keep it from happening there. I'll order the
rockets shut off now. We'll save enough fuel to try to do some last
minute steering as we approach Earth."

"No!" General Oglethorpe cried. "Use it now! Its effect will be the same
as later. Blow the chambers apart! Get back in orbit!"

"We can't make it," West said quietly. "We've gained forward velocity,
but I'll bet your computers will show us better than four percent below
requirements at this orbit. Spot our crash as accurately as possible on
free fall from our present position. We'll save remaining fuel for last
minute steering in case we're near a city."

The General was silent then as he heard the responses come back from the
men who manned the rockets and who knew that with the closing of their
fuel valves their own lives had also come to an end.

"We'll want testimony account for the investigation," Oglethorpe said
finally. "Get the responsible officers on the circuit--but you first,
Frank--"

There was a moment of silence before Captain Frank West began speaking
in changed tones. "What is there to say?" he asked, finally. "You won't
need to hold an investigation. I can tell you all you need to know--all
you'll ever find out at least,--right now. Your decision will be the
same one so many hundreds and thousands of investigating boards have
made in the past: Pilot Error.

"_Human_ error! That's what killed the first Wheel, and the _Griseda_. I
don't know why it happened. Adler doesn't. Neither does any other man up
here with us. Those who were with Cummins in the control room are dead,
but they didn't know any more than we do.

"We spent a million dollars training that man, Cummins. We believed he
was the best we could produce. We measured his reflexes and his
intelligence and his blood composition until we thought we knew the
function and capability of every molecule in his body. And then, in just
one split second, he makes the decision of a moron, fumbling when he
needed to be precise."

"Just what did he do?" Oglethorpe asked gently.

"Our customary approach is to the west turret. This time he had been
ordered to go to the east side because of repairs on the other end of
the hub. Cummins had seen and acknowledged the orders. Apparently, they
slipped his mind during approach to the Wheel and he came up on the west
side. Then he remembered and tried to correct his position.

"Ev