And goes off half cocked as a result..." the major added. "I don't
think you would have enjoyed the company of Kurt's paymaster."

"I didn't know about him then--not when I left here."

"Yes, and when you discovered the truth, you took steps. Why?" For the
first time there was a trace of feeling in the major's voice.

"Because I don't like the line-up on his side of the fence."'

"That single fact has saved your neck this time, Murdock. Step out of
line once more, and nothing will help you. But just so we won't have to
worry about that, suppose you ask a few of those questions."

"How much of what Kurt fed me is the truth?" Ross blurted out. "I mean
all that stuff about shooting back in time."

"All of it." The major said it so quietly that it carried complete
conviction.

"But why--how--?"

"You have us on a spot, Murdock. Because of your little expedition, we
have to tell you more now than we tell any of our men before the final
briefing. Listen, and then forget all of it except what applies to the
job at hand.

"The Reds shot up Sputnik and then Muttnik.... When--? Twenty-five years
ago. We got up our answers a little later. There were a couple of
spectacular crashes on the moon, then that space station that didn't
stay in orbit, after that--stalemate. In the past quarter century we've
had no voyages into space, nothing that was prophesied. Too many bugs,
too many costly failures. Finally we began to get hints of something
big, bigger than any football roaming the heavens.

"Any discovery in science comes about by steps. It can be traced back
through those steps by another scientist. But suppose you were
confronted by a result which apparently had been produced without any
preliminaries. What would be your guess concerning it?"

Ross stared at the major. Although he didn't see what all this had to do
with time-jumping, he sensed that Kelgarries was waiting for a serious
answer, that somehow Ross would be judged by his reply.

"Either that the steps were kept strictly secret," he said slowly, "or
that the result didn't rightfully belong to the man who said he
discovered it."

For the first time the major regarded him with approval. "Suppose this
discovery was vital to your life--what would you do?"

"Try to find the source!"

"There you have it! Within the past five years our friends across the
way have come up with three such discoveries. One we were able to trace,
duplicate, and use, with a few ref