id nothing but search the galaxy for it, full time.

"Naturally," the general continued, "we don't want any of this
information to leak out, just in case it should prove false. The
prospect of enough D-N beryllium to make fusion power really cheap could
cause a panic if we didn't handle it properly. The Economics Board has
warned us that we'll have to proceed carefully if there actually is a
big deposit on this planet."

Captain Wayne stared uneasily at Sherri James, who frowned and chewed
her lip. To his left, a short, stubby private named Manetti murmured
worriedly, "That means trouble. D-N beryllium always means trouble.
There's a catch somewhere."

General Scarborough, on the platform, said, "There's a second reason for
secrecy. I think it can better be explained by a man who has the
evidence first-hand."

He paused and looked around the room. "Four weeks ago, the Scout Ship
_Mavis_ came back from Fomalhaut V." There was a dead silence in the
briefing room.

"Lieutenant Jervis, will you tell the crew exactly what happened on
Fomalhaut V?"

* * * * *

Lieutenant Jervis stepped forward and took his place on the platform. He
was small and wiry, with a hawk nose and piercingly intense eyes. He
cleared his throat and smiled a little sheepishly.

"I've told this story so many times that it doesn't even sound real to
me any more. I've told it to the Supreme Senate Space Committee, to half
the top brass in the IES, and to a Board of Physicians from the Medical
Department.

"As well as I can remember it, it goes something like this."

Laughter rippled through the room.

"We orbited around Fomalhaut V for a Scouting Survey," Jervis said. "The
planet is hot and rocky, but it has a breathable atmosphere. The
detectors showed various kinds of metals in the crust, some of them in
commercially feasible concentration. But the crust is so mountainous and
rocky that there aren't very many places to land a ship.

"Then we picked up the double-nucleus beryllium deposit on our
detectors. Nearby, there was a small, fairly level valley, so we brought
the ship down for a closer check. We wanted to make absolutely positive
that it was double-nucleus beryllium before we made our report."

He paused, as if arranging the story he wanted to tell in his mind, and
went on. "The D-N beryllium deposit lies at the top of a fairly low
mountain about five miles from the valley. We triangulated it first, a