t to Venus in one," Ethan answered. "Also took a trip to Mars.
Stayed there."

The old man had haunted the control compartment, watching how it was
done. Some people did. But that was not a substitute for experience.

"That was long ago and you were a passenger. Anything more recent?"

"Nope. Except for this last trip."

That was what didn't make sense.

"Are you sure? Be honest. Check your memory."

The old man had once piloted jets. But it was not the same.

"No other experience," said Ethan. "Had training, though."

Marlowe knew it. Without training, no one could manage takeoff and
landing. Somehow, the official search had failed to uncover this vital
information. "Where did you take it?"

"Forget the name. Remember every word of it, though."

Marlowe nodded. It was often the case. Early memories were fresh and
clear while later events blew over the enfeebled mind and left no trace.
"But you didn't tell me where."

"Don't remember that part of it. It was a mighty good course. Wasn't
accepted, even though I passed, after paying for my lessons in advance.
They said I was too old."

Air lodged in his throat--Marlowe doubled over. If he'd heard
rightly.... Good God, there were angels and correspondence courses that
watched over the aged! No--give the credit to angels.

"I realized I wasn't as spry as I used to be," continued Ethan
seriously. "Can't shoot off a planet or slam down on one the way your
pilots do. We were at the far end of the field, quite a ways off.
Everybody was busy with the pilot who was running around. They were
trying to help him.

"Guess they didn't see us. They'd have laughed if they did. We went up
slow, kind of wobbly. But we got off."

* * * * *

The old man was beaming, proud of it. He didn't know it wasn't skill but
the built-in safety factor, all the stabilizing mechanisms coming into
play at once. Demarest, the chief of construction, had seen to it that
the ships were well designed. Marlowe would have to commend him when he
got here.

A thought occurred to the training director. If the stabilizing
mechanisms were there, why not use them always? Of course, it wasn't
that simple. Interplanetary ship stabilizers weren't effective at high
speed.

Another thought crowded in. Why such high speed? That was something over
which there was no choice. The protective atmosphere had to be left
swiftly. The speed was added to at every opportunity. It wa