starship's visits to
Earth were always at least a decade behind, usually more. Most of the
library books had come aboard when the ship had first been commissioned,
far back in the year 2731. The face of Europe had almost totally
altered since then.

Now, shiny new buildings replaced the ancient houses which had endured
for as much as a thousand years. A gleaming bridge linked Dover and
Calais; elsewhere, the rivers of Europe were bridged frequently,
providing easy access between the many states of the Federation of
Europe. Here, there, monuments of the past remained--the Eiffel Tower,
absurdly dwarfed by the vast buildings around it, still reared its
spidery self in Paris, and Notre Dame still remained as well. But the
rest of Paris, the ancient city Alan had read so much of--that had long
since been swept under by the advancing centuries. Buildings did not
endure forever.

In Zurich he visited the Lexman Institute for Space Travel, a
magnificent group of buildings erected on the royalties from the Lexman
Spacedrive. A radiant statue sixty feet high was the monument to
Alexander Lexman, who in 2337 had first put the stars within the reach
of man.

Alan succeeded in getting an interview with the current head of the
Institute, but it was anything but a satisfactory meeting. It was held
in an office ringed with mementoes of the epoch-making test flight of
2338.

"I'm interested in the work of James H. Cavour," Alan said almost
immediately--and from the bleak expression that appeared on the
scientist's face, he knew he had made a grave mistake.

"Cavour is as far from Lexman as possible, my friend. Cavour was a
dreamer; Lexman, a doer."

"Lexman succeeded--but how do you know Cavour didn't succeed as well?"

"Because, my young friend, faster-than-light travel is flatly
impossible. A dream. A delusion."

"You mean that there's no faster-than-light research being carried on
here?"

"The terms of our charter, set down by Alexander Lexman himself, specify
that we are to work toward improvements in the technique of space travel.
It said nothing about fantasies and daydreams. No--ah--hyperdrive
research is taking place at this institute, and none will take place so
long as we remain true to the spirit of Alexander Lexman."

Alan felt like crying out that Lexman was a bold and daring pioneer,
never afraid to take a chance, never worried about expense or public
reaction. It was obvious, though, that the people of the