were proud if they could
cut time from their schedule.

But there was no cutting time from _his_ schedule, and without the
completion of his work the ships would not fly. He had to find men
capable of taking them on their fantastic journeys. To date, he had
failed.

He glanced down at the black car with government markings, which had
driven in front of the building a few moments before, and then he heard
Miss Haslam, his secretary, on the interphone. "The Colonization
Commission, Dr. Ashby."

He turned from the window. "Have them come in at once," he said.

He strode to the door and shook hands with each of the men. Only four of
them had come: Mr. Merton, Chairman; General Winthrop; Dr. Cowper; and
Dr. Boxman.

"Please have seats over here by the window," Ashby suggested.

They accepted and General Winthrop stood a moment looking out. "A
beautiful sight, aren't they, Ashby?" he said. "They get more beautiful
every day. You ought to get over more often. Collins says you haven't
been around the place for weeks, and Number One is going up tomorrow."

"We've had too much to occupy us here."

"_My_ men are ready," said the General pointedly. "We could supply a
dozen crews to take those ships to Serrengia and back, and man the base
there."

Ashby turned away, ignoring the General's comment. He took a chair at
the small conference table where the three Commissioners had seated
themselves. Winthrop followed, settling in his chair with a smile, as if
he had scored a major point.

"Number One is ready," said Merton, "and still you have failed to offer
us a single man, Dr. Ashby. The Commission feels that the time is very
near when definite action will have to be taken. We have your reports,
but we wanted a personal word with you to see if we couldn't come to
some understanding as to what we can expect."

"I will send you the men when I find out what kind of man we need," said
Ashby. "Until then there had better be no thought of releasing the
colonization fleet. I will not be responsible for any but the right
answers to this problem."

"We are getting to the point," said Boxman, "where we feel forced to
consider the recommendations of General Winthrop. Frankly, we have never
been able to fully understand your objections."

"There'll never be a time when I cannot supply all the men needed to
establish this base," said Winthrop. "We spend unlimited funds and years
of time training personnel for posts of this kind,