that?" he
demanded.

"You don't suppose that our examinations would neglect the men on whom
you have spent so much time and effort in training?"

The General flushed with rage. "If you've tampered with any of my men--!
You had no right--!"

The other Commission members were smiling in faint amusement at the
General's discomfiture.

"I should think it would be to your advantage to check the results of
your training," said Mr. Merton.

"There is only one possible check!" exclaimed General Winthrop. "Put
these men on a base for a period of eight years and at a distance of
forty seven light years from home and see what they will do. That is the
only way you can check on them."

"And if you know anything about our methods of testing, you will
understand that this, in effect, is what we have done. Your best man is
about to be released from the test pit. He can't have more than an hour
to go."

"Who have you got in your guinea pig pen?" the General demanded. "If
you've ruined him--"

"Captain Louis Carnahan," said Ashby. "Shall we go down, gentlemen?"

* * * * *

It had been a grisly business, watching the final minutes of Carnahan's
disintegration. General Winthrop's face was almost purple when he saw
the test pit in which Carnahan was being examined. He tried to tear out
the observation lens with his bare hands as he saw the Captain lift the
loaded pistol to his head in the moment before the safety beam cut in.

And now Ashby kept hearing Winthrop's furious, scathing voice: "You have
destroyed one of the best men the Service has ever produced! I'll have
your hide for this, Ashby, if it's the last act of my life."

Merton and the others had been shocked also by the violence and
degradation of what they saw, but whether he had made his point or not,
Ashby didn't know. Carnahan, of course, would be returned to the Service
within twenty four hours, all adverse effects of the test completely
removed. He would be aware that he had taken it and had not passed, but
there would be no trace of the bitter emotions generated during those
days of examination.

Ashby looked out again at the four hulls now turning from gold to red as
the sun dropped lower in the sky. He had not asked Merton if the
ultimatum was going to stick. He wondered how they could insist on it
after what they had seen, but he didn't _know_.

Impatiently, he turned from the window as Miss Haslam's voice came on
the int