Hedrick received him with his usual courtesy. Perry recounted what he had been doing, then broached the subject of taking rocket training. Hedrick nodded his approval.
“But you see, sir, if I go to Goddard Field, I’ll need to stay there continuously, three months at least. I can’t check back here every day or two. Now I feel that I’m cured and fully adjusted to modern life. Certainly I don’t suffer from sexual jealousy. Don’t you think I’m cured?”
“Certainly you are cured, my boy. The last several association tests you’ve taken showed it conclusively.”
“You’ve known for some time I was cured?”
“Yes indeed. Yes indeed. In fact I reported to the court that you had been discharged as readjusted over three weeks ago. But I couldn’t tell you. You had to find it out for yourself.”
“Well, I’ll be damned!”
Hedrick smiled. “I think not, son.”
XV
“It is implicit in all of our American institutions that there are but two things that every man wants; first, that he should be as secure as possible economically, able to face the future without fear of cold or hunger for himself or his loved ones; and second, the chance to do anything that he wants to do, that interests him, that seems worthwhile to him. The first we could accomplish collectively where no man could accomplish it alone. It’s an impossibility alone. So we did it—together—with the dividend. The second is perfectly possible in so far as the things he wants to do don’t damage others. Now most people area pretty good sort, who don’t want to damage other people, who would not do it knowingly. Our Code of Customs is designed to prevent such damage, and for no other purpose. We take the point of view that, if a man wants to do something and it does not hurt other people—By God, let him do it!”
— President Montgomery at the Tri-Centennial Celebration of the Bill of Rights, 2089.
Diana, Perry, and Olga sat around a table in a small but pleasant living room. Before them were the remains of a gourmet repast. Perry was pouring wine into two tiny cups. He handed them to the women.
“Here’s luck. Save the bottle and I’ll finish it when I get back.” The girls drank and Perry refilled their cups. “We were certainly delighted that you could come, Olga. We haven’t seen enough of you this past year.”
“You know that I couldn’t stay away, Perry.”
“Thanks.” He arose and stepped to a window. It was night. A gibbous moon rode high to the south and turned the desert soil of Arizona into unearthly fairyland. “I’m glad it’s a nice night. Not that it makes any real difference, but it’s pleasanter.” He glanced at the wall chronometer. “About an hour until meridian. We don’t need to leave yet.”
Olga fussed with a cigarette and broke it. “How long will you be gone, Perry?”
“A little less than twenty-four hours”
“So short a time? But the moon is so far away!”
“It’s far enough, about three hundred and eighty thousand kilometers. My orbit will be about eight hundred thousand kilometers all told. But I’m going to travel pretty fast.”
“How fast, Perry?”
“My average speed will be around six hundred kilometers per minute, five eight six point two to be exact. I’ll be going faster on the swing around old Luna, but that is because I want to stay down low and take some pictures.”
“That seems terribly fast. Won’t it crush you to accelerate to such a horrible speed?”
“No, not at all. I could come up to speed in little over half an hour, using only half a ‘g’. Except for the first few minutes, though, I won’t even use that. I’ll get a big shove in the first four minutes, then drop off my first-stage rocket entirely.”
“It uses your new fuel, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, it uses the picroid. I designed it after a high explosive we used to use, but I’ve got it controlled. We used to use the stuff it’s made from, picric acid, in bombs and shells, but not in guns, because it was too fast and would split a gun wide open. But this stuff I can control and get a tremendous boost with it. When it’s gone I drop off its tanks and nozzles, and so forth, and what I’ve got left is a fairly ordinary little rocket ship.”
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