Chapter 3: CUT-RATE COLUMBUS
THE SILENCE THAT FILLED THE clubhouse had a solid quality, as if one could slice it and make sandwiches. Ross recovered his voice first. “You don’t mean it,” he said in a hushed tone.
“But I do,” Doctor Cargraves answered evenly. “I mean it quite seriously. I propose to try to make a trip to the moon. I’d like to have you fellows with me. Art,” he added, “close your mouth. You’ll make a draft.”
Art gulped, did as he was told, then promptly opened it again. “But look,” he said, his words racing, “Uncle Don, if you take us — I mean, how could we-or if we did, what would we use for — how do you propose-”
“Easy, easy!” Cargraves protested. “All of you keep quiet and I’ll tell you what I have in mind. Then you can think it over and tell me whether or not you want to go for it.”
Morrie slapped the bench beside him. “I don’t care,” he said, “I don’t care if you’re going to try to fly there on your own broom — I’m in. I’m going along.”
“So am I,” Ross added quickly, moistening his lips.
Art looked wildly at the other two. “But I didn’t mean that I wasn’t — I was just asking — Oh, shucks! Me, too! You know that.”
The young scientist gave the impression of bowing without getting up.
“Gentlemen, I appreciate the confidence you place in me. But you are not committed to anything just yet.”
“But-”
“So kindly pipe down,” he went on, “and I’ll lay out my cards, face up. Then we’ll talk. Have you guys ever taken an oath ?”
“Oh, sure — Scout Oath, anyhow.”
“I was a witness in court once.”
“Fine. I want you all to promise, on your honor, not to spill anything I tell you without my specific permission, whether we do business or not. It is understood that you are not bound thereby to remain silent if you are morally obligated to speak up — you are free to tell on me if there are moral or legal reasons why you should. Otherwise, you keep mum — on your honor. How about it?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Right!”
“Check.”
“Okay,” agreed Cargraves, settling back on his spine. “That was mostly a matter of form, to impress you with the necessity of keeping your lips buttoned. You’ll understand why, later. Now here is the idea: All my life I’ve wanted to see the day when men would conquer space and explore the planets — and I wanted to take part in it. I don’t have to tell you how that feels.” He waved a hand at the book shelves. “Those books show me you understand it; you’ve got the madness yourselves. Besides that, what I saw out on your rocket grounds, what I see here, what I saw yesterday when I sneaked a look in Art’s lab, shows me that you aren’t satisfied just to dream about it and read about it — you want to do something. Right?”
“Right!” It was a chorus.
Cargraves nodded. “I felt the same way. I took my first degree in mechanical engineering with the notion that rockets were mechanical engineering and that I would need the training. I worked as an engineer after graduation until I had saved up enough to go back to school. I took my doctor’s degree in atomic physics, because I had a hunch- oh, I wasn’t the only one! -I had a hunch that atomic power was needed for practical space ships. Then came the war and the Manhattan Project. When the Atomic Age opened up a lot of people predicted that space flight was just around the corner. But it didn’t work out that way-nobody knew how to harness the atom to a rocket. Do you know why?”
Somewhat hesitantly Ross spoke up. “Yes, I think I do.”
“Go ahead.”
“Well, for a rocket you need mass times velocity, quite a bit of mass in what the jet throws out and plenty of velocity. But in an atomic reaction there isn’t very much mass and the energy comes out in radiations in all directions instead of 2 nice, lined-up jet. Just the same-“