But if the harsh voice, too, was the same, the tone was surprising. Apparently, in the face of astronomical odds, the Old Man had called him in for the purpose of praising him.

Tanayama said in his queer, and not altogether unpleasant, distortion of Planetary English, ‘Fisher, you have done well. I want you to hear that from me.’

Fisher, standing (he had not been invited to sit down), managed to suppress his small start of surprise.

The Director said, ‘There can be no public celebration of this, no laser-beam parade, no holographic procession. It is not in the nature of things. But I tell you this.’

‘That is quite enough, Director,’ said Fisher. ‘I thank you.’

Tanayama stared fixedly at Fisher out of his narrow eyes. Finally, he said, ‘And is that all you have to say? No questions?’

‘I presume, Director, you will tell me what I need to know.’

‘You are an agent, a capable man. What have you found out for yourself?’

‘Nothing, Director. I do not seek to find out anything but what I am instructed to find out.’

Tanayama's small head nodded very slightly. ‘An appropriate answer, but I seek inappropriate ones. What have you guessed?’

‘You seem pleased with me, Director, and it may therefore be that I have brought in some information that has proved useful to you.’

‘In what respect?’

‘I think nothing would prove more useful to you than having obtained the technique of hyper-assistance.’

Tanayama's mouth made a noiseless: ‘Ah-h-h.’ He said, ‘And next? Assuming this to be so, what are we to do next?’

‘Travel to the Neighbor Star. Locate Rotor.’

‘Nothing better than that? That is all there is to do? You see no farther?’

And at this point, Fisher decided it would be foolish not to gamble. He could not possibly be handed a better opportunity. ‘One thing better: that, when the first Earth vessel goes out of the Solar System by means of hyper-assistance, I be on it.’

Fisher had scarcely said that when he knew his gamble was lost - or at least not won. Tanayama's face darkened. He said in a sharply imperative tone, ‘Sit down!’

Fisher could hear the soft movement of the chair behind him, rolling toward him at the words of Tanayama, words that its primitive computerized motor could understand.

Fisher sat down, without looking behind him to make certain the chair was there. To have done so would have been insulting and, at the present moment, there was no room to insult Tanayama.

Tanayama said, ‘Why do you want to be on the vessel?’

With an effort, Fisher kept his voice level. ‘Director, I have a wife on Rotor.’

‘A wife you abandoned five years ago. Do you think she would welcome you back?’

‘Director, I have a child.’

‘She was one year old when you left. Do you think she knows she has a father? Or cares?’

Fisher was silent. These were points that he had thought about himself, over and over.

Tanayama waited briefly, then said, ‘But there will be no flight to the Neighbor Star. There will be no vessel for you to be on.’

Again, Fisher had to suppress surprise. He said, ‘Forgive me, Director. You did not say we had hyper-assistance. You said, “Assuming this to be so-” I should have noted your choice of words.’

‘So you should have done. So you should always do. Nevertheless, we do have hyper-assistance. We can now move through space, just as Rotor has done; or at least we will, once we build a vehicle and are sure the design is adequate, and all its features workable - which may take a year or two. But then what? Are you seriously suggesting we take it to the Neighbor Star?’

Fisher said cautiously, ‘Surely that is an option, Director.’

‘A useless one. Think it out, man. The Neighbor Star is over two light-years away. No matter how skillfully we make use of hyper-assistance, it will take us more than two years to arrive there. Our theoreticians now tell me that while hyper-assistance will allow a ship to go faster than light for brief periods of time - the faster, the briefer - the end result is always that it cannot reach any point in space faster than a ray of light would have, if the two had started from the same point of origin.’

‘But if that is so-’

‘If that is so, you would be forced to remain on a spaceship in close quarters with several other crewpeople for over two years. Do you think you can endure that? You know very well that small ships have never made long trips. What we need is a Settlement, a structure large enough to provide a reasonable environment - like Rotor. How long will that take?’

‘I couldn't say, Director.’

‘Perhaps ten years if all works well - if there are no hitches or mishaps. Remember, we haven't built a Settlement in nearly a century. All the recent Settlements have been built by other Settlements. If, suddenly, we begin building one, we will attract the attention of all the Settlements that already exist, and that must be avoided. Then, too, if such a Settlement can be built, and outfitted with hyper-assistance, and sent to the Neighbor Star in over a two-year flight, what will it do when it gets there? As a Settlement, it will be vulnerable and easy to destroy if Rotor has warships, as it certainly will have. Rotor will have more warships than we could possibly carry on our traveling Settlement. After all, they have been there for three years already, and may be there for twelve more years before we get there. They will blow our Settlement out of space on sight.’

‘In that case, Director-’

‘No further guessing, Agent Fisher. In that case, we must have true hyperspatial travel, so that we may move any distance we like in as short a period as we like.’

‘Pardon me, Director, but is that possible? Even in theory?’

‘That is not for you or me to say. We need scientists to concentrate on the matter, and we don't have them. For a century or more, Earth has suffered a brain drain to the Settlements. So now we must reverse that. We must raid the Settlements, after a fashion, and persuade the best physicists and engineers to come to Earth. We can offer them a great deal, but it will have to be done carefully. We can't be too open, you understand, or the Settlements will certainly forestall us. Now-’

He paused, and studied Fisher thoughtfully.

Fisher stirred uneasily and said, ‘Yes, Director?’

‘The physicist I have my eye on is one T.A. Wendel, who, I'm told, is the best hyperspatialist in the Solar System-’

‘It was the hyperspatialists on Rotor who discovered hyper-assistance.’ Fisher could not resist allowing a certain dryness to enter his voice.

Tanayama ignored that. He said, ‘Discoveries can be made by happy accident, and an inferior mind can stumble ahead while a superior one is taking the time to lay a firm foundation. That has frequently happened in history. Besides, Rotor only has what proved, in the end, to be merely hyper-assistance, a speed-of-light drive. I want a superluminal drive, one that is far beyond the speed of light. And I want Wendel.’

‘And do you wish me to get him for you?’

‘Her. She's a woman. Tessa Anita Wendel of Adelia.’

‘Oh?’

‘That is why we want you for the job. Apparently’ - and here Tanayama seemed to radiate a quiet amusement, although nothing in his facial expression seemed to indicate that - ‘you are irresistible to women.’

Fisher's expression grew wooden. ‘I ask pardon for contradicting you, Director, but I do not find it so. I have never found it so.’

‘The reports are persuasive, just the same. Wendel is a middle-aged woman, in her forties, twice-divorced. She should not be hard to persuade.’

‘To be honest, sir, I find the assignment distasteful and, under those circumstances, it is possible another agent would be better suited for the task.’

‘But I want you just the same. If you fear that you would not be your flirtatious and maddeningly attractive self if you approached her with face averted and nose wrinkled, I will sweeten matters for you, Agent Fisher. You failed on Rotor, but your service since has, in part, made up for it. You can now completely make up for it. If, however, you do not bring back this woman, that will be a far greater failure than Rotor was, and you will never have the chance to make up for that . Still, I don't want you governed by apprehension alone. I will throw in a bit of anticipation. Bring back Wendel and when a superluminal vessel is built and heads out toward the Neighbor Star, you will be on it if you wish.’

‘I will do my best,’ said Fisher, ‘and I would have done my best even if there were no occasion for either apprehension or anticipation.’

‘An excellent answer,’ said Tanayama, allowing himself the thinnest of smiles, ‘and undoubtedly well rehearsed.’

And Fisher left, fully realizing that he had been sent out on his most crucial fishing expedition yet.