When Allan next came to visit on leave from his own station, Jim told him what had been found. Allan's face paled a little as he listened in awe to the story. He stood up and paced across the room as Jim finished. "I always knew there would be something--something extra in this," he said. "You look up at night and you know the moon can't be just another piece of earth. Now--you've found out what it is! "How far could it have come? How old can it be? Imagine stepping out onto a world so old, from so far away!" "You haven't heard it all," said Mary tensely. "There's more?" "They think perhaps the slightest touch of moon substance may be lethal." "We don't know," said Jim hastily. "It's a thought that Sam advanced. But I think it's quite possible. We won't know until we can run animal tests. But special precautions will have to be taken to decontaminate the Apollo after you re-enter with your space-suits." "This will mean engineering changes. Are they under way?" "I haven't announced my theory yet. But the necessary changes to provide for decontamination will have to be made." "I wanted this as much as you," said Mary. "But now it's gone all wrong. We should have gone on dreaming about the moon and let it be a dream that never came true. I'm afraid of it now. No man should set foot on something so alien and so different." Allan put an arm around her shoulders and shook her gently. "Sis! What kind of talk is that? You're talking to the guy who's going to be the first one to put his foot on the moon." * * * * * From the mountain of data accumulated in his experiments, Jim wrote his paper. Hennesey could control the publication of any material based on space experiments to the extent that they affected national security. But even he could not find a means to extend a security blanket to cover a theory of extra-galactic origin of the moon. He raged at Jim, however. "You'll make a laughing stock of us in every scientific center of the world! You can't publish a ridiculous thing like this!" "No one will laugh if he reads the data I've got to present," said Jim. "Every member of our staff who knows the subject has verified that the data are correct. The conclusion is inescapable." "I can't forbid publication, Cochran," said Hennesey, "but I think it is very unwise for you to go ahead. Very unwise." "I'll take that risk," said Jim. He sent the paper to the Journal of Astro-physics. At the same time he sent an announcement to the major news services. He had expected some sensationalism in the reporting. There was more than he bargained for. Some of the headlines that followed were: "Savant Says Moon is Messenger from Outer Space." "Moon Will Poison Earth." "Moon Trip--One Way only."