"Named for him who, in our country's infancy, wrote down in blazing
words the principles on which all democracy is based. The inherent
right of men to enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Once his words showed us the way. Now his name shall lead us to a new
civilization."
"Amen!" said Danny Wilson piously. Then, "Now can we have a look at
her? I mean _him_, Doctor?"
Knowing every nook and cranny, berth and hold, turret and gun-chamber
of the _Jefferson_ as I do now, it is hard to remember my feelings
on that day when first I strode her permalloy decks. Even so, I can
recall the vast wonder that engulfed me as Dr. Mallory led us through
the ship, pointing out the engines, the control-rooms, the Spartan
simplicity of the living quarters, the well-equipped kitchen and
compact storage bins. There was much I did not understand until long
afterward. Permalloy itself was a novelty to me. The metal had been
invented, Mallory said, by a German scientist. One of the old school. A
Doktor Eric von Adlund.
"I do not know what has become of him. Perhaps he, like the other
peace-loving great of his race, has long since been liquidated by the
Totalitarians."
* * * * *
So said Dr. Mallory sadly. And he tried to explain the operation of the
small, inconceivably powerful, atomic motors, the invention of Frazier
Wrenn. It was a concept so novel, yet so simple, that it staggered
us all. But I could see how, without first having a knowledge of the
heretofore unknown element _inektron (the spelling of this important
word seems to have confused Brian O'Shea. In the manuscript it is
incomprehensibly scribbled. Dr. Winslow suggests the philological
similarity of such words as_ "inertron" _and_ "inactron"? _NSB_) man
might never have discovered the long-sought power of the atom.
St. Cloud, frankly at sea as regarded scientific matters, was delighted
with the military efficiency of the ship. I could see his fingers
yearning for the lanyard of one of the rotor-guns installed in the fore
and aft turrets. He liked, too, the foreman who came over to meet us.
"How many men have you working here below?" he asked.
Myers, the supervisor, told him twenty-three. "And there are twenty
women topside," he grinned. "Doc says we're going to a brutal frontier.
But if the women can stand it, we can. A man can do lots of impossible
things with his wife at his side."
I understood, then, the number of girls I had seen above ground, and
regretted my hasty judgment of Dr. Mallory's character. I might have
realized that he did nothing without purpose. He had seen--as I saw
now--that without something, some_one_, to fight for, the men of our
little colony-to-be could easily lose heart. He was assuring our
venture against all eventualities.
I was glad, suddenly, that Maureen was beside me. I wondered if she
felt the same way.
Danny Wilson voiced a problem that had puzzled me.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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