"Then the thing's pretty cut and dried. If he smuggled those prints
out--" The young scientist was puzzled. "I don't understand."
"That's the strange part of it. Kendall didn't open that file. The
time-stamp mechanism recorded no entry as of that date."
"Then what file did he open?"
"They can't be sure, but the Crackpot File _was_ opened on that date."
"The Crackpot File! But no one is allowed in there! All those crazy
dangerous ideas!"
"I know. And one set of prints appeared to have been disturbed."
"Photographed?"
"Perhaps. The rocket they labelled _Suicide One_. Professor Utterback's
brain child. The one they figured could never be launched."
"I remember. The brass were pretty sure it would blow half the North
American continent away thirty seconds after the primer was ignited."
"Yes."
"They think Kendall photographed those prints?"
"They can't be sure, but with Centaur suddenly flaring into nova last
week--"
"But that was pure coincidence. It had to be. If Kendall had a plan
to get that rocket into the Centaurians' hands, why did he keep it to
himself. It would have been the making of the man! He would have been a
hero."
"As I say, they have little to go on. Right now, they're trying to
locate Kendall's wife. If they find her they might learn something."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account