Grimes had been around too long to let it bother him that much, but he always felt a certain resentment when they handed him one of their psychological gimmicks.

What the devil could be on this one? The orders were the clearest he had ever received. Drastic, all right, but no room for misinterpretation. Here he was Number Three Commander in the service, and they didn't trust him to come in out of the rain. Maybe Manson was trying to drop a hint. Didn't think he was capable of leading a combat mission. Maybe the whole crew was uneasy.

A hard smile forced itself across his face. They'd know in the next fifteen or twenty hours who their leader was.

It was just one-forty and six when Grimes switched off his microfilm projector and returned the movie canister to his library.

Okay, big shots, one of your little toy soldiers is ready for the psych treatment, he thought sourly as he dropped the plastic tape onto the player and positioned the governor electrodes over his bed. I'd like to have the guy by the throat who invented this gadget, he muttered.

The tape only played when the electrodes picked up radiation from the brain telling that the subject was asleep; then the information became a part of his subconscious only. If he awoke, the player simply stopped until he went back to sleep. The results were frequently amazing. Blundering old space veterans had been converted overnight into smooth diplomats for negotiating with the sensitive Venusians. Timid souls had been fired up to brave the risks of delicate landings on tiny asteroids. And now it was his turn. What kind of pep talk did the psychology brain trust think he needed? Afraid he'd make a fool of himself in front of his crew?

He switched on the player savagely and set the volume level to suit a light sleeper; then he slit open the envelope and read the few imprinted lines. 

"CAPTAIN GRIMES, SPACESHIP VULCAN, EN ROUTE PRIMUS. REVIEW OF ORDERS. ESTABLISH COMMUNICATIONS WITH PRIMUS CITIES NEPHELE, ESTIVAL. DETERMINE CAUSE OF DEATHS OF PREVIOUS EXPLORERS. INVESTIGATE EXHAUSTIVELY, RUTHLESSLY. COMPLETE EXPLANATION ABSOLUTELY IMPERATIVE. YOUR SUCCESS MAY FORESTALL EXPEDITIONARY FORCE. UNITED NATIONS SERVICE HEADQUARTERS, PARIS."

He pushed the cold-blooded message through a discard slot and turned down the bed clothes. He hopped between the sheets and took a deep breath. Modern science was wonderful, he mused, but it hadn't yet 

 Prev. P 3/16 next