“I’m surprised you didn’t build your own ship out of an old septic tank or something. Isn’t that the way most mad scientists do it?”

“Don’t laugh; I could have done it that way. The hyperdrive engine will take you directly into space from the ground if you want to. But I didn’t think a flying septic tank was the image I wanted. I thought a shuttle would be better for getting the world’s attention.”

Judy felt a shiver run up her spine. “Well you definitely did that. I just hope we can patch things back together before it’s too late. Are you ready there?”

“Ready.”

“Let’s go, then.”

Allen grinned. “Warp speed, Captain,” he said, and pushed the “Jump” button.

Earth suddenly filled the view again. It was at the wrong angle, but just having it there made Judy sigh in relief. She tried the radio again.

“Control, this is Discovery. Do you copy?”

Response came immediately. “Discovery, this is Control. We copy. What is your status, over?”

“Green bird. Everything is fine. We’ve had a minor, uh, navigational problem, but we’ve got that taken care of. No cause for alarm. What is your status, over?” She realized she was babbling. There would be hell to pay when she got back on the ground, but she didn’t care. Warp speed!

The ground controller wasn’t much better off. “Everything is under control here too,” he said. “Barely. What is the nature of your navigational problem? Over.”

She suddenly realized that she had another big choice to make. Half the world must be listening in on her transmission; should she tell them the truth? Or should she do the military thing and keep it a secret? There were code words for just such a contingency as this.

It was a simple decision, even simpler than the one to return. She said, “Dr. Meisner has just demonstrated what he calls a hyperdrive engine. I believe his description of it to be accurate. We went—”