blackboard, and rows of chairs. Most of the audience had left, and attendants were already stacking the metal seats at the side of the room. But a small knot of eight or nine men remained in a corner, deep in discussion, surrounding a white-haired man who might have been the lecturer.
Luke's spirits fell. A few minutes ago, more than a hundred scientists in his field had been here. Now there were just a handful, and it was quite possible that none of them knew him. .
The white-haired man glanced up at him, then looked back at the others. It was impossible to know whether he had recognized Luke or not He was speaking, and carried on without a pause. 'Nitro-methane is almost impossible to-handle. You can't ignore safety factors.'
'You can build safety into your procedures, if the fuel is good enough,' said a young man in a tweed suit.
The argument was a familiar one to Luke. A bewildering variety of rocket fuels had been tested, many of them more powerful than the standard combination of alcohol and liquid oxygen, but they, all had drawbacks.
A man with a southern accent said: 'What about unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine? I hear they're testing that at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.' .
Luke suddenly said: 'It works, but it's deadly poison.'
They all turned to him. The white-haired man frowned, looking slightly annoyed, resenting the interruption from a stranger.
Then the young man in the tweed suit looked shocked and said: 'My God, what are you doing in Washington, Luke?'
Luke felt so happy he could have wept.
*
PART 3
4.15 P. M.
A tape programmer in the tub varies the speed of rotation of the upper stages between 450 r.p.m. and 750 r.p.m., to avoid resonance vibrations that could cause the missile to break up in space.
Luke found he could not speak. The emotion of relief was so strong it seemed to constrict his throat All day he had forced himself to be calm and rational, but now he was close to breaking down.
The other scientists resumed their conversation, oblivious to his distress, except for the young man in the tweed suit, who looked concerned and said: 'Hey, are you okay?' .
Luke nodded. After a moment, he managed to say: 'Could we talk?'
'Sure, sure. There's a little office behind the Wright Brothers display. Professor Larkley used it earlier.' They headed for a door to one side. 'I organized this lecture, by the way.' He led Luke into a small, spartan room with a couple of chairs, a desk and a phone. They sat down. 'What's going on?' said the man.
'I've lost my memory.'
'My God!'
'Autobiographical amnesia. I still remember my science, that's how I found my way to you guys, but I don't know anything about myself.' -
Looking shocked, the young man said: 'Do you know who I am?'
Luke shook his head. 'Heck, I'm not even sure of my own name.'
'Whew.' The man looked bewildered. 'I never came across anything like this in real life.'
'I need you to tell me what you know about me.'
'I guess you do. Uh ... where shall I start?'
'You called me Luke.'
'Everyone calls you Luke. You're Dr Claude Lucas, but I guess7you never liked 'Claude. I'm Will McDermot'
Luke closed his eyes, overwhelmed by relief and gratitude. He knew his name. 'Thank you, Will.'
'I don't know anything about your family. I've only met you a couple of times, at scientific conferences.'
'Do you know where I live?'
'Huntsville, Alabama, I guess. You work for the Army Ballistic Missile Agency. They're based at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville. You're a civilian, though, not an army officer. Your boss is Wernher von Braun.'
'I can't tell you how good it is to know this stuff!'
'I was surprised to see you because your team is about to launch a rocket that will put an American satellite in space for the first time. They're all down in Cape Canaveral, and word is it could be tonight.' '
'I read about it in the paper this morning - my God, did I work on that''
'Yeah. The Explorer. It's the most important launch in the history of the American space programme - especially since the success of the Russian Sputnik and the failure of the Navy's Vanguard.'
Luke was exhilarated. Only hours ago he had imagined himself a drunken bum. Now it turned out he was a scientist at the peak of his career. 'But I ought to be there for the launch!'
'Exactly ... so do you have any idea why you're not?'
Luke shook his head. 'I woke up this morning in the men's room at Union Station. No idea how I got there.'
Will gave him a man-to-man grin. 'Sounds like you went to a great party last night!'
'Let me ask you seriously - is that the kind of thing I do? Get so drunk I pass out?'
'I don't know you well enough to answer that' Will frowned. 'I'd be surprised, though. You know us scientists. Our idea of a party is to sit around drinking coffee and talking about our work.'
That sounded right to Luke. 'Getting drunk just doesn't seem interesting enough.' But he had no other explanation of how he had gotten into this scrape. Who was Pete? Why had people been following him? And who were the two men searching for him at Union Station?
He thought of talking to Will about all that and decided it sounded too strange. Will might begin to think he was nuts. Instead he said: 'I'm going to call Cape Canaveral.'
'Great idea.' Will picked up the phone on the desk and dialed zero. 'Will McDermot here. Can I make a long- distance call on this phone? Thank you.' He handed the phone to Luke.
Luke got the number from information and dialed. 'This is Dr Lucas.' He felt inordinately pleased to be able to give his name: he would not have thought it could be so satisfying. 'I'd like to speak to someone on the Explorer launch team.'
'They're in hangars D and R,' said the male operator. 'Please hold the line.'
A moment later a voice said: 'Army security, Colonel Hide speaking.'
'This is Dr Lucas-'
'Luke! At last! Where the hell are you?'
'I'm in Washington.'
'Well, what the bejesus are you doing? We've been going crazy! We got Army Security looking for you, the FBI, even the CIA!'
That explained the two agents searching in Union Station, Luke thought 'Listen, a strange thing has happened- I lost my memory. I've been wandering around town trying to figure out who I ,am. Finally I found some physicists who know me.'
'But that's extraordinary. How did it happen, for Christ's sake?'
'I was hoping you could tell me that, Colonel.'
'You always call me Bill.'
'Bill.'
'Okay, well, I'll tell you what I know. Monday morning you took off, saying you had to go to Washington. You flew from Patrick.'
'Patrick?'
'Patrick Air Force Base, near Cape Canaveral. Marigold made the reservations-'
'Who's Marigold?'
Your secretary in Huntsville. She also booked your usual suite at the Carlton Hotel in Washington.'
There was a note of envy in the colonel's voice, and Luke wondered briefly about that 'usual suite', but he had more important questions. 'Did I tell anyone the purpose of the trip?'
'Marigold made an appointment for you to see General Sherwood at the Pentagon at ten a.m. yesterday - but you didn't keep the appointment'
'Did I give a reason for wanting to see the general?'
