“Yes.”
“It sure was. I was kind of worried what was happening up there, with my son an aviator and all. But as long as you scientific guys know what it’s all about, I guess it’s all right. That was sure a good speech, Doc. But there’s one question I’d like to ask you.”
“Iwas afraid of that,” said Dr. Hale.
“These stars. They’re moving, going somewhere. But where are they going? I mean, like you said, if they are.”
“There’s no way of telling that, exactly, Mike.”
“Aren’t they moving in a straight line, each one of them?”
For just a moment the celebrated scientist hesitated.
“Well—yes and no, Mike. According to spectroscopic analysis, they’re maintaining the same distance from us, each one of them. So they’re really moving—if they’re moving—in circles around us. But the circles are straight, as it were. I mean, it seems that we’re in the center of those circles, so the stars that are moving aren’t coming closer to us or receding.”
“You could draw lines for those circles?”
“On a star-globe, yes. It’s been done. They all seem to be heading for a certain area of the sky, but not for a given point. They don’t intersect.”