"Nope," objected Majors. "It persists through twenty-seven photographs made one minute apart—each exposed for one minute."
"Um. What is it?"
"Don't know," replied Majors. "But it is darned interesting."
"Boötes is the region from whence comes the Lawson Radiation, isn't it?"
Majors nodded. "That's why they sent it to me. It was taken by the Carroll Telescope on Luna, a sort of tribute to Carroll that the first photographs and work done by his invention be directed at that portion of the sky he worked so long on—to his own downfall."
"Tell me, Majors, do you often get these kind of smudges?"
"Not this kind but there have been other kinds."
Dr. Pollard looked at the smudge. "Let's take this to Carroll," he suggested. "Maybe it might mean something to that hidden portion of his mind that refuses to admit what it knows about the Lawson Radiation."
"Through the teleport?"
"Why not? If it's not available at the other end, we'll just meet a solid mirror and can't step through. That worried me for a long time, that idea of not having a place to go to. Just step out into—heaven knows what—because the other end wasn't connected. Come on!"