The crowd breathed a unanimous sigh of relief. Smiles broke out on several faces.
"I cannot tell you just at the moment what this mode of escape is. But I have discussed it with a few of you—the fewest number possible—and all of them agree that there is an excellent chance that it will work. If it does, we of Earth will still face a great many problems. But we shall, at least, be free, and that is the important thing. If we fail...." Hawkins let his voice trail off for a moment. "If we fail, we can expect instant destruction not only for us, but for all of mankind."
He waited for the meaning to sink in, his face set in a firm frown. And then, purposefully, he let his facial muscles relax into a broad smile. "But I do not think that we will fail. I think we will win. And I have come to ask your permission to risk all our lives on the venture. I cannot give you any more information. I can only ask for your confidence—and for your votes of approval." He looked around the room deliberately, pausing for just the right length of time. And then he said, "Will all of you who have sufficient faith in me and my judgment please rise in assent?"
Broussard had given him the trick of mass decision—had told him that if you make people commit themselves openly, the decision has a better chance of unanimity. Hawkins smiled to see how well the device worked. Every man in the room was on his feet, most of them cheering.
He waited for the shouting to die down and then said simply, "Thank you. And now to battle stations."
Captain Allen Hawkins sat in his control seat on the Sunward's bridge, staring at the button that turned on his radio set. "The purpose of a position of responsibility is to make decisions," he told himself.
A green light burst into life on the control panel, indicating that all of the preparations he had asked for were in readiness. Such signals would be his only means of communications during the entire maneuver, for he had given orders that no one was to utter one word aloud during the entire operation. He was taking no chances.
Hawkins grinned. "And the devil take the hindmost," he told himself.
Pressing down on the radio button, he said aloud, "This is Captain Allen Hawkins of the Sunward calling Surveyor Lan Sur of the Dakn Empire."