"Of course," Gunther said. "Did you plan to return it in the immediate future?"
"I'm afraid our studies will take some time," Watson said flatly.
"I was afraid so," Gunther said. "Happily, I took the precaution of making microfilms of the material involved more than a year ago."
Barry Watson pushed his chair back. "We seem to have accomplished what was possible by this conference," he said. "If anything." He looked to right and left at his cohorts. "Let's go."
They came stiffly erect. Watson turned on his heel and started for the door.
As they left, Natt Roberts turned for a moment and said to Gunther, "One thing, Martin. During this next ten years you might consider whether or not half a century has been enough to accomplish our task. Should we consider staying on? I would think the Co-ordinator would accept any recommendation along this line that we might make."
The Genoese contingent looked after him, long after he was gone.
Finally Martin Gunther said, "Baron Leonar, I think it might be a good idea if you began putting some of your men to work on making steel alloys suitable for spacecraft. The way things are developing, perhaps we'll be needing them."
Buchwald and MacDonald looked at him unblinkingly.