Phil Bleck was the one fishing for an impressive opening. He moved forward to face the ship commander with hands pressed on his hips defiantly. This was the Phil Bleck, young man genius of United Nuclear, pressured aboard Marship III as nuclear engineer through a couple of Senators and the Secretary of Defense. Oh, he was good, as long as he wasn't under fire. So good posterity required him and he was obligated to save his skin. Hiller had expected Bleck would be the spokesman.
"We want to know if you decided yet, Hiller," Bleck nearly mocked.
"I'd have called this assembly if I had," Fred Hiller replied, emphasizing a commanderish tone of voice.
"Then you haven't." Bleck turned to the others significantly and brought back with him a harsher gaze, which he leveled at the commander. "Most of us here think there's only one sane way out. A couple will go along with any decision. But most of us, including me, want to turn back. Isn't that right?" He turned again to the men for support. Some nodded.
"We figured the chances if we keep on course," Bleck went on, breathing a little heavier. "They're three to one against making it. I don't like those odds, Hiller,"—his upper lip was curling a little—"and we didn't agree to odds like that when we volunteered. With what we know now, we can plan another trip and avoid this mess next time. That way, you'd only waste time and money; going ahead, we waste that plus the priceless knowledge of these scientists, the best the States has to offer."
While Bleck was blowing off, Hiller had studied each man in turn. They hardly represented a crew, though the men had specific jobs to perform during takeoff, transit, and setdown. They represented specialists who would bring back for the first time authoritative reports on Mars—the first two ships had not returned....
Marship III, several times the size of the first ones, but not one-hundredth as much publicized, had been under construction since the first Marship attempts.
The crew technicians Hiller possessed on the trip were three. And as he found the eyes of each, he realized they were not with Bleck.
Art Eastburn, an all-around engineer, whose capacity continued to amaze Hiller, and who had helped build the Marships.
Dave Hollender, astronavigator, bucking for a space ride ever since the moon-missile days; a cool thinker, who had the solar system duplicated and in accurate motion inside his skull.