LT. COL. GREAVES: They were not withheld in the sense that you imply. Perk and I simply decided that it would be better to wait until we approached Spaceship X more closely before radioing in a detailed description, but when the time came, we were so busy making preparations for boarding that we forgot the matter completely.
SEN. KUELL: Thank you, colonel. Please proceed with your questioning, Senator Larch.
SEN. LARCH: Tell me, Colonel Greaves—why were you and Commander Perkins so determined to board Spaceship X?
LT. COL. GREAVES: Because we knew that this would be our only chance. The difference in the two orbits was such that the forthcoming juxtaposition of the two craft could not occur again for weeks and possibly months and consequently could not occur again at all since our flight was limited to three orbits. In addition, there was the strong possibility that Spaceship X, owing to the nonreflective nature of the metal of which it was constructed, might never be relocated. It had, after all, gone undetected up till now. We felt that the situation had all of the earmarks of a heaven-sent opportunity, and that it would be a shame not to take advantage of it.
SEN. LARCH: Did it not occur to you that the vessel might be an advanced Vostok model of some kind, and that it might be manned?
LT. COL. GREAVES: We knew without even having to discuss the matter that while the Russians would have been capable of building such a ship, launching it with their present boosters would have been out of the question.
SEN. LARCH: But it did occur to you that the vessel might be manned by, shall we say, extra-terrestrial intelligences?
LT. COL. GREAVES: Yes it did. As a matter of fact, we were convinced that it must be manned by beings of some sort—until we got close enough to see the meteor holes in the hull. We knew then that while it might once have been manned, it was manned no more—save, perhaps, by dead men. We also knew that in order for it to have suffered that many meteor penetrations, it must have been in space for millennia.
SEN. LARCH: You assumed this latter contingency—isn't that what you mean, colonel? You couldn't possibly have known it for a certainty.