At quarter-past-nine, in the middle of an alleged ballet sequence, the screen went blank. Harker frowned, annoyed; then an announcer's face appeared.
"We interrupt this program to bring you a special announcement from our newsroom.
"Richard Bryant, hero of Earth's first successful voyage to another planet, died quietly in his sleep an hour ago, in his Manhattan apartment. He would have been seventy-four next month.
"He was assured of immortality on the first of August, 1984, when he radioed from Mars the triumphant message, 'Have landed Mars One safely. Am on way back. Mars is pretty dreary.' From that day on, Rick Bryant was a hero to billions.
"We return you now to the regularly-scheduled program."
Cavorting dancers returned to the screen. In a soft, barely-audible voice, Harker cursed eloquently.
"Gee, Dad! Rick Bryant died!" Chris exclaimed.
Not long after he had taken the case, Harker had induced the old man to autograph a copy of his book I Flew to Mars for Chris; since then, the boy had taken deep interest in Bryant's career.
Harker nodded. To Lois he said, "They didn't even give him a chance. The hearing would have been last Thursday, but his son got it postponed."
"Do you think this will affect the outcome, Jim?"