“Astro One?” The man removed his pith helmet to wipe his brow and Brandon noticed the gleaming US insignia on the front of the helmet. “The Astro One left Earth thirteen years ago,” the man said.
“Only four years by RT,” Brandon said.
The man smiled and put his helmet back on his head. “A lot of things have happened since you left. There was a war which we won, and I guess you guys were almost forgotten. And there was a lot of technological development.”
“You mean you had a quantum jump?” asked Brandon parroting Colonel Towers’ favorite expression.
“Odd you would know that,” replied the second man. “It was through quantum mechanics that we learned to approximate the speed of light. While nine years pass on Earth when we make the trip, our RT is mere moments.”
“Good Lord!” Brandon said. “You must have passed us up.”
“Been on this planet for nearly a year,” the first man said. “Got men on dozens of planetary systems throughout the Milky Way. One ship went a thousand light years out. By the time they come back, civilization on Earth will be two thousand years older.”
“Have you got a tele-talkie?” Brandon asked.
“Sure,” said the first man, producing a set one-third the size of Brandon’s.
“Could you tune it to 28.6 microcycles?”