Discharged, K-17 meditated. Why discharged? Well, he told himself, if Earth had space travel and was keeping it a secret, and if a magazine violated its security precautions and published a story about it, of course they'd discharge the editor. If it was a fiction magazine, that would be different. But a magazine that printed stories—some of them true, like the one about the capture of M-22....
He called headquarters again, on his magneto-oscillophone. "Earth has space travel!" he announced breathlessly.
"What? Don't be silly." The voice in his auditory nerve was irritated.
"A magazine published an account of it, and the editor was discharged this morning for security reasons."
"What? Are you sure?"
"I just telephoned the office of the magazine and verified everything."
"Report to the saucer station immediately. You're coming back to headquarters. We'll get out the word to all our other operatives."
"Except M-22."
"Yes, of course. We'll have to leave him behind. It's really too bad. The planet offered such nice possibilities."
They hung up.