beneath a banner, consenting that 'God's Will be Done', patiently warned a regrettably waggish audience of the sacrilegious aspect of the occasion. Up on the broadcast tower an announcer told the world, confidently:
'It's a beautiful day. Couldn't be better for it. The crowds are still coming in as they have been all day, and although the take off is timed for half past four, the excitement is already tremendous. I expect you can hear the noise they are making out there. There must be over half a million people here now. Don't you think so, Mr. Jones?'
Mr. Jones was understood to suggest three quarters of a million as the minimum.
'Perhaps you're right. At any rate there are a lot of them, and it really is a beautiful day. Don't you think so, Mr. Jones?'
Rumours flocked to the Press Stand and to the rooms beneath it like iron filings to a magnet.
'Her tubes won't stand it,' said Travers of the Hail. 'Man I know, metallurgist in Sheffield, told me for a fact that there is no alloy known which will stand up to such a temperature'
'She can't rise,' Dennis of the Reflector was saying. 'She's too heavy. Man in Commercial Explosives showed me the figures. She'll turn over and streak along the ground and I hope to God she doesn't come my way.
'If she gets up,' conceded Dawes of Veracity, 'she's not got a chance in hell of getting out of the gravity pull. Take my word for it, it's going to be another Drivers business'
Tenson of the Co-ordinator knew for a fact that the drive for the rapid construction had meant incomplete testing.
'Sheer madness,' was the Excess man's view. 'Rockets have got to be small. Might as well try to fly St. Paul's as take up this great thing'
A small, insignificant member of the crowd plucked at Police Sergeant Yarder's sleeve and pointed upwards.
'Look, Officer, there's a gyrocurt inside the beacons.'
Sergeant Yarder shaded his eyes and followed the line of the pointing finger.
'That'll be Mr. Curtance and the rest, sir. Got to let them through, or there wouldn't be no show.'
Others had noticed the 'plane's arrival. A sound of cheering rose, faint at first, but growing in volume until it swept up in a great roar from tens of thousands of throats as more and more of the spectators realized that Dale was here at last. The 'plane dropped slowly and landed. The door opened and Dale could be seen waving in reply. He stepped to the ground and his four chosen companions followed. A few moments later they were all hidden from the crowd by a converging rush of movie vans and Presscars. The gyrocurt took off again and the mob of vans and cars moved closer to the still shrouded rocket.
The announcer up in the broadcasting tower talked excitedly into his microphone:
'He's here l you have just seen Dale Curtance arrive to make his interplanetary attempt. They're moving over now towards the rocket. The five are somewhere in the middle of that group there. The crowd is shouting itself hoarse. Here, we are more than a mile from the rocket itself, but we arc going to do our best to show you the unveiling ceremony. Just a minute, please, while we change the lens.'
The scene on the vision screens flickered and then blurred as the tele-optic was swung in. It refocused, searched, and finally came to rest on Dale and the group about him. He stood on a temporary wooden dais at the rocket's foot. In one hand he held the end of a rope which ran upwards out of television screen's field.
'Now we are going over to hear Mr. Curtance himself speak through the microphone which you can see beside him,' said the announcer.
A sudden, expectant silence fell on the crowds. Those who had brought portable screens with them watched Dale step forward smiling. The rest shaded their eyes to gaze at the group a mile away and imagine that well known smile as a hundred loudspeakers spoke at once:
'Anything I could say in answer to such a salute as you have given me must be inadequate. All that I can say, on behalf of my companions
'It's a beautiful day. Couldn't be better for it. The crowds are still coming in as they have been all day, and although the take off is timed for half past four, the excitement is already tremendous. I expect you can hear the noise they are making out there. There must be over half a million people here now. Don't you think so, Mr. Jones?'
Mr. Jones was understood to suggest three quarters of a million as the minimum.
'Perhaps you're right. At any rate there are a lot of them, and it really is a beautiful day. Don't you think so, Mr. Jones?'
Rumours flocked to the Press Stand and to the rooms beneath it like iron filings to a magnet.
'Her tubes won't stand it,' said Travers of the Hail. 'Man I know, metallurgist in Sheffield, told me for a fact that there is no alloy known which will stand up to such a temperature'
'She can't rise,' Dennis of the Reflector was saying. 'She's too heavy. Man in Commercial Explosives showed me the figures. She'll turn over and streak along the ground and I hope to God she doesn't come my way.
'If she gets up,' conceded Dawes of Veracity, 'she's not got a chance in hell of getting out of the gravity pull. Take my word for it, it's going to be another Drivers business'
Tenson of the Co-ordinator knew for a fact that the drive for the rapid construction had meant incomplete testing.
'Sheer madness,' was the Excess man's view. 'Rockets have got to be small. Might as well try to fly St. Paul's as take up this great thing'
A small, insignificant member of the crowd plucked at Police Sergeant Yarder's sleeve and pointed upwards.
'Look, Officer, there's a gyrocurt inside the beacons.'
Sergeant Yarder shaded his eyes and followed the line of the pointing finger.
'That'll be Mr. Curtance and the rest, sir. Got to let them through, or there wouldn't be no show.'
Others had noticed the 'plane's arrival. A sound of cheering rose, faint at first, but growing in volume until it swept up in a great roar from tens of thousands of throats as more and more of the spectators realized that Dale was here at last. The 'plane dropped slowly and landed. The door opened and Dale could be seen waving in reply. He stepped to the ground and his four chosen companions followed. A few moments later they were all hidden from the crowd by a converging rush of movie vans and Presscars. The gyrocurt took off again and the mob of vans and cars moved closer to the still shrouded rocket.
The announcer up in the broadcasting tower talked excitedly into his microphone:
'He's here l you have just seen Dale Curtance arrive to make his interplanetary attempt. They're moving over now towards the rocket. The five are somewhere in the middle of that group there. The crowd is shouting itself hoarse. Here, we are more than a mile from the rocket itself, but we arc going to do our best to show you the unveiling ceremony. Just a minute, please, while we change the lens.'
The scene on the vision screens flickered and then blurred as the tele-optic was swung in. It refocused, searched, and finally came to rest on Dale and the group about him. He stood on a temporary wooden dais at the rocket's foot. In one hand he held the end of a rope which ran upwards out of television screen's field.
'Now we are going over to hear Mr. Curtance himself speak through the microphone which you can see beside him,' said the announcer.
A sudden, expectant silence fell on the crowds. Those who had brought portable screens with them watched Dale step forward smiling. The rest shaded their eyes to gaze at the group a mile away and imagine that well known smile as a hundred loudspeakers spoke at once:
'Anything I could say in answer to such a salute as you have given me must be inadequate. All that I can say, on behalf of my companions
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