The Corianis Disaster

XIII

He was quite right. On Maninea they didn't know anything about recent events. Rather, the recent events they knew about were quite different ones from those the passengers on the Corianis remembered. They were a different sequence.

But things adjusted. The Planetary President resumed his office, with no competition. The Minister of State for Kholar had the shakes for several days, and then dig-nifiedly suggested that the trade-treaty under discussion be completed. It was. And the aides and assistants and secretaries, and the wives and nurses and children, were all congratulated for their.success in reaching port after their disaster in space.

But Jack Bedell didn't want any of it. Nor did Kathy. Bedell wanted to work out, at the Astrophysical Institute on Maninea, the mathematics and the new information derivable from his experience. He was offered living-quarters there, for his convenience. He conferred with Kathy. They went off for a honeymoon in the Leaning Hills district, and then settled down at the Institute for the time being.

There was only one professional consequence for Bedell from the Corianis disaster. The Planetary President invited Bedell and Kathy to the Presidential palace, and gave him a medal-which he passed on to Kathy to wear if she felt like it. And then, while they were having luncheon, the President said, "Hm. We crashed into the other Corianis at full overdrive speed. We bounced back into our own time-line-our own sequence of events. But what happened to the other ship?"

"Nothing," said Bedell. "We didn't hit it. We bounced to keep from hitting it. So they undoubtedly decided that we had run away. And that would be proof that we were the impostors. So the real you-and-everybody is received without question in the best human society again, and everybody's satisfied."

"I-see," said the President doubtfully.

But he didn't. Nor did anybody else. The Minister of Commerce had a bad case of nerves for some time after. So did others. And it is history that after the trade-treaty was concluded, it was a very white-faced group which boarded a space-ship to go back to Kholar, and it is history that none of them ever made another space-journey.

But everything seemed to work out all right. Once, to be sure, Kathy brought up a subject Bedell hadn't mentioned.

"There was another you on Kholar," she said uneasily, "and you said there was another me. And you wrote to the other you and suggested that-that he try to get acquainted with the other me… Do you suppose he did?"

"Oh, I suppose so!" said Bedell abstractedly. "If I'd gotten a letter from him, saying something like that, I'd have looked up the girl."

Kathy grimaced. "What I'm pondering is-are they happy?"

"Why not?" asked Bedell in surprise. "Why shouldn't they be? They're the same as us, aren't they?" Then he said cautiously. "Mmmmm. We've been doing some computations at the Astrophysical Institute here, Kathy. We're pretty sure that what happened to the Corianis by accident can be accomplished on purpose. There are some of us who want to take a small ship and ram a minor asteroid hi overdrive and see what other sequence of events we can run into. We'll be able to get back, of course!"

Kathy drew a deep breath. She began to speak. She'd been a very shy person; she'd found it difficult to talk to anybody. But it was surprising how many things she found to say, without hesitation or delay or embarrassment, in telling her husband what she thought about that proposal.