"We"ll just have to keep working with him," Taggert said. "Maybe we"ll eventually make sense out of this precognition thing.

"At least we"ve got what we wanted. The Soviets think they"ve put us back ten years; they figure they"ve got more time, now, to get their own program a long ways ahead.

"When they do get to Mars and Venus and the planets of Alpha Centauri and Sirius and Procyon, they"ll find us there, waiting for them."

Senator Kerotski chuckled softly. "You"re a pretty good prophet, yourself, Brian. The only difference between you and Forsythe is that he"s right half the time.

"You"re right _all_ the time."

"No," said Taggert. "Not all the time. Only when it"s important."

THE END