At least, Raf thought, they had escaped the actual
discomfort of the voyage.
Had they found their new world or worlds? The end of their ventures
had been debated thousands of times since those documents had been
made public, after the downfall of Pax and the coming into power of
the Federation of Free Men.
In fact it was the publication of the papers which had given the
additional spur to the building of the _RS_ armada. What man had dared
once he could dare anew. And the pursuit of knowledge which had been
so long forbidden under Pax was heady excitement for the world.
Research and discovery became feverish avenues of endeavor. Even the
slim hope of a successful star voyage and the return to Terra with
such rich spoils of information was enough to harness three quarters
of the planet's energy for close to a hundred years. And if the _RS
10_ was not successful, there would be _11_, _12_, more--flaming into
the sky and out into the void, unless some newer and more intriguing
experiment developed to center public imagination in another
direction.
Raf's eyes closed wearily. Soon the gong would sound and this period
of rest would be officially ended.
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