"I've been going along with you for some time now," explained Devers.
"But I still don't know the exact nature of the projectile you propose
to build. What's the purpose of it?"

"You certainly deserve an answer to that question," said Commander
Walters warmly. "You've contributed your services to this operation
absolutely blindly. Now you should know everything." He paused and
looked at Hemmingwell and Connel, who nodded in return. "Carter," he
resumed, "we are going to create a spaceship that can launch a large
projectile filled with cargo and send it to any small area."

Carter Devers' face lighted up. "You mean, you are going to fire
payloads from space freighters instead of landing with them?"

"Exactly," said Walters. "These freighters will deliver mail and
supplies to out-of-the-way settlements that do not have a spaceport
large enough to handle the giant freighters and have to depend on
surface transport from the larger cities."

Carter Devers shook his head slowly. "This is the most amazing thing
I've ever heard of in my life."

"I thought you'd be surprised, Carter," said Walters, his face glowing
with pleasure. "The big item, of course, is to lick the problem of
standardizing the receivers for the projectiles. They must be
lightweight, easily assembled, and precision made, since it's going to
have an electronic gismo inside for the projectile to 'home' on."

Professor Hemmingwell grunted. "That electronic gismo, as you call it,
is the real idea behind the whole operation."