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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Big Tomorrow, by Paul Lohrman
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Big Tomorrow
+
+Author: Paul Lohrman
+
+Illustrator: Sanford Kossin
+
+Release Date: September 8, 2009 [EBook #29931]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BIG TOMORROW ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Illustrator: Sanford Kossin]
+
+
+     THE
+ BIG TOMORROW
+
+BY PAUL LOHRMAN
+
+
+    _There are certain rare individuals in this world who seem bereft of
+    all common sense. These are the people who set their eyes upon an
+    objective and immediately all intelligence, logic, good advice,
+    unsolvable problems, and insurmountable obstacles go completely by
+    the boards. The characters we refer to are obviously just plain
+    stupid. What they want to do, just can't be done. The objectives
+    they have in mind are unachievable and anyone with an ounce of
+    brains can tell them so and give them good reasons. They are usually
+    pretty sad cases and often land in the funny house. But then again,
+    some of them go out and discover new worlds._
+
+
+He hadn't gotten any work done that morning. He'd spent most of the time
+pacing the floor of his small back office, and the rest of it at the
+window--hands clasped behind his somewhat bowed back--staring up into
+the cloudless sky.
+
+At ten-forty, the intercom buzzed. He snapped the switch.
+
+"Yes?"
+
+"I've got those figures, Mr. Lake. We have nine--"
+
+"Maybe you'd better come in and tell me personally, Lucy."
+
+"All right, Mr. Lake."
+
+The intercom snapped off and a few moments later a girl entered the
+office--if the prim little wisp that was Lucy Crane could be so
+generously classified.
+
+Joshua Lake stared at the elongated bun of black hair on the top of her
+head as she came toward his desk. There was an odd streak of rich
+imagination in Joshua Lake and he always felt Lucy Crane's bun was a
+symbol of disapproval. "Sit down, Lucy. You use up too much energy."
+
+"I try to do my job, Mr. Lake."
+
+"You do that--and more. What are the figures, Lucy?"
+
+"We're in desperate shape. We have nine thousand, four hundred and
+twenty dollars in the payroll account. That leaves it over five thousand
+short. There is only about two thousand in General Disbursements, but
+that isn't enough to cover invoices due tomorrow. I'm afraid--"
+
+"Don't be afraid, Lucy. That's negative. If we waste our time sitting
+around shivering, we won't make any progress at all."
+
+"I didn't mean it that way, Mr. Lake. I'm not shivering. I was merely
+stating that we haven't got enough money."
+
+"Then I'll go to the bank and get some more."
+
+"Of course, Mr. Lake. Is that all?"
+
+"Yes, that's all, Lucy. You run on to lunch."
+
+"You aren't going out?"
+
+"No. I'm not hungry today."
+
+Her bun bobbed in disapproval as she left the office. Joshua Lake stared
+at the closed door and sighed. Lucy knew exactly how things were. She
+wasn't one to be fooled. But Joshua hoped the rest of the personnel were
+not so perceptive. The engineers and the draftsmen particularly. They
+could all walk out at noon and be working somewhere else by one o'clock,
+what with the huge current industrial demand.
+
+He walked again to the window; an old man; bone-weary, with the weight
+of his sixty-odd years bending his shoulders like a brick-carrier's hod.
+
+"_Then I'll go to the bank and get some more._" He hadn't even fooled
+himself this time. His chances at the bank were nil. Less than nil. His
+very presence there could tip the balance of their decision. Loans could
+be called; the doors locked before nightfall.
+
+At the window, he lowered his eyes from the sky and looked to the gate
+that led into the horseshoe sweep of low buildings and back to the
+great, bulking hangar where precious work was being done.
+
+A man and his dream, Lake mused.
+
+He could see only the back of the sign hanging over the gate, but he was
+quite familiar with the other side. _Lake Interstellar Enterprises_ in
+bold, brave letters; and in the lower right-hand corner--barely
+discernible--_Joshua Lake--President_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A visitor looking closely at the sign could see that it had been done
+over--that a discarded legend lay beneath a coat of white paint. The old
+name of the firm was still faintly visible: _Lake and Gorman--Castings
+and Extrusions_.
+
+It wasn't difficult for Joshua to conjure up Lee Gorman's craggy,
+hostile face. Nor his words. Lee had a voice like gravel being ground
+to powder. A voice to remember....
+
+"Of course I won't go along with this damn-fool idea of yours! Turn a
+perfectly sound, entrenched business into a blue-sky factory? You've
+gone crazy, Joshua."
+
+"But it's feasible, Lee! Entirely feasible. All we need is a little
+imagination. I've investigated. I've hired the best brains in the world.
+I have all the necessary preliminary data. A rocket _can_ be built that
+will take three men to the Moon and bring them back!"
+
+"That's idiocy, Joshua!"
+
+"Don't you believe it can be done?"
+
+"I don't care whether it can be done or not!"
+
+"But open your eyes, man! This is an age of development. An era of
+movement. We're on the threshold of the big tomorrow, and we can't let
+it pass us by! We can't let the honor and the glory go to others while
+we sit on our hands and hoot from the gallery! Come alive, Lee! The
+world is passing us!"
+
+"I don't want honor and glory. All I want is a sound going business.
+Suppose we could put a rocket on the Moon and bring it back? Where would
+that leave us? Broke and famous. And laughed at probably in the
+bargain."
+
+"Nothing of the kind. We could write our own ticket. We'd control the
+gateway to the greatest mineral deposits within reach of Man! Think of
+it, Lee. Use your imagination."
+
+"I won't go along with you, Joshua. That's all there is to it."
+
+More of the same; days of it, and finally: "You can have the customers
+then, Lee. I'll keep the plant--the physical properties."
+
+"But that's not fair."
+
+"Perhaps not, but it's legal."
+
+"How can I service them--from my basement?"
+
+"I offered you an alternative only a fool would have turned down--"
+
+"That only a fool would accept!"
+
+"--so now I'm going ahead and nothing can stop me. I've got a dream,
+man--a dream of a big tomorrow. I'm going to make that dream come true."
+
+"Name it right, Joshua. You've got an obsession."
+
+The end of _Lake and Gorman_....
+
+Joshua turned from the window, then paused and looked again into the
+sky. The Moon was up, a round, white will-o'-the-wisp in the clear blue
+afternoon sky. He stared at it and the old feeling of affinity swept
+over him, stronger than ever. The Moon was, for him, both a goal and a
+tonic. Sight of its illusive form could always sweep away his doubts;
+straighten his shoulders.
+
+The intercom buzzed. Joshua went over and snapped it. "Yes?"
+
+"Mr. Coving to see you, sir."
+
+"Send him in."
+
+Rayburn Coving was probably the best rocket-fuel man in the world. He
+had a little of his sandy hair left, not much, and his forehead was
+permanently creased from frowning. "I'm afraid that new benzoic
+derivative is a failure, Chief. It piles up corrosion in the tubes too
+fast. They'd be clogged halfway through the trip."
+
+One hundred and twenty thousand dollars up the spout. Joshua sighed.
+"Well, I suppose the chance of success was worth it. The added power in
+relatively smaller space would have solved so many other problems."
+
+"I'm sorry it failed."
+
+Joshua smiled. "To paraphrase a certain American inventor--we're finding
+any number of ways you can't go to the Moon. What now, Coving?"
+
+"Back to the old method--and the other problems. None of them are
+insurmountable, though. A little more time--"
+
+"Yes--a little more time." Joshua grimaced inwardly. He was talking to
+Coving as though they had years--not as though their time had run out.
+He was even in debt for Coving's labor; overdrawn on it without enough
+money to pay.
+
+The moment of weakness--of deep-down weariness--passed. Joshua Lake
+stiffened as he had stiffened so many times before. As he had stiffened
+when Zornoff's alloys had flunked out and the first trip to the bank had
+been made necessary. The first trip to the bank. Joshua smiled wryly.
+The bank people had been cordial then. Even servile. Later it had been
+different. Now--
+
+"You were saying, Mr. Lake--?"
+
+"Have you seen Morton lately? What's the latest on the radar relay
+equipment?"
+
+"No major bugs, I think. It's coming along famously."
+
+"Good!" For two hundred odd thousand it certainly should, Joshua felt.
+"Let me know how you make out, Coving."
+
+"I will, Chief. I'll get the order in for the new chemicals
+immediately."
+
+"Eh--oh, yes. Do that. Do that by all means."
+
+Coving left. Joshua Lake put his head against the back rest of the chair
+and closed his eyes. He dozed, drifting into a haze from weariness.
+_It's been so long--so very long. Seven years--eight--ten. Ten years.
+Good heavens! Was it possible? It didn't seem that long. Ten years to
+make a dream succeed._
+
+_Or fail._
+
+Joshua slept and again--as in the past--his rest was plagued with
+visions. The torment of his days took many forms in an alert
+subconscious too taut to relax. He had seen before him mountains too
+steep to cross--chasms too deep and wide to bridge. Often, when a great
+problem was solved, he would look back, nights later, to see the
+mountain or the chasm from the other side.
+
+Now his vision was different. No mountain before him, but a face--the
+stern craggy face of an obstacle in his path.
+
+Lee Gorman.
+
+The face was of clay--yet it lived. The eyes were cold, disdainful. And
+a weird, green creation of Joshua's own mind was sketching Gorman in the
+numbers, signs, and symbols of a rocket that would never reach the Moon.
+
+Joshua awoke with a start and found Lucy bending over him. "You didn't
+answer the buzzer, Mr. Lake. I was worried."
+
+"I must have dozed off, Lucy. Sorry."
+
+"I'm going home now--if there's nothing else."
+
+"Nothing else. I'm going home myself. Good night."
+
+Joshua paused beside his car in the parking lot to stare at the lighted
+windows of the big hangar. The second shift had come on. They would work
+all night; then, tomorrow, they would line up with the others at the pay
+window. But there wouldn't be any money. The next night the hangar
+windows would be dark.
+
+He got into the car and drove home.
+
+Myra was waiting for him. She took his hat. After he kissed her, she
+said, "Your eyes are red, dear. You've been working much too hard. Shall
+we have dinner in the patio?"
+
+"That would be nice."
+
+Joshua had little to say during the meal, and Myra was quiet
+also--adjusting herself, as she had always done, to his mood. Finally,
+she said, "That will be all, Bertha. Leave the coffee pot."
+
+The maid left. A slight chill was coming in off the desert. Joshua
+shivered and said, "We're through, Myra."
+
+"Through? I don't understand."
+
+"The Moon trip. I can't swing it. The money's run out. There's no place
+I can raise another dime."
+
+"But you've worked so hard--and so long! And you are so close to
+success."
+
+"We've made a lot of progress, but the rocket isn't ready yet. Now it's
+too late."
+
+They were silent for a time. Then Myra said, "In a way, I'm glad. You
+should have stopped long ago. You aren't strong enough to stand this
+pace forever. Now we can go away--get a small place somewhere. That Moon
+rocket was killing you, Joshua."
+
+Joshua pondered the point. "Killing me? No, I don't think so. I think it
+has been keeping me alive."
+
+"Don't say that, dear! You make it sound so--so brutal! Year in and
+year out. Fighting disappointment--failure. Aging before my eyes while I
+sit here night after night!"
+
+_Fighting disappointment--failure._ Yes. That was the kind of fight it
+had been. How many failures? The first big one had come six years
+before....
+
+"Acceleration, Monsieur, must be achieved in the first two thousand
+miles of flight. After that, the speed of the ship remains constant. You
+follow me?" Tardeau, the half-mad French genius had explained it so
+logically. And Joshua had believed in him. That's where you made your
+big gamble in a project of this kind. You selected your men and then
+believed in them. Others dissented, of course. There are always
+dissenters. And always points that could not be proven or disproven on
+the drawing boards or in the test pits....
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"I follow you, Henri. The booster units will be in three sections."
+
+"Exactly, Msieu. The primary--ah, booster, as you say, breaks free at
+twelve miles. That one, and the secondary, we control with radar. We
+touch a button and Voila! they are free!"
+
+"In case of the men in the ship blacking out, I think you said."
+
+"Exactly. But the third will be disengaged from within the ship and she
+will be free as a bird to fly to your most illusive Moon!"
+
+"And the return?"
+
+"There we have a much lighter ship, Monsieur. The smaller boosters will
+lift her easily. The return trip will be slower--much slower, but she
+will return!"
+
+Michael Bernard was the dissenter. "The Frenchman's crazy! Mad as a
+hatter, Chief."
+
+"You think it won't work, then?"
+
+"Too damn complicated. A dozen units of time and mechanism have to mesh
+perfectly. The odds are against that happening. After all, you've got to
+remember, what we're attempting has never been done before."
+
+"But if it did work--?"
+
+"It would be a beauty."
+
+"Better than your idea of a single booster?"
+
+"If it worked--yes. The weight problem would be solved. Five men could
+ride the rocket. But--"
+
+"Let's try it, Mike. Let's believe in our destiny."
+
+"Okay--you're the boss. But destiny's a hard thing to lay out and
+analyze on a drawing board."
+
+A man and his dream....
+
+The radar equipment had failed. Burdened with the weight of exhausted
+booster sections, the rocket curved back into the clutches of gravity.
+
+It crashed on the fringe of the Amazon jungles.
+
+Five Moon pioneers dead. Three uninsured, dependent families. Joshua
+provided for them, but the critical newspapers overlooked that point.
+One editorial observed that Joshua Lake would get a rocket to the Moon
+and back if it took every able-bodied man in the country. The project
+would have died right there if Joshua had needed money. No bank in the
+nation would have loaned him a dime. Fortunately he was not yet broke.
+He started over.
+
+_Fortunately?_
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At times he had wondered. But always, his faith had returned to buoy him
+up....
+
+Joshua reached out and took Myra's hand. He looked up into the sky. "You
+may be wrong, my dear. Possibly it's the other way. A man's ambition--"
+he smiled. "Lee called it an obsession once. A man's dream can keep him
+alive."
+
+"But why does it have to be so hard? Why can't one of the big
+corporations help you? They'll profit from your success!"
+
+"At least I had no competition in the fulfillment of my dream."
+
+They were silent for a time; then Myra said, "But now you can rest.
+We'll go away. We don't need much money. We'll have a garden. You can
+lie in the sun."
+
+He laughed softly; not with humor; rather from a quiet, new-welling
+courage. "We're talking as though it were all over--finished, done with.
+That isn't right."
+
+She glanced at him quickly. "But you just said--"
+
+"I know. But I didn't really mean it that way. We aren't through yet."
+
+"You know where you can raise--more money?"
+
+"I know where it is. I'm going to see Lee Gorman tomorrow."
+
+"Lee Gorman! You aren't serious."
+
+"There's no place else to go."
+
+"You'll be wasting your time, Joshua. He'll--he'll humiliate you."
+
+"He probably will. And I may not get the money. But there's no place
+else to go."
+
+Tears came into Myra's eyes. "Don't do it, Joshua. Please don't do it."
+
+"It won't be as bad as you think, dear. I guess Lee is entitled to crow
+a little."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Lee Gorman looked at the intercom on his desk as though it had snapped
+at him. "Who?" he barked. But there had been no mistake. Gorman sat in
+puzzled silence for a few moments. Then he said, "All right, show him
+in."
+
+Joshua Lake entered the office with his hat in one hand and a briefcase
+in the other. He paused halfway to Gorman's desk. "You haven't changed
+much, Lee."
+
+"You have," Gorman answered. "You look like the devil."
+
+"I've been working hard." Joshua Lake covered the intervening distance
+and stood before the desk. Gorman surveyed him coldly--up and down.
+Joshua looked around the office as Gorman sat silent, not inviting him
+to sit down.
+
+"You've done very well, Lee. This is the first time I've seen your
+plant."
+
+"I've expanded a little since my basement days. You remember my basement
+days, don't you Joshua?"
+
+Joshua winced. "Yes, I remember."
+
+"And now you might tell me the purpose of this visit."
+
+"I came to you because I need money."
+
+Gorman's eyes snapped open--wide. He opened his mouth to speak. He
+failed, tightened his throat and tried again. "You came here after
+_what_?"
+
+"Money. I'm broke, Lee. I haven't enough to meet my payroll."
+
+"You expect me to bail you out--clean up your debts--put you clear?"
+
+"I came after more than that. Merely bailing me out wouldn't help a bit.
+I need three hundred thousand to put my rocket in the air."
+
+Gorman collapsed gently back into his chair like a balloon mercifully
+relieved of some of its content. When he spoke, it was with a slow,
+controlled viciousness. "I've heard of guts, Joshua. I've heard of
+gall--plain unmitigated nerve. But this tops anything--why, man, you
+threw me out! You robbed me! You left me standing in the street with a
+bookful of names and addresses under my arm--nothing more. Now you come
+here and ask for money!"
+
+"I'm glad you've done well, Lee. There was nothing personal in what I
+did. I'm glad you've gone on to even bigger things than we would have
+achieved together."
+
+"You're glad I've done well! Why, you pious hypocrite! I ought to have
+you thrown through the window instead of merely ordering you out!"
+
+"There is no reason why I should expect any better treatment, Lee. But I
+had to come here. You were my last hope. I had to ask."
+
+Joshua turned slowly from the desk. He had taken but three steps when
+Lee Gorman said, "Wait a minute. I'm curious. Are you _really_ still at
+it--beating your brains out against that stone wall?"
+
+"It's my dream, Lee. I've got to be the first man to put a rocket on the
+moon."
+
+"But now you're broke--washed up. What's with the dream now?"
+
+"I guess it's finished." Joshua turned and took another step; but Gorman
+was loath to let him go.
+
+"Tell me," Gorman said. "What have you got in that briefcase?"
+
+"Progress reports. Plans. I wanted to show them to you."
+
+Gorman grinned. "All right. I've got a few minutes. Come and do it."
+
+Joshua Lake retraced his steps. He sat down in a chair next to Gorman's
+desk. He laid his hat on the desk and snapped open the case.
+
+"No," Gorman said. "Stand here by my elbow. The chair is for people I
+meet on even terms."
+
+Joshua got obediently to his feet and placed himself as directed.
+
+"And your hat," Gorman added. "You'd better hold that. You might forget
+it when you leave."
+
+"Of course, Lee."
+
+It was a ludicrous, pitiful sight but, withal, a grim note ran through
+the scene. Joshua supporting the case against his thigh, got out a sheaf
+of papers. "These are the progress reports to date. These, the projected
+plans."
+
+"And when these plans are carried out you expect success?"
+
+"Yes. Great foresight has been used. They will carry us through."
+
+"And you expect me to loan you money on the strength of this--this
+day-dreaming on paper?"
+
+"It's far more than that, Lee. You'll find the plans sound."
+
+Lee Gorman didn't give a tinker's hoot for the plans. He was only
+enjoying an interview--a vengeance--he was loath to terminate. "You
+haven't even begun to show me what I'd need before I even considered
+loaning you a dime."
+
+"I'll bring you anything you want."
+
+"Even if I promise to turn you down after I've gone over it."
+
+"You're calling the dance, Lee."
+
+"All right--I'll call it. Bring me your payroll records; your cost
+sheets; the background reports on the key men in your organization."
+
+"As soon as I can get them. I need some money immediately to meet my
+payroll."
+
+"Then what are you waiting for?"
+
+"I'll be back this afternoon." Joshua was halfway out the door when Lee
+Gorman called. "And bring the deeds to your plant--the bills of sale to
+your machinery and equipment."
+
+"Certainly."
+
+Joshua left and Lee Gorman sat motionless staring at the surface of his
+desk. There was a Mona Lisa smile on his rugged face.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"It's not worth it, Joshua," Myra said, hotly. "You won't be able to
+take his brow-beating and badgering day after day. And that's his
+intention. That's what he's giving you the money for--for the pleasure
+of humiliating you day after day."
+
+"Of course, my dear. I'm fortunate that Lee is that kind of a man. He
+wants his revenge and he's willing to pay for it. I was hoping it would
+be that way--praying for it. It was my last weapon. The last weapon I
+had with which to beat the Moon."
+
+A man and his dream....
+
+"I want you to sign these papers, Joshua." Lee Gorman held out a pen and
+pushed the papers across the desk.
+
+"Certainly, Lee."
+
+"Four copies."
+
+Joshua pushed the papers back, looked at them and smiled.
+
+"Do you know what you signed?"
+
+"A power of attorney, I believe. And I've signed the plant over to you.
+There is a large mortgage against it, however."
+
+Lee Gorman sat back, narrowed his eyes as he looked at the wizened
+little man with the giant obsession. "Joshua, I think you've worked
+beyond your time. You've slipped your gears completely. Do you realize
+that with these papers I can put you in the street? That all I have to
+do is raise my hand and you're done?"
+
+"I realize that, Lee."
+
+"Then why on earth did you sign them?"
+
+"I had no alternative."
+
+"But what kind of an alternative is this? Giving away everything you've
+got?"
+
+Joshua sighed. "You haven't raised your hand yet, Lee. I can surmount my
+difficulties only as I come to them. I'll think about that one when it
+gets here."
+
+"Well--I've got news for you. The time to think about it is--" Gorman
+stopped in mid-sentence. He studied Joshua Lake for a long minute. Then
+he took a checkbook from his desk and wrote rapidly. "There's money to
+meet your payroll. The exact amount. Take it to the bank. Then, I want
+you in this office every day at four-thirty with a complete report of
+what's gone on. Don't overlook a thing. And bring any bills with you
+that want paying, together with material orders and projected costs. Is
+that clear?"
+
+"I understand, Lee." At the door, Joshua Lake turned for a moment.
+"And--thank you--thank you very much."
+
+After Joshua had left, Lee Gorman pondered one of those last words. If
+they contained any bitterness, it was well hidden. "A strange man,"
+Gorman muttered. "A very strange man."
+
+If that constituted a weak moment on the part of Lee Gorman, his dikes
+were repaired well in time to present a hostile front....
+
+"This twelve thousand to American Chemical--what are you doing--running
+an experimental laboratory on the side. I won't pay it."
+
+"I've never questioned Coving's judgment in these matters, Lee. He's
+done brilliant work for us. The man has to have materials to work
+with."
+
+"Well, you certainly should have questioned him. He's been satisfying
+every whim of curiosity that pops into his mind. Send the stuff back."
+
+"But that would be fatal to the project. The fuel _must_ be
+power-charged to safely handle the weight and time quotients. Coving
+can't work with salt and baking soda."
+
+"I don't care what he works with. Cut three thousand off that bill."
+
+"Very well, Lee."
+
+A man and his dream....
+
+"This payroll's out of all reason. Cut fifteen men off immediately."
+
+"I'll see what I can do."
+
+"Cut fifteen men off immediately."
+
+"Of course."
+
+"Here's a check for the interest on the last note. Take it over to the
+bank."
+
+"Yes, Lee."
+
+Joshua Lake came and went as directed. He stood with his hat in his
+hand, took orders, carried them out. His shoulders drooped a little
+more; his face became more pinched; he retreated deeper and deeper into
+himself.
+
+But as the days went on, his eyes brightened and there was a
+breathlessness in his expression when he turned his face to the sky.
+
+Some three months after the day Joshua walked into Lee's office, the
+latter said, "The four men who are going with the rocket. You've
+selected them?"
+
+"Yes. They're waiting for the day. It was a long slow process, selecting
+the best equipped men."
+
+"Bring them here tomorrow afternoon."
+
+"I'll check with them. If they all can't make it, would a later date--?"
+
+"I said tomorrow. See to it they _can_ make it."
+
+"Yes, Lee."
+
+Joshua brought the four young men to Lee Gorman's office the following
+day. Lee had a buffet table set up. He was the smiling, genial,
+expansive host. "Sit down gentlemen. I'm glad of this opportunity to
+meet you."
+
+There were five chairs in the room. Gorman had already seated himself.
+The young men hesitated.
+
+"Sit down, sit down."
+
+They dropped into the chairs, glancing uneasily at Joshua Lake. Joshua
+turned and started toward the door.
+
+"Don't go, Lake. I'm sure the boys would like a drink. You'll find the
+fixings on the buffet. Why don't you take their orders?"
+
+The crowning insult, Joshua wondered. The last, crude insult? Lee
+Gorman's wounds must have been deep indeed. Joshua served drinks,
+brought sandwiches. Lee Gorman's geniality kept the awkwardness of the
+situation from bringing it to a complete standstill. "Well, Thursday is
+the day, I understand. How do you feel about it? Rocketing off into
+space. Becoming a part of the big tomorrow." Gorman's eyes caught those
+of Joshua Lake as he spoke the last sentence. There was laughter behind
+them.
+
+The crew of the Moon rocket left shortly afterward. Joshua was the last
+to walk from the room. Just as he was going through the door, Lee Gorman
+whispered into his ear. "You can't be sure there'll be a rocket flight.
+I might stop it the last minute. I haven't made up my mind yet."
+
+Joshua turned and looked at his tormentor in silence. The others had
+gone on down the hall. Gorman laughed and said, "I suppose that's a
+problem you'll face when you come to it?"
+
+"Yes--when I come to it."
+
+Alone in his office, Lee Gorman strode angrily to the buffet. With a
+sweep of his arm, he knocked a liquor bottle across the room. The
+motivation of the act was hard to determine, however, from Gorman's
+outward appearance. It could have been bitter disappointment or a
+fierce joy.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Joshua Lake walked into Lee Gorman's office, removed his hat and said,
+"With your permission, this is the day."
+
+"What time?"
+
+"It translates into 4:07 and 30 seconds, Greenwich time."
+
+Gorman scowled. "I suppose you've arranged quite a party."
+
+"Nothing too spectacular. We'll leave for the blasting pits at 3:00
+o'clock. I'd be honored if you'd ride with me."
+
+"Do you still own a car?"
+
+"A small one. Its value is negligible."
+
+"We'll go in one of mine. Be here at five minutes to three."
+
+"Certainly." Joshua put his hat on and walked out....
+
+They rode across the Nevada desert in a black Cadillac with the
+chauffeur sitting at attention and staring straight ahead. Joshua stared
+straight ahead also. He asked, "Are you going to stop the flight?"
+
+Beside him, leaning forward, clutching with both hands the silver knob
+on a black mahogany cane, Gorman replied, "I haven't made up my mind
+yet."
+
+A dot on the desert expanded into a pit, a tower, and some small
+buildings. The car followed the ruts of the tractors that had hauled the
+rocket to the launching site, and came to a halt. "That small,
+glass-encased platform," Joshua said. "We'll view the proceedings from
+there."
+
+Gorman snorted. "I'll view them from where I please."
+
+They were standing beside the car, Joshua slightly behind his
+benefactor. "From the platform."
+
+Gorman scowled and half turned. "What are you doing?"
+
+"I'm holding a gun against your back. It is a very small gun. No one can
+see it and it probably wouldn't kill you. Then again, it might. We will
+walk to the platform and stand together to watch the blast-off."
+
+"You'd actually--_kill_, to get that ship into the air?"
+
+"If I committed murder, I would certainly regret it the rest of my life,
+but the rocket must be launched."
+
+They stood in the glass enclosure on the platform and no one came near
+them. Several people veered close and waved. Joshua waved back with his
+free hand and the people went on their way.
+
+An hour passed. There was vast activity on the field. Gorman said, "I'm
+tired. I want to sit down."
+
+"It was thoughtless of me. I should have provided chairs. It won't be
+long now."
+
+It wasn't long. Five minutes later there was a roar, an explosion of
+color, and a silver rocket flash up into the sky almost faster than the
+eye could follow.
+
+Gorman slammed the heel of his hand against the side of his head in
+order to restore hearing. "You can put that gun away."
+
+"Of course. And you'll want to call the police."
+
+Gorman growled like an annoyed bull. He jerked open the door and strode
+away.
+
+Three hours later, Joshua and Myra Lake were seated in the small patio
+beside their home. They were seated very close together, and Myra was
+stroking Joshua's hand. "It's been a long time, dear; a very long time."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Are you happy?"
+
+"I'm--well, satisfied--at least partially. We've passed a big milestone.
+But it isn't over yet."
+
+"You're sure this time, though?"
+
+"Very sure."
+
+"Thank heaven we won't have much longer to wait."
+
+The wait was slightly less than ten minutes. Then Lee Gorman strode into
+the patio. Joshua sprang to his feet. "Any news?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then they should have phoned me. I left word to be called."
+
+"No one could get up the courage. The rocket crashed in Canada."
+
+Joshua swayed. When he looked at Lee, his eyes were filled with a mute
+plea. "That _is_ the truth?"
+
+"It's the truth. The first flash said it appears the tail broke off in
+high space."
+
+Joshua sank into his chair. "The crew--died?"
+
+"Four more men sacrificed to your--" Gorman stopped and did not use the
+word _obsession_. There was too much agony in Joshua's face. "I'm taking
+the plant--I'm taking everything. I've got to. I've paid for them."
+
+Lee Gorman walked from the patio. His steps echoed and died.
+
+Joshua and Myra sat for a long time in silence. Myra was holding his
+hand. Finally she spoke. "Well, at least it's over. Now you can rest.
+Successful or not--you've earned it."
+
+Joshua turned and looked into her face--looked at her as though she had
+just entered. "Oh no, my dear. You certainly don't expect me to--"
+
+"Joshua!"
+
+"Why, I'm only sixty-three. I never felt better in my life. I have a lot
+of good productive years ahead."
+
+"_Joshua! What are you going to do?_"
+
+"I'm going to be the first man to send a rocket to the Moon."
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note:
+
+    This etext was produced from _Amazing Stories_ Oct.-Nov. 1953.
+    Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S.
+    copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and
+    typographical errors have been corrected without note.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Big Tomorrow, by Paul Lohrman
+
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