They could have anticipated the fault, and that was always deadly. And, it was always the way, some obscure little asshole technician somewhere at Marshall or the Cape would have written a report predicting precisely the failure they’d suffered, a report which no doubt had been laughed off and suppressed by NASA senior management, a report which was no doubt falling into the hands of some congressman even then…

“Culpable. Jesus. How I hate that word.”

Michaels got to his feet. He crossed to his window and folded his hands behind his back as he stared out over Washington. The light was fading from the sky, softened and stained by smog.

“I don’t want to minimize the impact of this, gentlemen. Quite apart from losing the crew, this is a genuine catastrophe. I have the ecology lobby around the world jumping up and down on my back. We’ve even been criticized for bringing a radioactive Command Module back into the atmosphere. There was strong opposition to flying nuclear materials into space even before the flight. And now the Russians have a fucking Soyuz up there taking pictures of the out-of-control glowing radioactive core we’ve abandoned in orbit.

“You’re right, Joe; there’s no doubt in my mind — and there won’t be in the minds of public, Congress, and White House — that we’re culpable. And now we have to put our house in order, and be seen to be doing it.

“All right, gentlemen. Your recommendations as to what we do next?”

Seger was the first to speak. “The main recommendation is not to panic here, Fred. I hear what you say; this accident we’ve suffered is unacceptable. There’s no doubt about that. But the problems are straightforward and limited in scope. We have to get S-NB flying again, as soon as possible, with men aboard, and push on for Mars. We can’t lose our nerve. That’s the message you have to take back to the Hill, Fred.”

More bland generalities, Michaels thought, delivered in Seger’s weird, intense, gung-ho style.

“Hans?”

Udet sighed. “Bert is right. We must repair our NERVA program and move on. We have no other option, if we are to reach Mars. It is as simple, and as dramatic, as that.”

“Well, hell, I disagree,” Muldoon said harshly. “With both of you. I think that if they let us keep on flying at all after this fuck-up, we’re going to have to do a sweeping review of the whole system, spacecraft, booster stages, management procedures. Everything.”