"Nevertheless, I want this official," Bart said. "I don't want to be
mobbed when they hear that I have the secret of the star-drive."
The effect was electric. The four Lhari sat up; their white crests
twitched. Vorongil stared, his gray eyes darkening with fear. One of the
Lhari leaned forward, shooting the question at him harshly.
"You did not discover the coordinates of the Council Planet of Ke
Lhiro! You did not discover--"
"I did not," Bart said quietly. "I don't know them and I have no
intention of trying to find them. We don't need to go to the Lhari
Galaxy to find the mineral that generates the warp-frequencies, that
they call 'Catalyst A' and that the Mentorians call the 'Eighth Color.'
There is a green star called Meristem, and a spectroscopic analysis of
that star, I'm sure, will reveal what unknown elements it contains, and
perhaps locate other stars with that element. There must be others in
our galaxy, but the coordinates of the star Meristem are known to me."
Vorongil was staring at him, his mouth open. He leaped up and cried out,
shaking, "But they assured us that among your memories--there was
nothing of danger to us--"
Compassionately, gently, Bart said, "There wasn't--not that they knew
about, Vorongil. I didn't realize it myself. I might never have
remembered seeing a mineral that was of a color not found in the
spectrum. Certainly, a memory like that meant nothing to the Lhari
medics who emptied out my mind and turned over all my thoughts. You
Lhari can't see color at all.
"So no one but I saw the color of the mineral in the cave; you Lhari
yourselves don't know that your fuel looks unlike anything else in the
universe. You never cared to find out how your world looked to your
Mentorians. So your medics never questioned my memories of an eighth
color. To you, it's just another shade of gray, but under a light strong
enough to blind any but Mentorian eyes, it takes on a special color--"
The conference broke up in disorder, the four Lhari clustering together
in a furious babble, then hastily leaving the room. Bart stood waiting,
feeling empty and cold. Vorongil's stare baffled him with unreadable
emotion.
"You fool, you unspeakable young idiot!" Raynor One groaned. "Why did
you blurt it out like that before every news media in the galaxy? Why,
we could have had a monopoly on the star-drive--Eight Colors and Vega
Interplanet!" As he saw the men of the press approaching with their
microphones, lights, cameras and TV equipment, he gripped Bart urgently
by the arm.