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Oberth came up with was that this was a time dimensional travel ship that didn't traverse large distances in space. Rather, it "jumped" from one time space to another or from one dimension to another and instantly returned to its point of origin. But this was just Dr. Oberth's speculation, and he would usually discount any of it the moment he believed | was taking it as fact. | believed, however, that the EBEs didn't require food or facilities for waste disposal because they were fabricated beings, just like robots or androids, who had been created specifically for space travel and the performance of specific tasks on the planets they visited. Just like our lunar rover in the 1970s, which was a robot, so these creatures had been programmed with specific tasks to perform and carried them out. Perhaps their programming could be updated or altered from a remote source, but they weren't life forms that required ongoing sustenance. They were the perfect creatures for long voyages through space and for visiting other planets. Human beings, however, weren't robots and did require sustenance. Therefore, it would be necessary to provide for long term sustenance and waste disposal needs if humans were going to travel long distances in space. Other scientists from our R&D ad hoc brain trust suggested that, indeed, this could have only been a scout ship that either got caught in our tracking radars from the 509th or from Alamogordo or was hit by lightning in the fierce electrical storm that night. They believed that the ship was navigated by an electromagnetic propulsion system. Other scientists suggested that even before we could generate the necessary power to drive such a propulsion system, we would have to have developed some form of a nuclear powered ion drive first. As for the absence of food, scientists suggested that this would pose a major drawback for long term human space exploration. Thus, in my quick and dirty proposal for General Trudeau, | suggested that the army had to complete the development of at least two items that | knew had been in the R&D system for at least ten years: a food supply that could never spoil and didn't require refrigeration and an atomic drive that could be assembled in space out of components as the power plant for an interplanetary space craft. Irradiated Foods The general read my notes a few days later, and seemed impressed. He knew from the memo | had left him the night before that I'd be ready to talk about my omissions list the next day, but he didn't say anything to me right away Instead, he picked up the phone, dialed a number, told someone at the other end that he'd be right over, then looked up at me. Ten minutes later after the general's helicopter had picked us up, we circled the Pentagon once and were flown over to the Quarter master Center. An officer who shall remain anonymous met us at the helipad. He saluted as we got off the chopper. "Thank you for joining us. " He took us inside to a downstairs store room where he showed off shelves and shelves of all types of meat, fruit, and vegetables. "Look at this pork, " he said. "It's been stored here unrefrigerated for months and it's completely free of trichina worm. " He held up a couple of loose eggs and a chicken breast. "Eggs, unrefrigerated, and chicken. Completely free of bacterium salmonella. And it's the same for the seafood. " He escorted us along the shelves of food and, almost like a salesman, presented the virtues of each of the items. The food was wrapped, but not vacuum sealed, in a clear cellophane to keep it free from dust and surface dirt, but it was not preserved in any manner that | could determine. "Free of fungus or any spores, " he said about the vegetables. "No mold or any insect infestations in the fruit, " he said. "And the milk, it's been here on the shelf for over two years and it's not even slightly sour. We've taken great steps to preserve food completely without salting, smoking, refrigeration, freezing, or even canning. " "Does this answer one of your questions, Colonel?" General Trudeau asked as we looked at the stocks of food that seemed completely resistant to spoilage. The commanding general of the Quartermaster Center joined us in the stockroom. "Pick your lunch, gentlemen, " he said and chose a thick steak for himself. "I'm going to have this and, if you don't mind, I'll take the liberty of ordering up the same thing for you, General Trudeau, and you, too, Colonel. How about some potatoes and maybe some strawberries for dessert. All fresh, delicious, and harmless. " Then he paused. "And completely bombarded with what some people would call lethal doses of radiation to destroy any bacteria or infestation. " 96 "Go get your hat, " he said. "Meet me on the helipad. We've been invited to lunch." We were escorted upstairs to the commandant's dining room,