Starburst Author:Frederik Pohl The were the best and the brightest. — The search had been long and thorough, but at last four couples--eight extremely intelligent, very beautiful men and women--ad been chosen to crew Man's first mission to another stellar system. So what if he'd had to fudge the results a little, Dr. Dieter von Knefhausen thought. There was no reason w... more »hy the glow of his scientific vision should be dimmed by the unavailability of an otherwise good subject--what's one murder, more or less, in the name of science? After all, he had a Master Plan!
The Lunar Farside Observatory had reported an Earth-size planet in orbit around Alpha Centauri. This was to be their destination and the source of the fuel for their return trip.
And all would have gone according to Knefhausen's plan if it hadn't been for the Russians; if it weren't for the kaons; if the damned crew hadn't become uppity.