and even G.o.ddard swore he didn"t know anything about him, other
than the fact that he was extraordinarily knowledgeable about physics
and aeronautics, just turned up at the ranch one day, showed G.o.ddard
some of his own drawings, and then asked if he could help him with
the rocket project. As for Wilson"s journalist friend, Gladys Kinder "
He couldn"t avoid the name, and it brought back all his guilt. " even
though she was his mistress during that six months, she learned only
that he had an engineering background and loathed the US government
for reasons that he never explained. She also learned, just before
Wilson"s abrupt departure, that he intended leaving the United States
for good and going to a country where people like him and G.o.ddard
would be appreciated, instead of being treated as cranks." There was
more loud hammering from outside and General Taylor, after wincing,
said, "I can"t stand this G.o.dd.a.m.ned noise, Mike. Do you fancy a walk?" "Sure," Bradley said, feeling trapped with his recollections of
Gladys and glad to escape. "Why not?"
Leaving the office, they strolled outside where the noise of the
workers was even louder and the sun shone over the flat green fields.
Relieved to feel the fresh air, Bradley followed the general away from
the skeletal buildings and their many workers, down toward the banks
of the Potomac River.
"So where do you think your mysterious genius, this Mr Wilson,
went?" General Taylor asked, striding across the gra.s.s and glancing
keenly around him.
"A lot of the German engineers," Bradley said, "including Wernher
von Braun, revere G.o.ddard and are known to have based their work on
his ideas. Our mysterious John Wilson would certainly have known
that and would also have known that while here, in the United States,
G.o.ddard"s theories were being treated with contempt, Germany was
spending fortunes on rocket research that was, by and large, based on
his work."
"So you think this Wilson went to Germany?"
"I don"t think it I know it. I checked yesterday with the
Immigration Department and learned that one John Wilson left this
country on January 20, 1931, that he stayed in London for a few weeks