"Now there," said Carl, "is a real lively project. Solar energy into power on a utilitarian level. The man is fanatic, of course, but with his plans he could actually be producing in another five years." He lit a cigarette, drew on it as though it were bitter.
"Could?"
"Seems he's gotten sidetracked a bit," said Carl.
Dan glanced at Terry Fisher. "How?"
"Well, his equipment is working fine, and he can concentrate solar heat from ten square miles onto a spot the size of a manhole cover. But he hasn't gone too far converting it to useful power yet." Carl suddenly burst out laughing. "Dan, this'll kill you. Billions and billions of calories of solar heat concentrated down there, and what do you think he's doing with it? He's digging a hole in the ice two thousand feet deep and a mile wide. That's what."
"A hole in the ice!"
"Exactly. Conversion? Certainly—but first we want to be sure we're right. So right now his whole crew is very busy trying to melt down Antarctica. And if you give him another ten years, he'll have it done, by god."
This was the last, most painful trip of all.
Dan didn't even know why he was going, except that Paul had told him he should go, and no stone could be left unturned.