I said: "You'll have to give me a little time to think it over. It's rather—startling."
"By all means," he said, escorting me to the door, "do think it over. Although"—he hesitated with his hand on the knob—"I shouldn't agree with your choice of the word 'startling.' After all, it's only what we expected all along. The Universe must come to an end one way or another."
Think? Boys, the massive brain practically fumed as I went back downstairs. I went out into the press room and I wondered what there was about a picture of a black cloud that could have upset the Stabilizer. I drifted out of the Prog Building and decided I'd better go down to the controller's office for another bluff, so I didn't drift any more. There was a pneumatic pick-up at the corner. I caught a capsule and clicked off the address on the dial. In three and a half minutes I was there.
As I turned the overhead dome back and started to step out of my capsule, I found myself surrounded by the rest of the newspaper crowd.
The Ledger said: "Where you been, my friendly, we needed your quick brain but bad."
I said: "I'm still looking for Hogan. I can't cover a thing until I've seen him. What's this need for brains?"
"Not just any brains. Your brain."
I got out of the capsule and showed my empty pocket.
The Ledger said: "We're not soaping you for a loan—we needed interpolation."
"Aha?"