"Won't do them any good. They can tear it all apart and never find out a thing."
Hours later, they were still arguing.
"If the government had it, they'd build a war machine and then the Russians would steal it—"
"Harold! That's Communist talk!"
"Shoot! I'm no Communist!"
"You're playing right into their hands...."
It went on and on. Then: "Harold—as your neighbor—won't you tell me what it is?"
"I'll try...."
Orville sat up, tingling. You take gravity, Harold said. What do we know about it? Was it like a lot of rubber bands, stretching back and forth between everything, or was it a flow, like water? Now if it was a flow, it would have to flow back some way, or else you'd run out, wouldn't you? Then if you hooked onto this counter-flow—
Orville nodded. This wasn't so hard to understand. He felt a little nervous. "Go on, Harold."