"Receive," he said, his face taking on a listening expression.
"Tighten the chin strap, please," he asked. I did it.
"Send." More concentration.
"Receive."
A fatuous grin lifted across his face.
"It's Polly," he whispered.
That made me uneasy. I thought it was just another delusion. I'd tried the Hustic once and it hadn't worked at all.
"See," I said. "There aren't any Martians in there. They aren't making war on Earth."
"Stop interrupting," he snapped.
How much of what happened next was his own idea and how much he got from Polly I still don't know. For minutes at a time he'd think into the machine. Then I'd switch over and he'd lie there and grin. Finally he lay there listening so long and so quietly I thought he'd gone to sleep. I began to relax.