"Any other ideas like that?" he inquired eagerly.
Dr. Smith's smile was neither wholly supercilious nor merely self-assured. It was a little of both, plus a lot of pure satisfaction at being stage center with his favorite subject. He cocked his head back and stared down his stump of a nose.
"You're working on a missile defense system for bombers, aren't you?" he challenged General Sanders.
"What about it?" hedged the General.
"Have you learned how to design a finned missile which can be launched across the bomber's airstream without being thrown off course?"
General Sanders ignored a warning glance from Amos Busch.
"Do you ... does this Eddie know how to do it?"
"Eddie says it doesn't matter!"
"What?"
"Eddie says what difference does it make if the missile is thrown off course by the airstream—as long as you can reorient it into a compensated trajectory. We were working on a new gyroscope principle that might do the trick...."