The jovial smile faded from Maculay's face. The twinkle in his eye changed to a calculating glitter, and the lines of Maculay's face hardened. "Hanson," he snapped, "what has been going on?"
"You've been on vacation," said the doctor. "And while you were traipsing all over Venus, Redmond has opened your secret file and is starting to build a supervelocity spacecraft. You must put a stop to it."
Maculay looked startled for a moment. Then he said: "Redmond is a pompous sort of juvenile jackass, I admit, but he isn't that stupid."
"I've seen his installation."
Maculay shrugged. "I'm not a jealous man, Doc. I've had my day; I've done my work; I've laid my cornerstone. I've even been stumped. Now if Redmond can solve the problem that had me licked, I'll be the last man on earth to deny him his triumph."
"Clifford, from all I've heard about this, total destruction will result if any man energizes a volume of negative space."
"Quite right," said Maculay. And as he said it, his eyes clouded and he winced gently.
"Redmond has added nothing to your calculations."
Maculay stood up with a dry smile. "As a physician you are Number One on earth. As a psychiatrist you are tops. I know what you've done and it's been good. I hope," he added slyly, "that she likes me as well this way as she did the other way—or can you change her too? Or," he continued with growing comprehension, "is it 'change her back, too'?"
"Back."