Paul felt his heart pound thrice and then settle down again. The one thing that he was trying to avoid was not going to come off.
But Haedaecker glared at Paul once again. "I absolutely forbid you to do this."
Paul glared back. "What have we to lose?"
"I'll not have the ridicule attendant to such an abortive experiment pinned onto my department."
Paul laughed sarcastically. "It seems to me that a man in your position might like to have the name of being willing to have himself proven wrong."
"What do you mean?" demanded Haedaecker.
"Can your own personal ambition be great enough to block and forestall the linking of Sol and Neosol by Z-wave?"
"You young puppy—"
"Your position is due to the proposal of Haedaecker's Theory," said Paul. "I am not attempting to insult you, Doctor Haedaecker. I want you to view this in another light. According to all of the evidence at hand, Haedaecker's Theory is correct and we cannot communicate with the Z-wave across interstellar space. The proposition of that theory and its math have made you a famous man. Perhaps you fear that if Haedaecker's Theory is shown to be incorrect, you will lose your position. This is not so. Men have always been on the side of a great man who was humble enough to doubt his own theories occasionally, who was willing to see them attacked. It means a lot to mankind; show mankind that your personal ambition is not so great as to prevent them from having the benefits of—"
"You're talking as though you knew that your plan would be successful," sneered Haedaecker.