"Prevents," said Arden.
"All right, it acts as its own shield, electrostatically."
"About this mobility," said Walt, "I do not quite agree with that."
"You can't whirl a hunk of tube the size and weight of a good-sized telescope around fast enough to shoot holes in a racing spaceship," said Channing. "Especially one which is trying to dodge. We've got to rely upon something that can do the trick better. Your tube did all right following a meteor that runs in a course that can be predicted, because you can set up your meteor spotter to correct for the mechanical lag. But in a spaceship that is trying to duck your shot, you'll need something that works with the speed of light. And, since we're going to be forced into something heavy and hard-hitting, its inertia will be even more so."
"Heavy and hard-hitting means exactly what?"
"Cyclotron or betatron. One of those dingusses that whirls electrons around like a stone on a string until the string breaks and sends the stone out at a terrific speed. We need a velocity that sounds like a congressional figure."
"We've got a cyclotron."
"Yeah," drawled Channing. "A wheezy old heap that cries out in anguish every time the magnets are charged. I doubt that we could move the thing without it falling apart. The betatron is the ticket."
"But the cyclotron gives out with a lot more soup."
"If I had to increase the output of either one, I could do it a lot quicker with the betatron," said Channing. "In a cyclotron, the revolution of the electrons in their acceleration period is controlled by an oscillator, the voltage output of which is impressed on the D chambers. In order to speed up the electron stream, you'd have to do two things. One: Build a new oscillator that will dish out more power. Two: Increase the strength of the magnets.