Again Channing said: "What? Are you nuts?"
"No. I've been tinkering with an idea of mine. If we had another month to work on it, I think we might be able to clip Murdoch's ears."
"Just what are you using in this super weapon, chum?"
Franks explained.
"Mind if I put in an oar?" asked Channing.
"Not at all. So far we might be able to fry a smelt at twenty feet, or we could cook us a steak. But I haven't been able to do a thing yet. We had it working once, and I think we heated a meteor somewhat, but the whole thing went blooey before we finished the test. I've spent the last week and a half fixing the thing up again, and would have tried it out on the next meteor, but your message brought a halt to everything but cleaning up the mess and making ready just in case we might think of something practical."
"I'll put in my first oar by seeing the gadget. Wait till I find my pants, and I'll go right along."
Don inspected the installation and whistled. "Not half bad, sonny, not half bad."
"Except that we haven't been able to make it work."
"Well, for one thing, you've been running on the wrong track. You need more power."