"Me, too. Well, I'm off to set up detectors. We'll collect something."
"Have we got anything like a piece of gold leaf?" asked Channing.
"I think so, why?"
"I want to make an electroscope. That's about the only way I'll know whether we are getting out with this cockeyed electron gun."
"How so?" asked Hadley.
"We can tell from the meter that reads the beam current whether anything is going up the pipe," explained Channing. "But if we just build us a nice heavy duty charge—as shown by the electroscope—we'll be sure that the electrons are not going far. This is one case where no sign is good news."
"I'll have one of the boys set up an electroscope in the instrument room."
"Good. And now have the bird on the telescope find Venus Equilateral. Have him set the 'scope angles to the figures here and then have him contact Darlange to have the ship slued around so that Venus Equilateral is on the cross hairs. That'll put us on a line with the station. A bundle of electrons of this magnitude will make a reading on any detectors that Walt can set up."
Hadley called the observation dome. "Tim," he said, giving a string of figures, "set your 'scope for these and then get Darlange to slue the crate around so that your cross hairs are on Venus Equilateral."