"How did it work?"
"Fair," grinned Walt. "I did it with miniatures only, of course, since I couldn't get my hooks on a full grown tube."
"Say," asked Arden, "how did you birds arrive at this idea so suddenly? I got lost at the first premise."
"We passed a strange ship. We heated up to uncomfortable temperatures in a matter of nine seconds flat. They didn't warm us with thought waves or vector-invectives. Sheer dislike wouldn't do it alone. I guess that someone is trying to do the trick started by our esteemed Mr. Franks here a year or so ago. Only with something practical instead of an electron beam. Honest-to-goodness energy, right from Sol himself, funnelled through some tricky inventions. What about that experiment of yours? Did you bring it along?"
Walt looked downcast. "No," he said. "It was another one."
"Let's see."
"It's not too good."
"Same idea?"
Walt went to get his experiment. He returned with a tray full of laboratory glassware, all wired into a maze of electronic equipment.
Channing went white. "You, too?" he yelled.