“Those tubes are made of Virium, but even Virium develops scale. After next week it will develop even more, because next week we make the changeover to the new fuel. If Wayne had made his mistake two weeks later there would have been so much deposit in the tubes that Gomez would not have noticed the difference.
“Now, Virium is one of the most standardized products in the world. So Gomez was rightly astonished that the tube didn’t oxidize evenly. Jacobs saw further. Virium is the toughest metal we know of; if this piece was tougher it might be a discovery of major importance. So Britton analyzed the plate.”
“Now we get to the point,” Sessions grinned.
Carson stabbed a finger at him. “Right. And the point is that this one section of plate is not Virium! In fact, it is a substance which we are positive does not exist in our system!”
“Wait a second. What do you mean by ‘system’?”
“I mean every single bit of matter that lies between here and Ventura B.”
“Maybe it’s not a natural substance. Not an element.”
“We thought of that. It’s an element, and one we know nothing of.”
“Do you mind if I sit down, sir?” Ben asked suddenly.
The enormity of the thing had struck him, almost dazzling him with its implications. Carson laughed bitterly and waved him to a chair, then went on talking.