"It's as easy as that—" Hawkins gulped and ran a finger under his uniform collar. "Yes, sir. Now that you point it out, it's all very clear, sir. Ridic'lously simple, if I might say so. So, completely comprehendin' the sitchyation, I'll be gettin' back to my work now, sir ... if you don't mind." And he disappeared.
But if Gary Lane found it easy to explain the operation of the Jovian space warp, he found it not quite so easy to explain other facets of the blue-skinned race's psychology.
It was baffling, for instance, to find himself confronted with smiles when, fearful of mishap, he warned the Jovian technicians against tampering with Earth's jealously guarded hypatomic unit.
"You must be very careful. The hypos are protected with devices which will cause them to explode if tampered with."
The chief technician smiled pleasantly.
"Yes," he said, "they were, weren't they?"
"I'm sorry," apologized Gary, "but there's nothing I can do about it. What! Were? I don't understand. Do you mean—?"
"We've drawn the dragon's teeth. Yes, of course. We had to in order to install our own equipment."
"But how—?"