"Yes."
The general hurried away. Micheals joined the scientists.
"He should have called us in at the very first," Allenson complained. "There's no time to consider anything but force now."
"Have you come to any conclusions about the nature of the leech?" Micheals asked.
"Only general ones," Moriarty said, "and they're about the same as yours. The leech is probably extraterrestrial in origin. It seems to have been in a spore-stage until it landed on Earth." He paused to light a pipe. "Incidentally, we should be damned glad it didn't drop in an ocean. We'd have had the Earth eaten out from under us before we knew what we were looking for."
They walked in silence for a few minutes.
"As you mentioned, it's a perfect converter—it can transform mass into energy, and any energy into mass." Moriarty grinned. "Naturally that's impossible and I have figures to prove it."
"I'm going to get a drink," Allenson said. "Anyone coming?"
"Best idea of the week," Micheals said. "I wonder how long it'll take O'Donnell to get permission to use the bomb."
"If I know politics," Moriarty said, "too long."