“Let’s hold the questions a while, Eddie,” Mr. Taylor interrupted. “We’ve got a few tests to run on this first. There are some things we need to find out for sure.” He called to one of the young men working at the far side of the room. They talked for a few moments while the laboratory worker inspected the cylinder closely. Then he took it inside the shielded booth and laid it on the table beneath the strange contraption with the protruding metal arms and pincers. Several other pieces of testing apparatus were placed on the table. Then he came back outside, closing the door carefully behind him. “All right, Mr. Taylor,” the young technician said, “we’ll see what we can do with it.” He slipped his hands into the grips which operated the metal fingers on the far side of the thick, protective glass through which they watched. Eddie and Teena looked on fascinated as, controlled from outside, the mechanical clamps on the metal arms inside picked up the tube. Then wrenchlike metal fingers wrapped around one sealed end. After much twisting and prying, the tight fitted cap came off. “So far, so good,” the young scientist said. “Now let’s see what’s inside.” He moved his own hands and the mechanical fingers inside tipped the tube on its end. A small black capsule slid out onto the table. It was about the size of a dime-store beanshooter. The metal fingers kept working until the cap sealing the small black capsule was removed. When it was tipped on end a yellowish powder trickled out into a small bowl which had been placed on the table inside. The metal fingers continued working. They placed the small bowl with the yellow contents under one instrument after another. Knobs were turned and readings were jotted down. After the final test was made, Eddie’s father studied the results carefully. He compared them with the formulas on a piece of paper he had brought from his office. While waiting silently, Eddie’s gaze went back to the large uncapped silver-gray cylinder still lying inside on the table. What appeared to be a corner of a sheet of paper jutted slightly out of the open end. “Looks like there’s something else inside of that tube,” he said to the young technician beside him. Talking beneath his hood muffled his words, yet the scientist seemed to have no trouble understanding. “By George, you’re right,” he said. He reached once more for the proper grip rings and levers to operate the robot fingers inside. “Let’s see what it is.” He tipped the tube so the open end was down, then shook it. A large piece of rolled-up paper dropped out. As it fell to the table, it unrolled part way—enough, at least, for Eddie to see the blue color of its inside surface. He also saw the white markings. “Blueprints!” he cried. At the word, his father looked up from his own busy figuring. “You’re right,” he said. “They sure are blueprints. You kids certainly hit upon something big. Mighty big.” “What do you mean, Dad?” Eddie wondered.