But Avery was on his knees, pounding Rothman with both fists, sobbing out meaningless words, oblivious to the shouts outside and to MacPherson's tugging. The door burst open and Joe rushed in, followed by two other attendants. "What goes on?" After a glance at Avery's contorted face, Joe grabbed for his legs. "Send for the doc, boys. We're going to need help." * * * * * One of the men ran down the corridor while Joe and the others succeeded in pulling Avery away from Rothman, who struggled to his feet. A doctor came in with a loaded hypodermic. He gave Avery an injection in the arm. "Go easy there," said MacPherson. "He'll be all right in a few minutes. He's had a shock, that's all." "Shock," Avery mumbled. MacPherson gripped Avery's arm. "Try to relax, man. It's finished. We never believed in it, of course. But I'll admit it's a relief, even to me, to be _sure_ there was no danger of a chain reaction at all." Suddenly he felt cold. There was no understanding in Avery's eyes. He slumped to the floor. "Do you think he'll be all right when he comes out from under the drug?" asked MacPherson. "I can't say," said the doctor. "I only saw him a few minutes, when you came here this morning. I thought at the time he was pretty disturbed. Much more than Rothman here. Next week, I think, we're going to send Rothman home." Rothman wiped the blood off his chin and grinned weakly. "You don't mean that, Doc. I used the wrong integration constant in a little calculation. I must be crazy." End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Chain Reaction, by Boyd Ellanby