Avery wiped his forehead. "I don't know why I keep arguing with a lunatic. But you know yourself that the value you give for the integration constant in those equations is a pure guess, only you spend ten pages of doubletalk trying to hide that fact. If the constant is the one you give, why, sure, then you get a chain reaction. But you made it up! Who ever heard of a constant of that magnitude in the solution of an ordinary differential equation?" "That's one criticism of my work the Harvard and Columbia boys never mentioned." "Okay, then I mention it. You're crazy!" "Are you sure?" "Positive!" "Then why can't you forget the approach of zero hour? I'll tell you why and you aren't even making a good show of hiding it. You know that, compared to mine, your knowledge of mathematics is about on a level with that of a college sophomore. Deep down, you know that my calculations were correct. You are convinced--_convinced_--that the bombing of Waaku has already started a chain reaction. And that about seventeen minutes past twelve, around eight minutes from now, the shock wave will reach us, and then the wave of disintegration. Look out of the window! See that cactus in the sand, with its little yellow flower? It will be annihilated. All that desert will go, too--every pebble, every grain of sand. Everything you see, and you yourself, will be disintegrated, transformed into energy!" Suddenly he relaxed into a grin and softened his voice. "I thought we were playing poker. We're waiting for you to bet. Why don't you at least look at your cards?" Avery opened his mouth, then closed it, and picked up his hand, riffling the five cards. "I'm staying," he said. "Here's your blue and I raise you a blue." Slowly the others picked up their hands and stared at the cards. MacPherson scarcely looked at his as he spoke. "I'm staying." He picked up the deck. "Cards, gentlemen?" Rothman shook his head. "I'll play these." Neill took two. "I like to hold a kicker," he explained. Avery and MacPherson drew three. "I opened," said Rothman, "and I'll bet five blue chips." "See you and raise you a blue," Neill said. "I'll string along," said Avery. MacPherson threw his hand in. "I'll let you guys fight it out." * * * * * They all looked at Rothman, who was studying his cards. "I'll see you," he began, and paused. Then he shoved all of his chips into the pot. "I'll see you and raise you a hundred blue chips." "Damn it Rothman!" MacPherson protested. "I know we agreed on no limit, but if you go on playing like this, you'll lose more than you can afford." "I've already lost everything," said Rothman, "and so have you. Don't you know what time it is? In a few minutes, none of you will be around to try to collect. What time is it now?" Avery reached for his watch, then stopped. Rothman turned his head. "What's that?" Nobody moved.