"Twenty thousand," said Greg. "Why, that was worth millions." "It was worth everything Chambers had," said Russ, "because it's the thing that's going to wreck him." Their attention snapped back to the screen. Chambers was hunched over his desk, addressing the other two. "Now, gentlemen," he asked, "what are we to do?" Craven shrugged his shoulders. There was a puzzled frown in the eyes back of the thick-lensed glasses. "We haven't much to go on. Wilson doesn't know a thing about it. He hasn't the brain to grasp even the most fundamental ideas back of the whole thing." Chambers nodded. "The man knew the mechanical setup perfectly, but that was all." "I've constructed the apparatus," said Craven. "It's astoundingly simple. Almost too simple to do the things Wilson said it would do. He drew plans for it, so clear that it was easy to duplicate the apparatus. He himself checked the machine and says it is the same as Page and Manning have. But there are thousands of possible combinations for hookups and control board settings. Too many to try to go through and hit upon the right answer. Because, you see, one slight adjustment in any one of a hundred adjustments might do the trick ... but which of those adjustments do you have to make? We have to have the formulas, the equations, before we can even move." "He seemed to remember a few things," said Grant hopefully. "Certain rules and formulas." Craven flipped both his hands angrily. "Worse than nothing," he exploded. "What Page and Manning have done is so far in advance of anything that anyone else has even thought about that we are completely at sea. They're working with space fields, apparently, and we haven't even scratched the surface in that branch of investigation. We simply haven't got a thing to go on." * * * * * "No chance at all?" asked Chambers. Craven shook his head slowly. "At least you could try," snapped Grant. "Now, wait," Chambers snapped back. "You seem to forget Dr. Craven is one of the best scientists in the world today. I'm relying on him." Craven smiled. "I can't do anything with what Page and Manning have, but I might try something of my own." "By all means do so," urged Chambers. He turned to Grant. "I observed you have carried out the plans we laid. Martian Irrigation hit a new low today." Grant grinned. "It was easy. Just a hint here and there to the right people." Chambers looked down at his hands, slowly closing into fists. "We have to stop them some way, any way at all. Keep up the rumors. We'll make it impossible for Greg Manning to finance this new invention. We'll take away every last dollar he has." He glared at the publicity man. "You understand?" "Yes, sir," said Grant, "I understand perfectly." "All right," said Chambers. "And your job, Craven, is to either develop what Page has found or find something we can use in competition."