Bilford nodded in agreement. "I'll try it--all the different wave lengths involved, plus the subetheric velocity factor. If I come up with anything, I'll let you know." "Good enough," said Roysland. * * * * * The solidiphone image of General Director Eckisster stood in the center of the room. He looked around and then focused his gaze on Roysland Dwyn. "Listen here, Roysland," he said belligerently, "why haven't you done anything? What's the situation now?" Roysland looked at the general director and put on his nastiest grin. "You've got the report; we haven't done anything. We've fired the Enlissa projector six times. There is only a residual backwash that is harmless. You could fire the thing in your living room if you wanted to. Meanwhile, we want to know what the effect of the beam is." "And why, may I ask," said Eckisster, "can't you determine so simple a thing as that? This request is utter and absolute nonsense!" He slapped at the papers he held in his hand. "I knew you'd like that," Roysland said. "I thought maybe you could suggest something else. I can't." "As I understand it," Eckisster said testily, "you want a human volunteer to test the Enlissa mindjammer on." "That's right," Roysland said. "So far, all we've proven is that the backwash from the projector has no effect on humans or animals; but we don't know what happens to a man who's hit by the beam itself." "Oh? We don't? I rather assumed that the fleet hospital's psychiatric wards were full of men who have been hit by the beam." "An unjustified assumption," Roysland snapped. "At least, so far, it's unprovable. The point is: Do I or don't I have your permission to ask for a volunteer?" "Why can't you use test animals?" Eckisster asked. "If you'd bother to read the reports I send you, you'd know. We _have_ used 'em. The beam didn't touch 'em. We sprayed one group for half an hour; and as far as anyone can tell, we might just as well have been shining a flashlight on them." "Of course," Eckisster said. "The mindjammer causes a feedback loop in the prefrontal lobes. What do you expect it to do to animals with no prefrontal lobe?" "My point exactly," Roysland agreed. He knew perfectly well that Eckisster had read the report completely and thoroughly. His pretended ignorance and snide remarks were just a mechanism he used for purposes of his own. "The question is," Roysland repeated, "do I have your permission to ask for a volunteer?" "I checked with Bilford," the general director said. "He's getting the microwave technique worked out fairly well now; he says he can bring a man around in twenty-five to thirty days." He stopped and looked at Roysland closely. "Go ahead and ask for volunteers." "Thanks," said Roysland. Eckisster nodded as he dissolved. Roysland reached over and punched a button. "Where's Kiffer?" he asked. "Eating at the mess hall, right now," said a voice.