Huston nodded. "Now. But not here. We will have no damned nonsense. The fate of this political campaign rests upon your work." "I see that." "Four months flight time from Neoterra there is an equilateral trinary--" "Latham's Triplets. One of the network beacons is on Latham Alpha IV." "You will go to Latham Beta III where we have an extra-terran botanical research outfit. You can set up a laboratory there and go to work." "But why not go back to Harrigan's Horror and pick up the radio beacon when it gets there? We can save a lot of time." "Grayson, you are a symbol. You may be a tin God with feet of clay for all we know. So far all you've done is to create a ruckus, hollering against Haedaecker's Theory which you have not substantiated by any shred of evidence. Faith is a wonderful thing--I wish I had more of it than I have--but hardly a bulwark against the slings and arrows of life. So we'll not dicker with a proposition that may go wrong." "But if I am to work--" Huston smiled serenely. "I've often wondered why they call it 'Political Science' when the main idea is to get your point across whether it is true or not. We'll have no part of any experiments that may deal in failure. You'll go and work on Latham Beta III where reports of progress can be made without having a lot of curious people around to watch the answers." Paul scowled. "And it isn't going to take more than a week following the initial announcement of success before someone is going to try it from Harrigan's Horror to Neoterra, or from Proxima I to Terra itself. Then what--?" Huston put the forefingers of his hands tip to tip. "Well, you see, it is not quite as easy as you first imagined. It takes quite a bit of specialized equipment, and therefore the simple test will not work. You'd be glad to make a demonstration, but you are far too busy making a set-up that will ultimately bring a voice-to-ear communication between Terra and Neoterra, which is of course, the final touch. Why bother going through a lot of piddling little demonstrations to prove what you already know?" "And in the meantime?" "In the meantime, Grayson, you're going to have to work like the very devil to keep your research even with the reports we are making about your progress." Paul eyed Huston coldly. "I suppose that was the main idea behind that flanged-up conversation I caught on Proxima I?" "Yes." "Nora Phillips has been very helpful, hasn't she?" "You recognized her voice?" "Yes." Huston looked at Paul sympathetically. "I hope for your sake--as well as hers--that she is alive." Paul grunted. "I've been a sucker." Huston laughed at him. "And you'll be a sucker again, Paul. Forget it, for the moment. We're all suckers. It makes life interesting that way. You get going and see what you can do. Remember, I'll not hamper any progress. But we will most certainly see to it that any negative reports are multiplied by Minus One before they are made public." "So--"