Channing surveyed the instrument again, and then said: "Might as well, Walt. The inner man must be fed, and we can wrangle at the same time. Argument assists the digestion--and vice versa." * * * * * "Now," said Channing, as the dishes were pushed aside, clearing a space on the table. "What are we going to do?" "That's what I've been worrying about," said Walt. "Let's list the things that make our gun ineffective." "That's easy. It can't dish out enough. It's too dependent upon mobility. It's fundamentally inefficient because it runs out of ammunition too quick, by which I mean that it is a sort of gun with antiseptic bullets. It cures its own damage." "Prevents," said Arden. "All right, it acts as its own shield, electrostatically." "About this mobility," said Walt, "I do not quite agree with that." "You can't whirl a hunk of tube the size and weight of a good-sized telescope around fast enough to shoot holes in a racing spaceship," said Channing. "Especially one which is trying to dodge. We've got to rely upon something that can do the trick better. Your tube did all right following a meteor that runs in a course that can be predicted, because you can set up your meteor spotter to correct for the mechanical lag. But in a spaceship that is trying to duck your shot, you'll need something that works with the speed of light. And, since we're going to be forced into something heavy and hard-hitting, its inertia will be even more so." "Heavy and hard-hitting means exactly what?" "Cyclotron or betatron. One of those dingusses that whirls electrons around like a stone on a string until the string breaks and sends the stone out at a terrific speed. We need a velocity that sounds like a congressional figure." "We've got a cyclotron." "Yeah," drawled Channing. "A wheezy old heap that cries out in anguish every time the magnets are charged. I doubt that we could move the thing without it falling apart. The betatron is the ticket." "But the cyclotron gives out with a lot more soup." "If I had to increase the output of either one, I could do it a lot quicker with the betatron," said Channing. "In a cyclotron, the revolution of the electrons in their acceleration period is controlled by an oscillator, the voltage output of which is impressed on the D chambers. In order to speed up the electron stream, you'd have to do two things. One: Build a new oscillator that will dish out more power. Two: Increase the strength of the magnets.