I would have rocked back on my heels if the wall hadn't already been behind me. "What about Tom?" I finally managed to say. "Have you got a court order to seize him too, as a company asset?" Herker fingered through his papers. "Yes," he said. "I have an order here empowering me to bring him before a lunacy commission." For the first time, Tom looked up. "What you are really trying to say is that these men came to you and offered you more millions than you can count for my discovery and for the chance to force me to tell them how it works." Herker acted as if somebody had slugged him in the throat. He gulped and tried to find words. "How--how did you know?" "They approached me first," Tom answered. "I refused to talk to them." "But why? There's millions in it!" In all his life, he had never been able to see anything more important than a dollar. "Enough of this," Long Jaw said, taking command of the situation. "We want you and your invention." He moved toward the bed, but Tom held up his hand. "There on the bed you see proof of what this invention can do in the way of saving life. Doesn't that mean anything to you?" "Sure, sure," Long Jaw answered. "You'll be well taken care of. Just as soon as you demonstrate it to the big boys, your future will be safe." "I'll demonstrate it now," Tom said. He swung the cone so that the radiation from it would strike Long Jaw, then closed a switch. A burst of blackness leaped from the cone. It struck Long Jaw. Instantly it seemed to flow over his body, engulfing him. I heard him scream, once, a sound that seemed to get farther and farther away. Then the space he had occupied was empty. Moving with the speed of light, the blackness leaped on to engulf the other two men. They went as Long Jaw had gone, into the blackness, swallowed up in an instant. Herker dropped the papers. The black light hit him. He screamed and was gone into the darkness, gone instantly, gone forever. The wall behind started to vanish as Tom cut the switch. "The energy that heals can also destroy," Tom said. He turned the cone back to Ann and changed the switch again. Again the white light flowed out. I stepped forward and picked up the papers. The doctor, who had stood rooted to the floor, roused himself with a jerk. "I swear I saw four men come in here. Where did they go? What happened? Somebody tell me what happened!" His voice was rising. "Perhaps your nerves are a little overstrained," Tom said, his voice very kind. "A mild sedative might help." Without a word the doctor went from the room. Tom switched off the light and moved to the edge of the bed. "Ann..." he whispered. "Ann..." Even under sedation, she heard his voice. The smile that came over her face seemed to light the whole room.