His yell of pain shattered the air. Hohmann startled, and the pistol went off with a loud racket. It missed, but General Unger was facing away from him, looking at the cabinets and rubbing his elbow. Tentatively, Unger reached forward and touched a finger to the handle of the nearest file drawer. He jerked it back, and blew upon it. "Hohmann," he said. "They're hot!" "Hot, you idiot?" screamed Hohmann. He wet his forefinger and touched the metal of the drawer. There was a faint sizzle and Hohmann jerked his hand back too. "Fire!" he yelled, racing for an extinguisher. With a hook, he hurled the drawer open and hit it with the spray. It exploded into a cloud, a cloud that choked them and sent them from the room in a hurry. Hot carbon tetrachloride vapor is not attractive. Men piled into the room, followed shortly by the official palace firemen. Shortly the head man emerged. "Führer," he said apologetically, "the cabinets are hot, but there has been no fire." "No fire? Then how--" The alarm rang again, and they raced to the office of General Friedrice, who was standing outside with a look of fear on his face. "The file cabinets?" asked Hohmann. The general nodded dumbly. "Fire?" "No--just hot." "But there must be some reason--?" General Unger looked up nervously. "Radioactivity?" he said. "But to collect that much radioactivity," said Hohmann, "would take time. And why was it not noticed sooner?" "That I do not know." "Come--we'll read the Intelligence News Report," said Hohmann, leaving on a dead run. He had the tape in his hand as they came up with him; they listened to his voice read the words from the tape. "... mail carriers resign as mailboxes are hot to touch. Minor fire in business offices of Greggham & Son, no damage done. Fire departments in all cities are rushed to danger points. Conference called to discuss the outbreak of spontaneous fires in government offices. Professor Haldrick claims all fires not dangerous--" Hohmann turned to Unger. "You're the head of Nuclear Physics," he stormed. "I want a complete report in twenty-four hours!" * * * * * The hours passed. The fires grew. No longer were they merely hotboxes, but in some important cases open flames broke out and consumed the paper. The charred ash continued to be too hot to the touch, and there was panic in the country. Unger came at last. Dejected and pale with fear. "Well," stormed Hohmann, "what is it?" "I'm not certain other than its effect," said Unger shakily. "All paper is artificially radioactive, and it heats up when the radioelements approach the critical mass--" "Get Hammond!" screamed the dictator. The United Nations representative was brought. He came with a smile. "What is this?" stormed Hohmann. "Your own decision," replied the representative. "You should not have started the pile." "Go on," gritted Hohmann.