Behind him was Jane Nolan--Doctor Jane Nolan. Like her colleagues, Jane Nolan was often quoted in texts, had made several contributions to science, and was an authority on several subjects. She was not a beautiful woman; but her quiet air sometimes permitted a rather interesting personality to show through. Men forgot her mature thirty years and her lack of breath-taking beauty and dated her; then found themselves at once intrigued by her personality and completely baffled by her quick mind--and then went elsewhere in search of wide-eyed pulchritude. Deep interest or honest admiration often lighted up her face and made it handsome if not beautiful. She looked very attractive now as she went to Crandall. "That was brave," she said. "Self-preservation," he said. "We have that too," she replied with a slight smile. "And we also know that we cannot outrun that sort of thing. But we ran." He smiled at her cheerfully. "I'm not a scientist," he said. "I'm just a newspaperman, remember? Perhaps I'm just too ignorant to realize the degree of danger." Jane Nolan shook her head. "You've either seen the remains or pictures of them, of the other labs that failed. You know--" "Look," he chuckled, "let's put it this way. We were dead ducks anyway. The devil himself couldn't have outrun that explosion without jet assistance." He turned to Claverly, "If I'd had any sense, I wouldn't have tried to smash it. I should have known that belting it with a hammer wouldn't have stopped it--if anything, it should have hastened the explosion." "I hardly think so," said Claverly thoughtfully. "Remember that the crystal is not an explosive in itself. Or so we believe. Anyway--" "Anyway, thanks to Dave, we still have our lab," said Jane. "Let's get back to work." Dave shook his head. There was no point in arguing with them. They called him brave. Nuts! Nine great laboratories had gone skyward with their complement of scientists, trying to reproduce the fabulous Manhattan Crystal which was now furnishing the city of New York with electrical power. And with the deadly record of nine to nothing against them, the scientists continued to try. Theirs was the true bravery. It was a deadly experiment, and one that was not permitted-- Dave looked startled. "I thought the government insisted that these experiments be run by telemeter control?" "They are." "Then what in the hell were we doing here?" demanded Crandall.