Dave was less than a thousand yards away from the building when Phelps entered. His jeep was not equipped with radio or telephone so he did not know what went on. All he knew was a swift burst of brightness, perceptible against the bright sky. Dave stopped the jeep in half its length and turned it to go racing back. Phelps was there, too. A phantom image standing near the image of Claverly, but apparently more solid. Claverly was fading; Phelps was a fresh image. "Same damned thing!" cried Crandall into the microphone. "I'm coming--" started DeLieb, but Dave stopped him with a firm "No!" Then he ran the jeep back to the main buildings, thinking furiously. By the time he arrived, he had an idea.... * * * * * "This is no random thing," he said. "This is malicious." "Malicious?" asked Jane. "What do you mean?" "How many nuclear laboratories have we lost, trying to reproduce this crystal?" "Nine." "And how many top-flight scientists?" "Almost forty." "The forty we can least afford to lose," added Dave. "Can you think of an easier way to sap the scientific strength of a country than to give it something that performs miracles--and also kills?" "Ah," said Jane, shaking her head. "But there's a hole in that reasoning. No one gave us anything. We discovered the Manhattan Crystal by accident--in a restricted laboratory and under the most rigid supervision." "Accident, hell! No doubt a young and innocent mouse thinks it's an accident when he finds a piece of cheese. The crystal is the cheese--and the trap. Kids, we're being taken for a ride. Give 'em a chance to lop off a gang of you and a lab at the same time and they do it. Give them no chance to get the lab, and they'll wait to get a scientist. Offer 'em a cluck of a newsman, of no scientific learning, and they wait until they have a chance at an important scientist. The crystal is still there." "I'll go--" "DeLieb, sit still. Claverly went, Phelps went. You go, and the next will be Nolan or Howes." "So what do you suggest?" "I'm no scientist. Teach me what to do. I'll do it." "You'll die." "I'll prove a point," said Dave. "And I won't die! I'll prove to you that anybody but a top scientist can tinker all day with that thing without danger. If you think I'm wrong, remember that I was there once and came back. Now--what do I do?" Howes laughed bitterly. "If that were as simple as winding an alarm clock or grinding the valves on a gas engine, we'd have no problem, Dave."