He led Kotenko down a makeshift aisle between the rows of injured. At the front entrance, he was intercepted by Marta. "Where do you think you're going?" she demanded. "To the center." "But--" "No arguments. We've got a lot of work to do." "You make it sound as though there's no time," she said. "There's much less than most people think." "What do you mean by that?" asked Kotenko. Chandler hesitated. There was something filed away in the back of his mind, but he knew he'd have difficulty explaining how he knew what he knew. "You saw the video tapes of Ottawa," he said. "Montreal will be next, then Toronto, Chicago, Buffalo, Detroit, Toledo and, at the same time, Norway, Sweden, Ireland and eventually all of northeastern Europe." "Ah," the Russian grinned. "Excellent strategy. Set a deadline. Let everyone know you are working against time and you'll have much less opposition and much stronger backing." "What sort of a deadline?" Marta asked Chandler. "A month to test the feasibility, then one year to develop the drill." "I can hardly wait to see the faces of the committee when we tell them that," said Kotenko. * * * * * But Kotenko showed little interest in the surprised faces of the committee when Chandler announced his deadline one month later in Detroit. Chandler knew that it was another aspect of his report that deeply concerned the Russian. Marta supported Chandler's contention that the job could be done--and in a year. She produced carefully detailed studies of non-conductive metals that she had painstakingly prepared. Finally it was Kotenko's turn. "Yes, Dr. Chandler, with his rather remarkable mental resources, has clearly shown that the drill can be produced by modern technology. And I believe that Dr. Neilson--" he smiled at Marta--"can lead the way to a system of non-conductive conduits to pump the heat anywhere it is needed. Only the one hole with its inexhaustible supply of heat will be necessary. On only one point do I disagree with Dr. Chandler." Paul Chandler was doodling unconcernedly on the edge of his notepad. "And that," continued Kotenko, "is on the need for the X-factor." Dr. White demanded the floor and Chandler acknowledged him without looking up from his notepad. "For years," the Englishman said, "the Russian government has steadfastly refused to agree to the use of the X-factor. I can appreciate their feeling, since it was the X-factor that tipped the scales in favor of the West during World War III." "Tipped the scales?" Kotenko said. "I was a very young boy, but the sight of the vaporized cities of Russia is burned into my memory."