Kingallis stepped forward and slapped the other across the face with the back of his hand. Sargenuti stood four inches taller than the doctor and outweighed him by at least thirty pounds. He could have broken Kingallis in half with his bare hands but he accepted the insult across his face without flinching nor attempt to retaliate. "Because we are isolated here, far from our normal surroundings, you have become slovenly in your attitude," snapped Kingallis. "You are no planner, Sargenuti. Your method is acceptable in some cases but you have not the intellectual equipment to cope with a situation as involved as this is. "Whether you continue as you are, advance in your work or are dropped a group depends upon the future. Suppose there were several people involved that have his power?" "There cannot be," returned Sargenuti. "Fool! If there is one there may be others. Now do as I say without argument!" Carroll listened to this discussion with interest. From it he learned that there was obviously some plot against the Solar System and that he, Carroll, was possessed of some factor that made his continuance dangerous to their plotting. He half-smiled and said, "There are many like me." Kingallis turned back to his captive and shook his head. "No," he said. "There are not! Sargenuti had no trouble until he ran into James Forrest Carroll. That is why he is bloated with delusions of grandeur. He thinks because he has had no competition that he is supreme. "He forgets the platitude, 'It is a sharp blade that cuts but cheese!' It is notable, however, that the first time he met James Forrest Carroll he was forced to call for help." "I was puzzled," admitted Sargenuti. "A slightly more intelligent moron would have known that this man was capable of avoiding your block," snapped Kingallis. "When he came forward to interfere the first time. That is when you should have caught him. Instead you ignored him for too long. Idiot!" "All right," grumbled Sargenuti. "But this is just telling Carroll things he wants to know." * * * * * Kingallis smiled sourly. "Perhaps it is better that way," he said. "When he sees what he is up against he may be less violent." "And if he again escapes?" "He will not escape." Sargenuti laughed roughly. "It would be drastically amusing to find that James Forrest Carroll is smarter than the great Doctor Kingallis." "Shut up!" snapped Kingallis angrily. He turned to Carroll. "You know too much," he said. "Yet I have no qualms about telling you more. It is our job to prevent the spread of knowledge about the Lawson Radiation, to discourage research and to cause the importance of the Radiation to diminish. "We employ mass hypnotism to intercept the reports, to read them, to make the minor changes that prevent correlation of certain data that would lead to some discovery of importance. This happens only once in a few months.