"Thank you, Commander," he said. "You have settled my problem. I was in doubt as to whether to complete this operation in the name of scientific inquiry, but now I see I have no choice. See this!" he continued. "This" was a spherical, finned object of aluminum about the size of a watermelon, resting on a gleaming chromium-steel cradle. "If I take this ring, Jacklin," Chalmis remarked, "and pull it out, the bomb will explode within five seconds or at 500 feet altitude whichever takes longer. The five seconds is to give the pilot a margin of safety in case of accidental release at low altitude. However, dropping it from 30,000 feet means that the five seconds elapse before the bomb reaches the level at which it automatically explodes." "You make me nervous, Professor," I objected. "Can't you explain without touching it?" "If it exploded now, approximately twenty-four feet below the water-line," Chalmis continued, "it would create an earthquake wave which could cause damage at Honolulu and would register on the seismograph at Fordham University." "I'll take your word for it," I said. "So," concluded Chalmis, "if the bomb were to go off now, no one could know what had happened to the Alaska and the Navy--as I know the Navy--would decide that thorium bombs were impractical, too dangerous to use. And so the human race might be spared a few more years of life." "Stop it!" I ordered, lunging forward and grabbing for his arm. But it was too late. Chalmis gave a strong pull on the ring. It came free and a slight buzzing sound was heard above the whine of the turbines and the thud of the seas against Alaska's bow. "You--" I began. Then I started counting: "Three--four--fi--".... * * * * * There was a hand on my shoulder and a voice that kept saying, "Snap out of it!" I opened bleary eyes to see a familiar figure in uniform bending over me. My head ached, my mouth tasted dry and metallic, and I felt strangely heavy around the middle. "Hully, Ranty," I said. "Haven't seen you since Kwajalein. What's the word? What happened to the Alaska?" Commander Tolan, U.S.N.R., who had been in my group in Quonset, straightened up with a laugh. "When were you ever at Kwajalein, Winnie?" he asked. "And what's the drip about the Alaska?" "You remember," I said. "That time we went into the Marshalls with the Sara in forty-three. But what happened to my ship? There was a bomb.... Say, where am I and what day is it anyway?" There was a burst of laughter from across the room and I turned my head. I seemed to be sitting in a deep, leather arm-chair in a small, nicely furnished bar, with sporting-prints on the wall and a group of three clean-shaven, only slightly paunchy middle-aged men, who looked like brokers, standing by the rail staring at me. Tolan was the only man in uniform. These couldn't be doctors and what were civilians doing in mess.... "We blew up!" I insisted. "Chalmis said...."