"Spirits of Space! Did _that_ come to life!" "_Atomic Energy!_" Devin cried. "Atomic energy, hell. That's my thirty thousand dollars' worth of power breaking loose again," chortled Kendall. "We missed the atomic energy, but, sweet boy, what an accumulator we stubbed our toes on! I wondered where in blazes all that power went to. That's the answer. I'll bet I can tell you right now what happened. We built that mercury up to a new level, and that transitional stage was the red, crystalline metal. When it reached the higher stage, it was temporarily stable--but that projector over there that we designed for the purpose of holding open electric and magnetic fields just opened the door and let all that power right out again." "But why isn't it atomic energy? How do you know that no more than your power that you put in is coming out?" demanded Devin. "The arc, man, the arc. That was a high-current, and low-voltage arc. Couldn't you tell by the sound that no great voltage--as atomic voltages go--was smashing across there? If we were getting atomic voltage--and power--there'd have been a different tone to it, high and shriller. "Now, did you take any readings?" "What do you think, man? I'm human. Do you think I got any readings with that thing bellowing and shrieking in my ears, and burning my skin with ultra-violet? It itches now." Kendall laughed. "You know what to do for an itch. Now, I'm going to make a bet. We had those points separated for a half-million volts discharge, but there was a dust-cover thrown over them just now. That, you notice, is missing. I'll bet that served as a starter lead for the main arc. Now I'm going to start that projector thing again, and move the points there through about six inches, and that thing probably won't start itself." * * * * * Most of the laboratory staff had collected at the doorway, looking in at the white-hot tungsten discharge points, and the now silent "atomic engine." Kendall turned to them and said: "The flop picked itself up. You go on back, we seem to be all in one piece yet. Douglass, you didn't get any readings, did you?" Sheepishly, Douglass grinned at him. "Eh--er--no--but I tore my pants. The magnetic field grabbed me and I jumped. They had some steel buttons, and a lot of steel keys--they're kinda' hard to keep on now." The laboratory staff broke into a roar of laughter, as Douglass, holding up his trousers with both hands was beheld. "I guess the field worked," he said. "I guess maybe it did," adjudged Kendall solemnly. "We have some rope here if you need it--" Douglass returned to his post. Swiftly, Kendall altered the atomic distortion storage apparatus, and returned to the power-board. "Ready?" "Check." Kendall shoved home the switch. The storage device was silent. Only a slight feeling of strain made itself felt, and the sudden noisy hum of a small transformer nearby. "She works, Buck!" Devin called. "The readings check almost exactly."