Lynne read the sternly suppressed lack of assurance in the girl’s mind. She had pinned her hopes on the transmuter, which was in truth a remarkable invention for turning dry mineral matter into water. But, as an ex-brain team coordinator, Lynne saw clearly that the expense must outstrip any real benefit which might accrue, except in special isolated instances. She kept her conclusion to herself, however, and said, “I’m awfully glad you asked me to visit you, Joanna. I’m tremendously impressed.” Joanna got a two-place tracto-scooter and took Lynne on a tour of the entire project. She admired the plump hogs and flocks of turkeys, the long-staple sheep and the small, furry musk-oxen, imported to endure the arctic cold of the Martian winters. She admired the artificial drinking pond, where the animals clustered to slake their thirst. Finally she asked, “How do you shield the transmuter?” Joanna waved toward the northeastern corner of the station. “The transmuter has its own shield on three sides,” she explained. “We keep the open side facing away from the station. There are some odd sort of radioactive deposits out that way but our chief figures a bit more radiation isn’t going to hurt anything. Come on, I’ll show you the out-of-bounds markers. The whole area--about fifty square kilometers--is fenced off. A few years ago, a couple of prospectors went in there to dig. They were never seen again.” “Let’s go,” said Lynne a trifle grimly. A distant thrumming inside her head grew more intense as they neared the northeast corner of the grazing grounds. She opened her mind a little--and was once more in an unearthly cathedral, full of dread and love and clamor. “Let’s go back, Joanna,” she said tightly. Her nerves were singing like guitar strings and it seemed impossible the black girl shouldn’t feel it too. But Joanna’s dark face remained amiably impassive. At the Station proper, Lynne said, “I’d like to talk to your chief.” * * * * * Ultimately, to get him to turn off the transmuter, Lynne had to communicate with Rolf and New Samarkand, and tell him that she had discovered another deposit of the super-entity on Mars. In the end it was Agriculture Boss Radchev who ordered the disconnection. The worst of it was, she could not explain her reasons to Joanna and the Station chief in terms they were capable of understanding. All the chief said was, “You know, without the pool, the Station will perish. We are no longer allowed to draw the water we need from the atmosphere.” “You keep that transmuter on much longer, and the whole Station will be wiped out--just as Callisto Project was wiped out,” Lynne warned. “I’m not trying to wreck you. I’m trying to save your lives.” “I wish I’d never asked you to come here!” Joanna cried passionately. “Why couldn’t you have left us alone?”