He pressed the starting button. Then a complete connection was established between an area high in the station but a good many thousand feet away--and on the other side of the central axis--through the energy-beam tubes, and a very distant receptor tube on the planet Pluto. "This," punned Kingman, "will freeze 'em out!" His final act before relaxing completely was to have the huge duplicator build a small but comfortable house, complete with furniture and an efficient heating plant. Then he settled down to wait for developments. * * * * * "So what brings you out to Venus Equilateral?" asked Don. "Christmas," said Barney. "We--Christine--thought that it might be nice to spend Christmas with old friends in a climate less violent than Mars." "Well, we're all tickled pink," nodded Arden. "Frankly," grinned Jim Baler, "my charming sister has set her sights on your bachelor playmate." "I think it is mutual," said Arden. "After all, Walt has had a lot of business to tend to on Mars. He used to use the beams to conduct business--in fact he still does most of it by communications when it isn't Mars--but give him three ten-thousandths of an excuse and he's heading for Canalopsis." "I noted with interest that Christine was quite willing to help him work." "Fat lot of work they'll accomplish." "Speaking of work, Wes, what goes on right now in this deal?" "We've just set up a modulator," said Wes. "I'm modulating the current since the magnetic field is supplied by a permanent magnet and the monochromatic light comes from an ion arc. Using varying light seems to widen the response band with a loss in transmission intensity. This way, you see, all the energy going into the crystal is transmitted on a single band, which is of course a matter of concentrated transmission." "That sounds sensible. Also, if this gets to sounding practical, it is quite simple to establish and maintain a high-charge permanent magnet field, and also a monochromatic light from a continuous gas-arc. Easier, I'd say, than making ammeters all read alike." "Utopia," said Wes Farrell, "is where you can use any handy meter and find it within one tenth of one percent of any other--including the Interplanetary Standard." Channing observed that Utopia was far from achieved. Then he said: "You've got the Thomas gents out in a ship with another crystal set-up?" "_Anopheles_," said Farrell. "Will shortly head for Mars with the other half of the gear in another refrigerated compartment. If this proves practical, Pluto is going to become useful." Arden nodded absently. "I've always claimed that there is a practical use for everything." Channing opened his mouth to say something and had it neatly plugged by Arden's small hand. "No, you don't," she said. "We've all heard that one." "Which one?" asked Farrell.