Eklund asked.

"I'm afraid not. The presentations are public. We've done too good a job
publicizing the Nobel Prize. As a telecast item, it's almost the equal of
the motion picture Academy Award."

"I can imagine the reaction when our candidate is revealed in all her
metallic glory. A two-meter cube of steel filled with microminiaturized
circuits, complete with flashing lights and cogwheels," Carlstrom chuckled.
"And where are you going to hang the medal?"

Christianson shivered. "I wish you wouldn't give that metal nightmare a
personality," he said. "It unnerves me. Personally, I wish that Dr. Hanson,
Alphax Laboratories, and Edie were all at the bottom of the ocean--in some
nice deep spot like the Mariannas Trench." He shrugged. "Of course, we
won't have that sort of luck, so we'll have to make the best of it."

"It just goes to show that you can't trust Americans," Eklund said. "I've
always thought we should keep our awards on this side of the Atlantic where
people are sane and civilized. Making a personality out of a computer--ugh!
I suppose it's their idea of a joke."

"I doubt it," Christianson said. "They just like to name things--preferably
with female names. It's a form of insecurity, the mother fixation. But
that's not important. I'm afraid, gentlemen, that we shall have to make
the award as we have planned. I can see no way out. After all, there's no
reason why the machine cannot receive the prize. The conditions merely
state that it is to be presented to the one, regardless of nationality,
who makes the greatest contribution to medicine or physiology."

"I wonder how His Majesty will take it," Carlstrom said.

"The king! I'd forgotten that!" Eklund gasped.

"I expect he'll have to take it," Christianson said. "He might even
appreciate the humor in the situation."

"Gustaf Adolf is a good king, but there are limits," Eklund observed.

"There are other considerations," Christianson replied. "After all, Edie is
the reason the Crown Prince is still alive, and Gustaf is fond of his son."

"After all these years?"

Christianson smiled. Swedish royalty _was_ long-lived. It was something
of a standing joke that King Gustaf would probably outlast the pyramids,
providing the pyramids lived in Sweden. "I'm sure His Majesty will
cooperate. He has a strong sense of duty and since the real problem is
his, not ours, I doubt if he will shirk it."

"How do you figure that?" Eklund asked.

"We merely select th