nd. He grinned a little, which
dispelled for a moment his Angry Old Man expression, and said: "You
ready to go, Mr. Thorn?"

"I'm ready any time you are," Thorn said grumpily.

Sorensen looked at the NAC&M scientist sideways. "You don't sound any
happier'n I am, Mr. Thorn."

Thorn looked at him and thought he could see that flash of odd humor
in his light blue eyes. Thorn exhaled a heavy breath. "I'm no happier
than you are to be out in this heat. Let's get on with it."

Sorensen's chuckle sounded so out of place that Thorn was almost
startled. "You know the difference between you and me, Mr. Thorn?"
Sorensen asked. He didn't wait for an answer. "You think this test is
probably a waste of time. Me, on the other hand, I _know_ it is."

"Let's get on with it," Thorn repeated.

* * * * *

It took two hours to set up the equipment, in spite of the fact that a
lot of the circuits had been prefabricated before the caravan had come
out from Salt Lake City. But Richard Thorn wanted to make certain that
all his data was both correct and recorded. Sorensen had nothing to do
but watch. He had no hand in setting up the equipment. He had brought
the Black Suitcase, and that was all he was going to be allowed to do.

From the top of the Black Suitcase projected two one-inch copper
electrodes, fourteen inches apart. The North American Carbide & Metals
technicians set up the circuits that were connected to the electrodes
without any help from Sorensen.

But just before they started to work, Sorensen said: "There's just one
thing I think you ought to warn those men about, Mr. Thorn."

"What's that?" Thorn asked.

"If any of 'em tries to open that suitcase, they're likely to get
blown sky high. And I don't want 'em getting funny with me, either."

He had his hand in his trouser pocket, and Thorn was suddenly quite
certain that the man was holding a revolver. He could see the outlines
against the cloth.

Thorn sighed. "Don't worry, Mr. Sorensen. We don't have any ulterior
designs on your invention." He did not add that the investigators of
NAC&M had already assumed that anyone who was asking one million
dollars for an invention which was, in effect, a pig in a poke, would
be expected to take drastic methods to protect his gadget. But there
would be no point in telling Sorensen that his protective efforts had
already been anticipated and that the technicians had already been
warned against tou