is up?" he said. "Seems like everybody's on edge this
morning. I never saw a bunch of guys so touchy. You'd think they woke up
with snakes in their beds."

"Didn't you know?" said Hockley. "Haven't you been to any of the
lectures this morning?"

"No. A couple of the senators were getting bored with all the scientific
doings so I thought maybe I should try to entertain them. We took in
what passes for such here, but it wasn't much better than the lectures
as a show. Tell me what's up."

Briefly, Hockley described Silvers' upset of the day before and Carmen's
experience that morning. Showalter let his glance rove over his fellow
Earthmen, trying to catch snatches of the buzzing conversation at nearby
tables.

"You think that's the kind of thing that's got them all going this
morning?" he said.

Hockley nodded. "I caught enough of it passing through to know that's
what it is. I gather that every group has run into the same kind of
thing by now, the fencing off of broad areas where we have already tried
to do research.

"After the first cloud of awe wore off, the first thing everyone wanted
was an answer to his own pet line of research. Nine times out of ten it
was something the Rykes told them to chuck down the drain. That advice
doesn't sit so well--as you can plainly see."

Showalter drew back his gaze and stared for a long time at Hockley. "You
knew this would happen. That's why you brought us here--"

"I had hopes of it. I was reasonably sure this was the way the Rykes
operated."

Showalter remained thoughtful for a long time before he spoke again.
"You've won your point, I suppose, as far as this group goes, but you
can't hope to convince all of Earth by this. The Rykes will hold their
offer open, and others will accept it on behalf of Earth.

"And what if it's we who are wrong, in the end? How can you be sure that
this isn't the way the Rykes have made their tremendous speed--by not
going down all the blind alleys that we rattle around in."

"I'm sure it _is_ the way they have attained such speed of advancement."

"Then maybe we ought to go along, regardless of our own desires. Maybe
we never did know how to do research!"

Hockley smiled across the table at his assistant. "You believe that, of
course."

"I'm just talking," said Showalter irritably. "The thing gets more loopy
every day. If you think you understand the Rykes I wish you would give
out with what the score is. By the looks of most of the