Rapidly, Douglass was dismounting the apparatus, as Devin started for
the stock room. Kendall started making some new connections,
reconnecting the apparatus they had intended using on the "atomic
engine," largely high-capacity resistances. He seemed to perform this
work mechanically, his mind definitely on something else. Suddenly he
stopped, and looked carefully into the receiver of the machine. The
metal in it was silvery, liquid, and here and there a floating crystal
of the dull red metal. Slowly a smile spread across his face. He turned
to Douglass.

"Douglass--ah, you're through. Get on the trail of MacBride, and get him
and his crew to work making half a dozen smaller things like this. Tell
'em they can leave off the tungsten shield. I want different metals in
the receiver of each. Use--hmmm--sodium--copper--magnesium--aluminium,
iron and chromium. Got it?"

"Yes, sir." He left, just as Devin returned with a large electrostatic
voltmeter.

"I'd like," said he, "to know how you know the voltage will range around
eighty thousand."

"K-ring excitation potential for mercury. I'm willing to bet that thing
simply shoved the whole electron system of the mercury out a notch--that
it simply _hasn't_ any K-ring of electrons now. I'm trying some other
metals. Douglass is going to have MacBride make up half a dozen more
machines. Machines--they need a name. This--ah--this is an 'atostor.'
MacBride's going to make up half a dozen of 'em, and try half a dozen
metals. I'm almost certain that's not mercury in there now, at all. It's
probably element 99 or something like it."

"It looks like mercury--"

"Certainly. So would 99. Following the periodic table, 99 would probably
have an even lower melting point than mercury, be silvery, dense and
heavy--and perhaps slightly radioactive. The series under the B family
of Group II is Magnesium, Zinc, Cadmium, Mercury--and 99. The melting
point is going down all the way, and they're all silvery metals. I'm
going to try copper, and I fully expect it to turn silvery--in fact, to
become silver."

"Then let's see." Swiftly they hooked up the apparatus, realigned the
projector, and again Kendall took his place at the power-board. As he
closed the switch, on no-load, the electrostatic voltmeter flopped over
instantly, and steadied at just over 80,000 volts.

"I hate to say 'I told you so,'" said Kendall. "But let's hook in a
load. Try it on about 100 amps first."

Devin began cutt