as I do not. He prefers not to make it clear to the public generally that the entire Electron Pump establishment is the product of the para-men, with ourselves merely servants of the masters. And if, on the Moon, we advance to the point where we ourselves know what we are doing, then the birth of the true Electron Pump technology will date from our moment, not from his.”
Denison said, “Why do you tell me all this?”
“To avoid wasting my time. Ordinarily, we welcome physicists from Earth. We feel cut off here on the Moon, victims of deliberate Terrestrial policy against us, and a physicist-visitor can be helpful, even if only to give us a feeling of lesser isolation. A physicist-immigrant is even more helpful and we like to explain the situation to him and encourage him to work with us. I am sorry that you are not, after all, a physicist.”
Denison said, impatiently, “But I never said I was.”
“And yet you asked to see the synchrotron. Why?”
“Is that really what’s bothering you? My dear sir, let me try to explain. My scientific career was ruined half a lifetime ago. I have decided to see some sort of rehabilitation, some sort of renewed meaning, to my life as far away from Hallam as I could get—which means here on the Moon. I was trained as a radiochemist, but that has not permanently paralyzed me as far as any other field of endeavor is concerned. Para-physics is the great field of today and I have done my best to self-educate myself there, feeling that this will offer me my best hope for rehabilitation.”
Neville nodded. “I see,” he said with clear dubiousness.
“By the way, since you mentioned the Electron Pump—Have you heard anything about the theories of Peter Lamont?”
Neville eyed the other narrowly. “No. I don’t think I know the man.”
“Yes, he is not yet famous. And probably never will be; chiefly for the same reason I’ll never be. He crossed Hallam.… His name came up recently and I’ve been giving him some thought. It was one way of occupying the sleepless portion of last night.” And he yawned.
Neville said, impatiently, “Yes, Doctor? What of this man? What is his name?”
“Peter Lamont. He has some interesting thoughts on para-theory. He believes that with continued use of the Pump, the strong nuclear interaction will grow basically more intense in the space of the Solar system and that the Sun will slowly heat up and, at some crucial point, undergo a phase-change that will produce an explosion.”
“Nonsense! Do you know the amount of change produced, on a cosmic scale, of any use of the Pump on a human scale. Even granted that you are only self-educated in physics, you ought have no difficulty in seeing that the Pump can’t possibly make any appreciable change in general Universal conditions during the lifetime of the Solar system.”
“Do you think so?”
“Of course. Don’t you?” said Neville.
“I’m not sure. Lamont’s grinding a personal axe. I’ve met him briefly and he impressed me as an intense and very emotional fellow. Considering what Hallam has done to him, he is probably driven by overwhelming anger.”
Neville frowned. He said, “Are you sure he is on the outs with Hallam?”
“I’m an expert on the subject.”
“It doesn’t occur to you that the initiation of that kind of doubt—that the Pump is dangerous—might be used as but another device to keep the Moon from developing Stations of its own.”
“At the cost of creating universal alarm and despondency? Of course not. That would be cracking walnuts with nuclear explosions. No, I’m sure Lamont is sincere. In fact, in my own bumbling way, I had similar notions once.”
“Because you, too, are driven by hate for Hallam.”
“I’m not Lamont. I imagine I don’t react the same way he does. In fact, I had some dim hope I would be able to investigate the matter on the Moon, without Hallam’s interference and without Lamont’s emotionalism.”
“Here on the Moon?”
“Here on the Moon. I thought perhaps I might get the use of the synchrotron.”
“And that was your interest in it?”
Denison nodded.
Neville said, “You really think you will get the use of the synchrotron? Do you know how far back the requisitions have piled up?”
“I thought perhaps I might get the cooperation of some of the Lunar scientists.”
Neville laughed and shook his head. “We have almost as little chance as you.… However, I’ll tell you what we can do. We have established laboratories of our own. We can give you space;