yes.

"That's fine, doctor," Trent replied. "Shall we go?"

He turned and said good-bye to Fenwick and passed a smiling glance at
the girl. He could see her blush slightly as Fenwick caught the glance
and laughed. Then they were out of the house and Trent led the way to
his car.

Inside, he started the motor and drove away. Beside him, Gaddon lit a
cigar and blew a long plume of smoke through the open window.

"You said you wanted to talk to me, Trent?"

Fred nodded. "That's right, doctor. I'm writing up the rocket experiment
for my paper, and I thought maybe you could give me a few details of
interest." He paused for a moment, then asked: "Would it be too personal
to ask if your visit to Dr. Fenwick had anything to do with the coming
experiment?"

Gaddon shot a quick glance at him.

"Why do you ask that?"

Fred Trent shrugged. "It was just a thought. I heard Dr. Fenwick talking
about your heart, but you look pretty healthy to me, so I thought maybe
it was because Fenwick is a gland specialist and you might be talking to
him about examining the cat after the rocket returns ..."

Gaddon laughed roughly. "A mighty clever reasoning, Trent, but not quite
correct. The fact is, I was seeing the doctor for personal reasons. Just
a physical checkup. It had nothing to do with the rocket experiment or
the effect of the cosmic rays on the animal we're including in the
experiment."

"It was just a thought, doctor," Trent replied, as he moved the coupe
out on the open highway away from Tucson and toward the Rocket Proving
Grounds on the desert flats in the distance.

"So now that we've disposed of that, what else would you like to know?"
Gaddon asked him, a peculiar edge to his voice that Trent did not miss.

"Well, I would like to get a first hand bit of information on just
exactly what you plan to prove with this experiment. If I'm correct, Dr.
Mathieson, the head of the project, contends that cosmic rays may be
lethal, and this experiment is to prove his point."

The physicist snorted. "It is no secret that Mathieson and myself
disagree violently on that subject."

Trent's eyebrows raised. "Is that so? I wasn't aware of it?"

Gaddon paused, seeing that his words had slipped out too freely. Finally
he said, "What I meant to say, Trent, is that up until now it has not
been a public issue of disagreement. And I would prefer to have it
remain a private matter until after the experiment."

"I see," Trent mused. "Yo