hers held that its
inclusion was a deliberate fallacy; that Einstein, by his other work,
had shown he knew it was a fallacy; that, tongue in cheek, he inserted
it into his equation in full knowledge that his fellow scientists of his
day could not even bear to think of the awesome concept of things
without orientation to an absolute; that he knew they would reject him
entirely, refuse even to consider his thought unless he catered that
much to their superstitions.

The need of the absolute was not mathematical or scientific, but
emotional. Man was still tortured by his determination to be the center
of things, himself the fixed absolute! The need of a familiar, fixed
cave where he might run and hide, close himself in securely when the
chaos of storm outside became too frightening to bear. The need of a
fixed absolute, whether in philosophy or science, a fixed spot that
would not shift.

The science of psi, then, was based in a willingness to shift?

He looked down at the equation, to see if he were still on the track.

It had changed again. Now it read "E{d}M": The form of the function of
energy to matter is variable.

Quickly, another change. "Df(em)": The form of the function and the
independent variable of the function vary together.

Still another: "E = f(M)": There is a general relationship of energy to
matter.

And then: "F(e,m) = 0": There is a general unspecified relationship
between energy and matter.

He slapped his hand down on the sand in frustration.

"All right," he said. "You've made your point. And it means about as
much as if I said to the turkey, 'All you have to do is fly'."

There was a stir behind him. He turned his head and saw Louie. A deep
sigh, almost a sob came from Louie as he stared down at the symbols in
the sand.

"They talked to _you_," Louie said brokenly. "I wanted only to serve
Them, but it was to _you_ They talked."

And all the tragedy of his life was contained therein.

Cal sprang to his feet, and put his arms around the other man's
shoulders. The two of them, the bitter and the sympathetic, looked down
at the sand. The symbols were still changing, and now read "There is an
infinity of relationships between matter and energy, an infinity of
forms to be taken by matter as you control the energy."

The signs were wiped out, and the sense of Their presence was gone. Cal
felt the withdrawal, the sense of a lesson being over. He did not
regret it, he had enough to think a