engines stop, just like Elmer
said. Elmer's never wrong."

Marge looked at me. I looked at Marge.

"A field of some kind," I said. "A field that prevents an electric
current from flowing. Meaning no combustion motor using an electric
spark can operate. No electric motors. No telephones. No radio or TV."

"Is that important?" Marge asked.

"Important?" I yelled. "Think of the possibilities just as a weapon! You
could blank out a whole nation's transportation, its communications, its
industry--"

I got hold of myself. I smiled my best I-love-children smile. "Doreen,"
I said, "let me look at Elmer's unhappen genii."

The kid clutched the box.

"Elmer told me not to let anybody look at it. He said he'd statuefy me
if I did. He said nobody would understand it anyway. He said he might
show it to Mr. Einstein, but not anybody else."

"That's Elmer, all right," Marge muttered.

I found myself breathing hard. I edged toward Doreen and put my hand on
the hatbox. "Just one quick look, Doreen," I said. "No one will ever
know."

She didn't answer. Just pulled the box away.

I pulled it back.

She pulled.

I pulled.

"Bill--" Marge called warningly. Too late. The lid of the hatbox came
off in my hands.

* * * * *

There was a bright flash, the smell of insulation burning, and the
unhappen genii fell out and scattered all over the floor.

Doreen looked smug. "Now Elmer will be angry at you. Maybe he'll
disintegrate you. Or paralalize you and statuefy you. Forever."

"He might at that, Bill," Marge shuddered. "I wouldn't put anything past
him."

I wasn't listening. I was scrambling after the mess of tubes, condensers
and power packs scattered over the rug. Some of them were still wired
together, but most of them had broken loose. Elmer was certainly one
heck of a sloppy workman. Hadn't even soldered the connections. Just
twisted the wires together.

I looked at the stuff in my hands. It made as much sense as a radio run
over by a truck.

"We'll take it back to Elmer," I told Doreen, speaking very carefully.
"I'll give him lots of money to build another. He can come down here and
use our shop. We have lots of nice equipment he'd like."

Doreen tossed her head. "I don't think he'll wanta. He'll be mad at you.
Anyway, Elmer is busy working on aggravation now."

"That's for sure!" Marge said in heartfelt tones.

"Aggravation, eh?" I grinned like an idiot. "Well, well! I'll bet