"I'm a bit older than you are; you've grown up in a world where the
psychomedical techniques really work. When I was growing up,
psychomedical techniques were strictly rule of thumb--and the doctors
were all thumbs." Mr. Morey sighed. Then, "In this matter, I think your
judgment is better than mine."

"I'll see him again, and offer him the job. I'm pretty sure he'll take
it, as I said. I have a suspicion that, within six months, he'll be a
lot saner than most people around. The ordinary man doesn't realize what
a job of rechecking present techniques can do--and Wade is, naturally,
getting a very thorough overhaul.

"Somewhat like a man going in for treatment of a broken arm; in any
decent hospital they'll also check for any other medical problems, and
he'll come out healthier than if he had never had the broken arm.

"Wade seems to have had a mind that made friends with molecules, and
talked their language. After Ridgely shows him how to make friends with
people--I think he'll be quite a man on our team!"

BOOK TWO

SOLARITE

I

The lights of great Transcontinental Airport were blazing in cheering
splendor. Out there in the center of the broad field a dozen men were
silhouetted in the white brilliance, looking up at the sky, where the
stars winked cold and clear on the jet background of the frosty night. A
slim crescent of moon gleamed in the west, a sickle of light that in no
way dimmed the cold flame of the brilliant stars.

One point of light now moved across the motionless field of far-off
suns, flashing toward the airport in a long, swift curve. The men on the
field murmured and pointed up at it as it swept low over the blazing
lights of New York. Lower it swooped, the towering city behind it. Half
a mile into the air the buildings rose in shining glory of colored tile
that shone brightly in the sweeping play of floodlights.

One of them picked out the descending machine, and it suddenly leaped
out of the darkness as a shining, streamlined cylinder, a cylinder with
a great halo of blue fire, as the beam of the searchlight set it off
from the jet black night.

In moments the ship was vast before the eyes of the waiting men; it had
landed gently on the field, was floating smoothly, gracefully toward
them.

Twenty-four men climbed from the great ship, shivering in the icy blast
that swept across the field, spoke a moment with the group awaiting
their arrival, then climbed quickly into th