nother did he realize the vast power of the ray.

Awed, the man translated the idea to his fellows.

Then Arcot drew the heat pistol and explained how the annihilation of
matter within it was converted into pure heat by the relux lens.

"I will show you how they work," Arcot continued. "Could we have a lump
of metal of some kind?"

The Scientist spoke into an intercom microphone, and within a few
minutes, a large lump of iron--a broken casting--was brought in. Arcot
suspended it on the molecular beam while Wade melted it with the heat
beam. It melted and collapsed into a ball that glowed brilliantly and
flamed as its surface burned in the oxygen of the air. Wade cut off his
heat ray, and the ball quickly cooled under the influence of the
molecular beam until Arcot lowered it to the floor, a perfect sphere
crusted with ice and frost.

Arcot continued for the better part of an hour to explain to the Council
exactly what he had, how they could be used, and what materials and
processes were needed to make them.

When he was finished, the Supreme Three conferred for several minutes.
Then the Scientist asked, through Torlos: "How can we repay you for
these things you have given us?"

"First, we need lead to fuel our ship." Arcot gave them the exact
specifications for the lead wire they needed.

He received his answer from the man of Business and Manufacturing. "We
can give you that easily, for lead is cheap. Indeed, it seems hardly
enough to repay you."

"The second thing we need," Arcot continued, "is information. We became
lost in space and are unable to find our way home. I would like to
explain the case to the Astronomer."

The Astronomer proved to be a man of powerful intelligence as well as
powerful physique, and was a better transmitter than receiver. It took
every bit of Arcot's powerful mind to project his thoughts to the man.

He explained the dilemma that he and his friends were in, and told him
how he could recognize the Galaxy on his plates. The Astronomer said he
thought he knew of such a nebula, but he would like to compare his own
photographs with Arcot's to make sure.

"In return," Arcot told him, "we will give you another weapon--a weapon,
this time, to defeat the astronomer's greatest enemy, distance. It is an
electrical telescope which will permit you to see life on every planet
of this system. With it, you can see a man at a distance ten times as
great as the distance from Nansal to your sun