he solido back in its drawer, reached for one of the bank of
buttons on the right side of the desk and pushed it down. A desk panel
slid up vertically in front of her, disclosing a news viewer switched to
the index of current headlines.

Trigger glanced over the headlines, while a few items dissolved slowly
here and there and were replaced by more recent developments. Under the
"Science" heading a great deal seemed to be going on, as usual, in
connection with plasmoid experiments around the Hub.

She dialed in the heading, skimmed through the first item that appeared.
Essentially it was a summary of reports on Hubwide rumors that nobody
could claim any worthwhile progress in determining what made the Old
Galactic plasmoids tick. Which, so far as Trigger knew, was quite true.
Other rumors, rather unpleasant ones, were that the five hundred or so
scientific groups to whom individual plasmoids had been issued by the
Federation's University League actually had gained important
information, but were keeping it to themselves.

The summary plowed through a few of the learned opinions and
counteropinions most recently obtained, then boiled them down to the
statement that a plasmoid might be compared to an engine which
appeared to lack nothing but an energy source. Or perhaps more
correctly--assuming it might have an as yet unidentified energy
source--a starter button. One group claimed to have virtually duplicated
the plasmoid loaned to it by the Federation, producing a biochemical
structure distinguishable from the Old Galactic model only by the fact
that it had--quite predictably--fallen apart within hours. But plasmoids
didn't fall apart. The specimens undergoing study had shown no signs of
deterioration. A few still absorbed nourishment from time to time; some
had been observed to move slightly. But none could be induced to
operate. It was all very puzzling!

It _was_ very puzzling, Trigger conceded. Back in the Manon System, when
they had been discovered, the plasmoids were operating with high
efficiency on the protein-collecting station which the mysterious Old
Galactics appeared to have abandoned, or forgotten about, some hundreds
of centuries ago. It was only when humans entered the base and switched
off its mechanical operations that the plasmoids stopped working--and
then, when the switches which appeared to have kept them going were
expectantly closed again, they had stayed stopped.

Personally, Trigger couldn't