n his knees and rested his forehead on shaking
hands. "What has all this got to do with me?" he protested. "I'm not
the hero of some cloak-and-dagger spy story. I'm no good at undercover
stuff--what do you want of me?"

"It's very simple," Berg replied quietly. "The balance of power is still
with the government, because it does have more of the really heavy
weapons than any other group can possibly muster. Alphabet bombs,
artillery, rockets, armor, spaceships and space missiles. You see? Only
research has lately suggested that a new era in warfare is developing--a
new weapon as decisive as the Macedonian phalanx, gunpowder, and
aircraft were in their day." As Lancaster raised his eyes, he met an
almost febrile glitter in Berg's gaze. "And _this_ weapon may reverse
the trend. It may be the cheap and simple arm that anyone can make and
use--the equalizer! So we've got to develop it before the rebels do.
They have laboratories of their own, and their skill at stealing our
secrets makes it impossible for us to trust the research to a Project in
the usual manner. The fewer who knew of this weapon, the better--because
in the wrong hands it could mean--Armageddon!"

* * * * *

The run from Earth was short, for the space laboratory wasn't far away
at the moment as interplanetary distances go. Lancaster wasn't told
anything about its orbit, but guessed that it had a path a million miles
or so sunward from Earth and highly tilted with respect to the ecliptic.
That made for almost perfect concealment, for what spaceship would
normally go much north or south of the region containing the planets?

He was too preoccupied during the journey to estimate orbital figures,
anyway. He had seen enough pictures of open space, and some of them had
been excellent. But the reality towered unbelievably over all
representations. There simply is no way of describing that naked
grandeur, and when you have once experienced it you don't want to try.
His companions--Berg and the one-armed Jessup, who piloted the
spaceboat--respected his need for silence.

The station had been painted non-reflecting black, which complicated
temperature control but made accidental observation of its existence
almost impossible. It loomed against the cold glory of stars like a pit
of ultimate darkness, and Jessup had to guide the boat in with radar.
When the last lock had clanged shut behind him and he stood in a narrow
metal corridor,