"Anyway," said Lamont, "it clears the ground. I've tried to tell him. He wouldn't listen. So I take the next step."
"And what is that?" said Bronowski.
"I'm going to see Senator Burt."
"You mean the head of the Committee on Technology and the Environment?"
"The same. You've heard of him, then."
"Who hasn't. But where's the point, Pete. What have you got that would interest him? It's not the translation. Pete, I'm asking you once again. What have you got on your mind?"
"I can't explain. You don't know para-theory."
"Does Senator Burt?"
"More than you, I think."
Bronowski pointed his finger. "Pete, let's not kid around. Maybe I know things you don't. We can't work together if we work against each other. Either I'm a member of this little two-man corporation or I'm not. You tell me what's on your mind, and I'll tell you something in exchange. Otherwise, let's stop this altogether."
Lamont shrugged. "All right. If you want it, I'll give it to you. Now that I've got it past Hallam, maybe it's just as well. The point is that the Electron Pump is transferring natural law. In the para-Universe, the strong interaction is a hundred times stronger than it is here, which means that nuclear fission is much more likely here than there, and nuclear fusion is much more likely there than here. If the Electron Pump keeps on long enough, there will be a final equilibrium in which the strong nuclear interaction will be equally strong in both Universes, and be at a figure about ten times what it is here now and one-tenth what it is there now."
"Didn't anyone know this?"
"Oh, sure, everyone knew it. It was obvious almost from the start. Even Hallam can see it. That's what got the bastard so excited. I started telling him this in detail as though I didn't think he had ever heard it before and he blew up."
"But what's the point then? Is there danger in the interaction becoming intermediate?"
"Of course. What do you think?"
"I don't think anything. When will it become intermediate?"
"At the present rate, 10^30 years or so."
"How long is that?"
"Long enough for a trillion trillion Universes like this one to be born, live, grow old, and die, one after the other."
"Oh blazes, Pete. What odds does it make then?"
"Because to reach that figure," said Lamont, slowly and carefully, "which is the official one, certain assumptions were made which I think were wrong. And if certain other assumptions are made, which I think are right, we're in trouble now."
"What kind of trouble?"
"Suppose the Earth turned into a whiff of gas in a period of about five minutes. Would you consider that trouble?"
"Because of the Pumping?"
"Because of the Pumping!"
"And how about the world of the para-men? Would they be in danger, too?"
"I'm sure of it. A different danger, but danger."
Bronowski stood up and began pacing. He wore his brown hair thick and long in what had once been called a Buster Brown. Now he was clutching at it. He said, "If the para-men are more intelligent than we are, would they be running the Pump? Surely they would know it was dangerous, before we did."
"I've thought of that," said Lamont "What I guess is that they've started Pumping for the first time and they, like us, got the process started for the apparent good it would bring and worried about consequences later."
"But you say you know the consequences now. Would they be slower than you were?"
"It depends on if and when they look for those consequences. The Pump is too attractive to try to spoil, I wouldn't have looked myself if I hadn't - But what's on your mind, Mike?"
Bronowski stopped his pacing, looked full at Lamont, and said, "I think we've got something."
Lamont looked at him wildly, then leaped forward to seize the other's sleeve. "With the para-symbols? Tell me, Mike!"
"It was while you were with Hallam. While you were actually with Hallam. I haven't known exactly what to do about it, because I wasn't sure what was going on. And now - "
"And now?"
"I'm still not sure. One of their foils came through, with four symbols . . ."
"Oh?"
". . . in the Latin alphabet. And it can be pronounced."
"What?"
"Here it is."
Bronowski produced the foil with the air of a conjurer. Incised on it, quite different from the delicate and intricate spirals and differential glistenings of the para-symbols, were four broad, childlike letters: F-E-E-R.
"What do you suppose that means?" asked Lamont, blankly.
"So far all I've been able to think of is that it's F-E-A-R misspelled."
"Is that why you were cross-examining me? You thought someone on the other side was experiencing fear?"
"And I thought it might have some connection with your own obviously increasing excitement over the last month. Frankly, Pete, I didn't like being kept in the dark.0"
"Okay. Now let's not jump to conclusions. You're the one with experience with fragmentary messages. Wouldn't you say that the para-men were beginning to experience fear concerning the Electron Pump?"
"Not necessarily at all," said Bronowski. "I don't know how much they can sense of this Universe. If they can sense the tungsten we lay out for them; if they can sense our presence; perhaps they are sensing our state of mind. Perhaps they are trying to reassure us; telling us there is no reason to fear."
"Then why don't they say N-O F-E-E-R."
"Because they don't know our language that well yet."
"Hmm. Then I can't take it to Burt."
"I wouldn't. It's ambiguous. In fact, I wouldn't go to Burt till we get something more from the other side. Who knows what they're trying to say."
"No, I can't wait, Mike. I know I'm right, and we have no time."
"All right, but if you see Burt you'll be burning your bridges. Your colleagues will never forgive you. Have you thought of talking to the physicists here? You can't put pressure on Hallam on your own, but a whole group of you - "
Lamont shook his head vigorously, "Not at all. The men at this station survive by virtue of their jellyfish quality. There isn't one who would stand against him. Trying to rally the others to put pressure on Hallam would be like asking strands of cooked spaghetti to come to attention."
Bronowski's soft face looked unwontedly grim. "You may be right."
"I know I'm right," said Lamont, just as grimly.