"Well, he was wrong, as usual." Determinedly. "It come from Earth's
moon. I know Joe Marlowe's fingers when I hear 'em. Damn, we was
classmates for three years. Before I got crazy and gave up chemistry
for key-pushing--"
"Chemistry!" Mallory started. "Did you say chemistry? Did you and
Marlowe study chemistry together?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Why! Because that's the answer. Marlowe is nobody's fool. He knew
you were the radioman aboard the _Libra_, prepared a special code,
the key to which would lie in your brain as the 'memory of auld lang
syne'--Bud, look at these figures again. You notice the number '16'
appearing over and over? Even in that thick skull of yours, '16'
suggests--?"
"Oxygen," declared Chandler promptly. "The atomic weight of oxygen."
"And eighty-three point seven? Forty-seven, nine?"
"Krypton. And--let's see--titanium?"
"Right! Grab a pencil, pal! I think we've got a solution here. Jot
these down--krypton, europium, thorium, erbium--Hold it!" He looked at
his companion disgustedly. "Just the symbols, you dope! Don't you see?
The symbols of the various elements employ every letter in the English
language except 'j' and 'q'--and those are the two least commonly used,
anyway. Start over. Krypton--"
"Kr," said Bud.
"Europium--"
"Eu."
"Thorium. Erbium--"
"'Kreuther'!" howled Bud. "That's it, Dan! Keep going!"
* * * * *
The message slowly scrawled its way onto paper. A word appeared,
another, another. Then:
"Ten point twenty-five!" said Mallory. "Followed by 69.87! What the
hell are they?"