"This is Superintendent Foster, of the New York Power, Mr. Kendall. We
have some trouble just now that we think your operations may be
responsible for. The sub-station at North Beaumont blew all the fuses,
and threw the breakers at the main station. The men out there said the
transformers began howling--"
"Right you are--I'm afraid I did do that. I had no idea that it would
reach so far. How far is that from my place here?"
"It's about a thousand yards, according to the survey maps."
"Thanks--and I'll be careful about it. Any damage, I am responsible for?
All okay?"
"Yes, sir, Mr. Kendall."
Kendall hung up. "We stirred up a lot more dust
than we expected, Devin. Now let's start seeing if we can keep track of
it. Douglass, how did your readings show?"
"I took them at the ten stations, and here they are. The stations are
two feet apart."
"H-m-m--.5--.55--.6--.7--20--198--5950--6010--6012--5920. Very, very
nice--only the darned thing's got an arm as long as the law. Your
readings were about .2, Devin?"
"That's right."
"Then these little readings are just leakage. What's our normal
intensity here?"
"About .19. Just a very small fraction less than the readings."
"Perfect--we have what amounts to a hollow shell of magnetic force--we
can move inside, and you can move outside--far enough. But you can't get
a conductor or a magnetic field through it." He put the readings on the
bench, and looked at the apparatus across the room. "Now I want to start
right on that other. Douglass, you move that magnetostat apparatus out
of the way, and leave just the 'can-opener' of ours--the projector. I'm
pretty sure that's what does the deed. Devin, see if you can hunt up
some electrostatic voltmeters with a range in the neighborhood of--I
think it'll be about eighty thousand."
* * * * *
Rapidly, Douglass was dismounting the apparatus, as Devin started for
the stock room. Kendall started making some new connections,
reconnecting the apparatus they had intended using on the "atomic
engine," largely high-capacity resistances. He seemed to perform this
work mechanically, his mind definitely on something else. Suddenly he
stopped, and looked carefully into the receiver of the machine. The
metal in it was silvery, liquid, and here and there a floating crystal
of the dull red metal. Slowly a smile spread across his face. He turned
to Douglass.
"Douglass--ah, you're through. Get on the trail of MacBride, and get him
and his crew to work making half a dozen smaller things like this. Tell
'em they can leave off the tungsten shield. I want different metals in
the receiver of each. Use--hmmm--sodium--copper--magnesium--aluminium,
iron and chromium. Got it?"
"Yes, sir." He left, just as Devin returned with a large electrostatic
voltmeter.
"I'd like," said he, "to know how you know the voltage will range around
eighty thousand."
"K-ring excitation potential for mercury. I'm willing to bet that thing
simply shoved the whole electron system of the mercury out a notch--that
it simply _hasn't_ any K-ring of electrons now. I'm trying some other
metals. Douglass is going to have MacBride make up half a dozen more
machines. Machines--they need a name. This--ah--this is an 'atostor.'
MacBride's going to make up half a dozen of 'em, and try half a dozen
metals. I'm almost certain that's not mercury in there now, at all. It's
probably element 99 or something like it."
"It looks like mercury--"
"Certainly. So would 99. Following the periodic table, 99 would probably
have an even lower melting point than mercury, be silvery, dense and
heavy--and perhaps slightly radioactive. The series under the B family
of Group II is Magnesium, Zinc, Cadmium, Mercury--and 99. The melting
point is going down all the way, and they're all silvery metals. I'm
going to try copper, and I fully expect it to turn silvery--in fact, to
become silver."
"Then let's see." Swiftly they hooked up the apparatus, realigned the
projector, and again Kendall took his place at the power-board. As he
closed the switch, on no-load, the electrostatic voltmeter flopped over
instantly, and steadied at just over 80,000 volts.
"I hate to say 'I told you so,'" said Kendall. "But let's hook in a
load. Try it on about 100 amps first."
Devin began cutting in load. The resistors began heating up swiftly as
more and more current flowed through them. By not so much as by a
vibration of the voltmeter needle, did the apparatus betray any strain
as the load mounted swiftly. 100--200--500--1000 amperes. Still, that
needle held steady. Finally, with a drain of ten thousand amperes, all
the equipment available could handle, the needle was steady as a rock,
though the tremendous load of 800,000,000 watts was cut in and out.
That, to atoms, atoms by the nonillions, was no appreciable load at all.
There was _no_ internal resistance whatever. The perfect accumulator
had certainly been discovered.
"I'll have to call McLaurin--" Kendall hurried away with a broad, broad
smile.