Astounding Science Fiction, British Edition — page 25: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

TRADE SECRET 23 Wei ETT Sa SSS = HEIRS did Jennings emerge from his remote- ness. ‘Baked ham,” he murmured to the waitress. ‘And make the coffee strong. Very strong.” Then, while they waited, he folded -his hands on the table and settled his eyes on Mart. “I know you too well,” he said, “to ask if you are simply pulling our leg, but I have to ask it, anyway.” Mart shook his head. “You'll have to tell me what you mean by that. I have shown you only a contraption for parting dollars from suckers—with apologies and exceptions to present company,” he smiled as he glanced in Dr. Goodman’s direction. The AEC man gave no notice that he’d heard. “Qnly two kinds of men could pro- duce the Volcano,” said Jennings. “One would be merely a fool who had stumbled on the design by accident and didn’t know what he’d made. -hieae ~ $33 SSS oc = . > —~ SMe Ys — =< nh) ~S wrt Ss \ The other would be a genius who knew exactly what he had—a genius whose brilliance was so great that he could afford to sit back and laugh at the rest of us scratching our heads and looking silly trying to figure it out.” “Nobody’s laughing,” said Mart soberly. “But you’ve got to say it.” “All right,” said Jennings. “That Volcano of yours is nothing but an extremely exact hyper scale model of a radioactive atomic nucleus, com- plete with potential barrier penetration in full operation. “You're telling us that you know the full basic theory behind nuclear structure and phenomena. You're telling us that you know what happens in a radioactive atom. And you're thumbing your nose at us while you say it. Why? Why have you done this to us, Mart?” Mart looked down at the tablecloth and traced the pattern in the linen = 7 me EComichookssjco