“THAT’S WHAT DRIVES the ship, Joe,” Arden said. “Reduced to its simple terms it’s an atom smasher. Hidden deep within that bulky outfit lies a block of uranium, constantly bombarded with electrons made a trifle heavier by running up against a magnetic current operating at right angles to them. The resultant disturbance of the uranium is harnessed and fed into the rocket tubes.”
Arden glanced at Joe whose eyes were fixed on the feeder pipe.
“That’s a funny thing, Joe, that pipe you’re looking at.”
“Why?”
“Through that pipe comes water.”
“Water?”
Arden nodded. “For some reason that not even the technicians who worked on that plant know, microscopic jets of water have to be hurled into the chamber with the bombarding particles to cause proper power.”
“Water?” Joe asked. “You drive this
