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"How far can you proceed without byzanium?"

"Right up to the final stage," Donner answered

The President tilted back in his chair and gazed at a ship's clock that sat on hisfor nearly a full entle a multimillion dollar, unproven, untested, complex systeredient which we may have to steal from an unfriendly nation"

Seagraeted with his briefcase while Donner merely nodded

"Suppose you tell me," the President continued, "how I explain aaround the country's periets it in his head to investigate?"

"That's the beauty of the systeram "It's s constructed along the lines of a small power station will do the job nicely Neither the Russian spy satellites nor a far out of the ordinary"

The President rubbed his chin "Why do you want to juun on the Sicilian Project before you're one hundred-per-cent ready?"

"We're ga that in the next sixteen h and produce byzanium in the laboratory or find a deposit we can extract somewhere on earth"

"Even if it takes us ten years," Seagra Our only loss would be time"

The President stood up "Gentle with your science-fiction schehteen months and ten days That's when the new man, whoever he ar daddy happy until then, get me some results"

The two men across the desk went limp

At last Seagraed to speak "Thank you, Mr President So in the mother lode You can count on it"

"Good Now if you'll excuse me I have to pose in the Rose Garden with a bunch of fat old Daughters of the American Revolution" He held out his hand "Good luck, and remember, don't screw up your undercover operations I don't want another Eisenhower U-2 spy mission to blow up in my face Understood?"

Before Seagram and Donner could answer, he had turned and walked out a side door

Donner's Chevrolet was passed through the White House gates He eased into the inia He was almost afraid to look in the rear view e his er to chase them doith a rejection He rolled down theand breathed in the humid summer air