Phillips showed Isaacs into a very similar room across the hall and two doors down.

Isaacs looked in the door with scarcely concealed disinter— est. He turned to address the older man.

'I know it's been a long afternoon, but there are a few points I would very much like to clarify. Could you possibly spare me some time now?'

'Of course,' nodded Phillips with a hint of a smile. 'I thought you might ask. Come,' he said, gesturing down the hallway with his right hand as his left touched Isaacs's arm in invitation. 'Let's go down to my office. We can be more comfortable there.'

They retraced their steps down the hall and descended the stairs by which they had come up earlier in the afternoon. Phillips led the way to the end of the lower corridor and into the office which served the dormitory supervisor during term. A bay window looked out over a well-kept green lawn. Phillips crossed the room to a cabinet nestled among long rows of bookshelves.

'Would you have some sherry?'

'Why, yes, please... I would,' Isaacs replied.

'I hope you don't mind cream sherry. I developed a taste for it as a youth.'

'That would be fine.'

Phillips extracted a decanter and two small cut-crystal glasses from the cabinet and set them on the desk. He poured carefully and banded one glass to Isaacs. They feasted one another in quiet salute, then Phillips moved a chair up along the edge of the desk for Isaacs so the expanse of the desk would not discourage intimacy. Phillips sat in the nicely upholstered chair behind the desk and watched as Isaacs seated himself.

Isaacs followed Phillips's motions as the physicist took a sip of the sherry, rolled it on his tongue and then swallowed. Isaacs felt too drained for preambles. 'May I ask what your reaction is to Runyan's proposal?' he inquired. 'It's so outrageous. Can he be serious? Surely there must be a more reasonable explanation.'

'My instincts are the same as yours,' Phillips replied. 'I feel we need to seek some explanation in terms of more, shall we say, acceptable happenstances. But recall that it's the nature of the data Dr Danielson has presented which boxes us in. Make no mistake: Alex is most serious.'

Phillips pondered for a moment, then continued. 'Yes, we must pursue any reasonable alternatives, but that includes Runyan's proposal. Outrageous or not, it's the only one which has been advanced which fits the facts as we know them. Perhaps with an evening to relax and think things over, someone will turn up other alternatives. Just now I believe the appropriate response is to adopt Dr Runyan's proposal as a working "worst case" hypothesis and lay out the appropriate course of action.'

Phillips placed a palm on each knee and continued to address the younger man.

'May I put the situation in perspective as I see it?'

'By all means.'

'There's currently no indication that the signal you report has any connection with a hostile country.'

'That's correct.'

'Or a friendly one for that matter,' Phillips continued. 'We may, of course, find that we're dealing with some heretofore unknown seismic phenomena with a few startling coincidences thrown in. In such a case, the whole problem will be dropped from our agenda, although not, I daresay, from Ellison Gantt's. If Runyan's proposal is correct, then the issue is most serious, even though it doesn't involve what would normally be thought of as hostile activity. At the risk of sounding melodramatic, the security of our nation, indeed of the entire world, would be very much in jeopardy.'

'The problem, if I understand it,' stated Isaacs, 'is that if there is a black hole down there, it is actually slowly eating away the earth. Good lord, what a thought!'

'Quite right. And putting a stop to it will be a most formidable, if not outright impossible task.-'

Isaacs stared out the window, trying to imagine Drefke's response to this. And McMasters. Maybe the old bastard would have a heart attack. How in the world did one approach the President with such an idea? Phillips, sensing his preoccupation, inquired, 'I've had the pleasure of dealing with the Central Intelligence Agency before, as you know, but procedures have a way of changing. Perhaps you could refresh my memory as to the way a situation such as this is handled?'

Isaacs averted his gaze from the window. 'There's never been a situation like this,' he grinned ruefully. 'But of course you're right, there are certain procedures.' He straightened perceptibly in his chair. 'As head of the Office of Scientific Intelligence, my first responsibility will be to draw up a summary of our discussion here for the Deputy Director of Intelligence.'

'Yes, I've had the pleasure of meeting Mr McMasters,' said Phillips.

'I see.'

Phillips noted the look of stiffness which passed over Isaacs's face.

'You're probably aware, then, that the DDI has control over the intelligence which is passed up to the Director for consideration by the National Security Council. For most problems we have the "in-house" expertise to give the DDI a complete and self-contained summary. If Runyan is right, we'll be dealing with an area which is not entirely in our purview. Once the situation is well-defined, we can analyse its impact on the geopolitical situation, but we will undoubtedly need to continue consultation with your group until we have a thorough understanding of the problem. In the early stages, a close working relationship with key individuals in Jason will probably be necessary. When the tune comes to present our recommendation to the DDI, you or some individual you designate should be prepared to act as technical consultant.'

'I presume you'll apprise Mr McMasters of the present situation on your return to Washington.'

'That's correct.'

'But a formal report is also necessary?'

'Yes, the DDI requires a formal presentation prior to his report to the Director. The Director then prepares an agenda for the NSC. The Director often takes the DDI, and sometimes me, along to the NSC meetings to make detailed presentations if they seem necessary. In a case like the present one, I can envisage your delegate attending any or all of these discussions.'

'The real expertise to deal with this problem may not lie within Jason as it's presently constituted,' Phillips noted.

'In what sense?'

'If we are dealing with a black hole, we have no one who is professionally acquainted with the intricacies of the subject.'

'Not Runyan, then? I did want to ask about his qualifications. Minnesota doesn't really have the reputation of some of the universities represented here, does it?'

Phillips held up an admonishing hand. 'Be careful about the prestige game. Good people are where you find them. In any case, Alex was a colleague of Gantt's at Caltech. He likes the outdoors though, an avid cross-country skier, if I remember correctly. Also, I believe his wife has a nice position at Honeywell.'

'But he's not an expert on black holes?'

'No, Alex is broadly studied, but I'm sure he would be the first to point out that others have a greater depth of knowledge.'

'Yet you seem to put some store in his hypothesis?'

'Certainly. It's his broad background and cleverness at synthesizing which makes him such a valuable contributor to our group.'

'In any case,' continued Isaacs, 'if we must, as you say, turn to others for expertise, that can be arranged. With due regard to security, of course.'

Phillips nodded and took another sip from his glass. Isaacs put his glass down to take up another of the items on his personal agenda. He leaned towards Phillips. 'Let me ask you, in your own mind, how do you balance the immediacy of the problem against the lack of specific evidence?'

Phillips played his drink in a small circle, watching the fluid coat the sides of the glass. 'You're concerned about whether to recommend immediate presidential attention?'