“Lower case?” Li looked puzzled.

“He means small letters, Li. Now let’s see, Dad. I’m almost positive that the J and the W were capitals. How about you, Li? Is that how you remember it?”

The Hawaiian lad nodded his head.

“And I think I’m sure about the C. It was a capital letter, too. Right, Li?”

“Gee, I think so, Biff.”

“But what about the s, Biff? This is important,” his father said.

Biff frowned. He closed his eyes trying to recreate a mental picture of the soap scrawl. “Dad, I can’t be absolutely sure, but I think the s was a small letter.”

Biff looked at Li. Li could only shrug his shoulders.

“I think your memory is probably right, Biff. You have a pretty good one, and besides, it fits,” Mr. Brewster declared.

“I’m completely mystified,” Hank Mahenili put in. “All this talk about letters, capitals, and small letters. What do they mean, Tom?”

“Well, first, I think—I hope—they mean that Dr. Weber is definitely alive. That’s good news. They must also mean that he’s being held prisoner. Not so good. The doctor is old, you know, and just how much he can stand at his age is doubtful.”

“If he’s alive, we’ll find him,” Biff cut in.

“But the letters, what do they mean?” Hank repeated his question.

“The J and the W, I’m sure, stand for Johann Weber. The C—capital C—and the small s, is the chemical symbol for cesium.”

“Cesium!” Understanding came to Hank Mahenili. Any informed engineer knew the importance of this element.

“Just what is cesium, Dad? And what is it used for?”

“Technically, son, its atomic number is 55, and its atomic weight is 132.91. Its use?” Mr. Brewster smiled. “I’ll tell you this, we’ll never get to the moon without it.”

“You mean it’s used in rocket propulsion?” Biff asked.

“That’s right, Biff. It’s a high-thrust, long-life rocket propulsion fuel. Most costly.”

 Prev. P 39/99 next