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miniaturizing physicists claimed to be able to do? How do you get the atoms back and put them in their right places?”
    “Quite so, Mr. Grant. But then how did some reputable physicists come to think that miniaturization was practical?”
    “I don’t know, doctor, but you don’t hear of it anymore.”
    “Partly because the colleges did such a careful job—under orders—of knocking it on the head. The technique went underground both here and on the Other Side. Literally. Here. Underground.” It was almost with passion that Michaels tapped the desk before him. “And we must maintain special courses in miniaturization techniques for graduate physicists who can learn it nowhere else—except in analogous schools on the Other Side. Miniaturization is quite possible, but by neither method you have described. Have you ever seen a photograph enlarged, Mr. Grant? Or reduced to microfilm size?”
    “Of course.”
    “Without theory, then, I tell you that the same process can be used on three-dimensional objects; even on a man.
    We are miniaturized, not as literal objects, but as images; as three-dimensional images manipulated from outside the universe of space-time.”
    Grant smiled. “Now, teacher, those are just words.”
    “Yes, but you don’t want theory, do you? What physicists discovered ten years ago was the utilization of hyperspace; a space, that is, of more than the three ordinary spatial dimensions. The concept is beyond grasping; the mathematics are almost beyond grasp; but the funny part is that it can be done. Objects can be miniaturized. We neither get rid of atoms nor push them together. We reduce the size of the atoms, too; we reduce everything; and the mass decreases automatically. When we wish, we restore the size.”
    “You sound serious,” said Grant. “Are you telling me that we can really reduce a man to the size of a mouse?”
    “In principle we can reduce a man to the size of a bacterium, of a virus, of an atom. There is no theoretical limit to the amount of miniaturization. We can shrink an army with all its men and equipment to a size that will fit in a match-box. Ideally, we could then ship that match-box where it is needed and put the army into business after restoring it to full size. You see the significance?”
    Grant said, “And the Other Side can do it, too, I take it.”
    “We’re certain they can. —But come, Grant, matters are progressing at full speed and our time is limited. Come with me.”
    It was “come with me” here and “come with me” there. Since Grant had awakened that morning, he had not been allowed to remain in one place for longer than fifteen minutes. It annoyed him and yet there seemed nothing he could do about it. Was it a deliberate attempt to keep him from having time enough to think? What were they preparing to spring on him?
    He and Michaels were in the scooter now, Michaels handling it like a veteran.
    “If both We and They have it, we neutralize each other,” said Grant.
    “Yes, but in addition,” said Michaels, “it does neither of us very much good. There’s a catch.”
    “Oh?”
    “We’ve worked for ten years to extend the size ratio; to reach greater intensities of miniaturization, and of expansion,too—just a matter of reversing the hyperfield. Unfortunately, we’ve reached our theoretical limits in this direction.”
    “What are they?”
    “Not very favorable. The Uncertainty Principle intervenes. Extent of miniaturization multiplied by the duration of miniaturization, using the proper units, of course, is equal to an expression containing Planck’s constant. If a man is reduced to half-size, he can be kept so for centuries. If he is reduced to mouse-size, that can be kept up for days. If he is reduced to bacterium-size, that can be kept up only for hours. After that he expands again.”
    “But then he can be miniaturized again.”
    “Only after a sizable lag period. Do you want some of the mathematical background?”
    “No.