Imagine what a blessing it would be if we could create silence at the touch of a switch. Imagine great aircraft taking off without so much as a whisper. Imagine great factories each as quiet and as peaceful as a cathedral, yet producing vast amounts of goods, the thunderous roar of machinery stifled by a new kind of science. And suppose, too, that the fearful ravages of radioactive contamination could be similarly insulated. A heaven on earth, you might think ... but suppose the price was the loss of freedom-forever. Only Dr. Palfrey could hear the dying scream of humanity-and only he could meet the desperate challenge