 Martin needs the hardest substance possible to repair his spaceship, the substance he has in mind is silibalt, an alloy of silicone and cobalt but one that has not yet been invented on Earth. To make some, he needs a cyclotron. Rather than destroy Tim s kitchen making his own, he decides to follow Tim on his latest interview at the university, where there is a cyclotron. At the university, Martin meets Tim s interview subject, Donald Mumford, 13-year old physics genius, and one who is constantly at odds with the ways of Dr. Jackson, his advisor. While Martin and Donald get together to discuss and proceed with the making of silibalt, Tim is preoccupied with Dr. Jackson, who provides a diatribe against the demands of Donald, and Jeanine Carter, Dr. Jackson  pretty assistant and university protector of Donald. They are all looking for Donald and Martin when an explosion caused by some stolen electricity and wrong switch alert them to the Donald and Martin s whereabouts. Dr. Jackson immediately expels Donald, and since no long lasting physical damage was done, only banishes Martin from the university. Martin however fights back and convinces Dr. Jackson that he is quashing a genius mind, albeit one in a 13-year old body, and thus Donald must be treated differently in every respect. Doanld is welcomed back. On his own, Donald does manage to make some silibalt for Martin. Martin s only problem now is that he has no instrument hard enough to cut or mold the silibalt.