Damned If You Don't
Page 9
however, Icould appreciate its power--not only physically, but economically. Iimmediately contacted my superiors in Moscow to discuss the problem.
"Naturally, we would like to know the ... ah ... 'elegant' principlebehind its operation. Equally naturally"--he smiled politely atSecretary Condley--"you will not tell us. However, my superiors inMoscow assure me that we need not worry on that score; a machineidentically similar to yours was invented by one of our brilliant youngscientists at the University of Moscow over four years ago. As apatriot, of course, he was willing to have the machine suppressed, andno news of it has leaked out."
Sam Bending found it difficult to keep from smiling. _Sure_, he thought,_and a man named Popov invented radio, and Yablochkov invented theelectric light_.
"You see, Mr. Bending," Dr Artomonov continued, "while we do not havethe unstable setup of money-based capitalism, and while we do not needto worry about such antiquated and dangerous things as fluctuating stockmarkets, we would still find your machine a threat. Communism is basedon the work of the people; our economy is based on the labor of theworking man. It is thus stable, because every man must work.
"But we, too, have a vast, power network, the destruction of which wouldcause the unemployment of millions of our citizens. The unemploymentalone would cause repercussions all over the Soviet Republics whichwould be difficult to deal with. We would eventually recover, ofcourse, because of the inherent stability of our system, but the shockwould not be good for us.
"The same thing would happen in every industrialized nation on Earth,"Artomonov went on. "In my work with the United Nations, I have studiedjust such problems. European governments would fall overnight. InGermany, in the 1920s, it was cheaper to burn bundles of one-mark notesthan it was to buy firewood with them. Such things will be repeated,not only in the Germanies, but all over Europe.
"Some countries, of course, will not be so drastically effected. China,and other parts of Asia which have not built up a vast industrialsystem, will be affected only slightly. The South American countriesstill have a more or less agricultural economy and will not be botheredgreatly.
"But the great industrial civilizations of East and West will collapse."
With one breath, Artomonov was saying that the Soviet Union couldweather the storm, and with another he was hinting that it probablywouldn't. But Sam Bending could see the point in spite of the Russian'stortuous logic.
"I think that is all I have to say for the moment," Artomonov said,"except to emphasize one point. The Great Depression hit the world somefifty years ago. It was a terrible thing for everyone concerned. But itwas as nothing at all--a mere zephyr of ill wind--compared to what theDepression of the Eighties will be if your machine goes on the market."
* * * * *
There was silence for a minute. Sam Bending was thinking hard, and theothers could see it--and they knew there was no point in interrupting atthat moment.
"Just a second," Sam said. "There's one thing that I don't really quitesee. I can see that the situation you outline would develop if everypower plant in America--or in the Soviet Union or Europe--were to besuddenly replaced by Converters. I can see that chaos would result." Hepaused, marshaling his thoughts, then went on, with a tinge of anger inhis voice.
"But that's not the way it will work! You can't do a thing like thatovernight. To mass produce the Converter will take time--factories willhave to be tooled up for it, and all that. And distribution will taketime. It seems to me that there would be plenty of time to adjust."
Condley started to say something, but Dr. Artomonov burst inexplosively.
"Don't you see, Mr. Bending? The threat of the machine is enough! Evenhere in your own country, just the knowledge that such machines were tobe made at some time in the immediate future would have a disastrouseffect! Who would invest in Power Utilities if they knew that within ashort time it would be bankrupt? No one would want to buy such stock,and those who had it would be frantically trying to sell what they had.The effect on the banking system would be the same as if the machinewere already being used. Your Mr. Roosevelt pointed out that fear wasthe problem."
Bending frowned puzzledly. "I don't see--"
He was interrupted by Dr. Larchmont. "Let me see if I can't give you ananalogy, Mr. Bending. Do you know anything about the so-called 'nervegases'?"
"Some," admitted Sam. "Most of them aren't gases; they're finelydispersed aerosols."
Larchmont nodded. "Have you any idea how much it takes to kill a man?"
"A drop or so of the aerosol on the skin is enough, I understand."
"That's right. Now, how can such a minute amount of poison damage ahuman being?"
Bending began to get a glimmer of what the man was driving at. "Well, Iknow that some of them suppress the enzymic action with acetylcholine,which means that the nerves simply act as though their synapses had beenshorted through. It only takes a small percentage of that kind of damageto the nerve fibers to ruin the whole nervous system. The signals getjammed up and confused, and the whole mechanism ceases to function. Thevictim dies."
Larchmont nodded. "Now, as I understand it, our banking system is thevital nerve network of our economy. And our system is built oncredit--faith, if you will. Destroy that faith--even a small percentageof it--and you destroy the system.
"If your machine were to go on the market, there would be no more faithin the present utilities system. Their stocks would be worthless longbefore your machine actually put them out of business. And that wouldhit our banking system the same way a nerve gas hits the nervous system.And the victim--the American economy--would die. And the nation, as anation, would die with it."
"I see," said Bending slowly. He didn't like the picture at all; it wasmore frightening than he cared to admit, even to himself. He looked athis business manager. "What do you think, Jim?" he asked softly. He knewhe could depend on Luckman.
Jim Luckman looked worried. "They're right, Sam. Clean, dead right. Iknow the investment pattern in this country, and I have an idea of whatit must be abroad. This country would be in the middle of the worstdepression in its history. At least we had Federal help during theThirties--but there won't even be a United States Government if thishits. Nor, I think, will there be a Soviet government, in spite of whatDr. Artomonov's personal beliefs may be."
Significantly, the Russian economist said nothing.
Sam Bending closed his eyes. "I've worked on this thing for years," hesaid tensely. "It was ... it _means_ something to me. I invented it. Iperfected it." His voice began to quaver just a little. "But if it'sgoing to do ... to do all that--" He paused and took a deep breath. "Allright. I'll smash my apparatus and destroy my plans and forget aboutit."
Jim Luckman looked at Secretary Condley. "I don't think that would befair. Sam's worked hard on this thing. He deserves recognition. And thepeople of Earth deserve to get this machine somehow. Can't something beworked out?"
"Certainly," said Condley. "In some countries, and in some eras,dangerous inventions were suppressed by the simplest method. If it wasdiscovered in time, the inventor was executed summarily, along withanyone else who knew the secret, and the invention was destroyed. TheUnited States isn't that kind of country." He looked down at his handsand the gold pen again before he went on.
"Please don't misunderstand, Mr. Bending; we are not trying to keep theConverter under wraps forever. In the first place, I don't think itwould be possible. What do you think, Dr. Vanderlin?"
The Bureau of Standards man said: "I doubt it. Granted, the Converter isnot something one would accidentally stumble across, nor automaticallydeduce from the 'previous state of the art'. I'll admit frankly that Idoubt if I would ever have thought of it. But I doubt gravely that it isso unique that it will never be rediscovered independently."
"So," said Condley, "we have no intent to hold it back on that score.And, in the second place, such an invention is too valuable to allow itto be lost.
"So here is our proposition. You will sel
l your rights to the Converterto Power Utilities. It won't even be patented in the usual sense; wecan't allow the Converter to become public property at this time. Wecan't make it possible for just anyone to send in a quarter to thePatent Office to find out how it works. That's why we stopped the patentapplication.
"But the Government will see that a contract is written up which admitsthat you are the inventor of the Converter, and which will give youroyalties on every unit built. High royalties.
"Under strict Government supervision, Power Utilities will proceed toliquidate their holdings--slowly, so that there will