by Ken Pence
Fredericks lingered around and went straight to Andrew. "Cold fusion! You really did it! Why didn't you tell me? How did you figure it out? What the hell, are those fuel tanks for? You've been hosing Drucker but I've just fired those requisitions through anyway."
Andrew held up both hands in front of him. "We'll tell you when we're a little further along." Andrew turned to Joel. "Joel. Would you mind turning that off?"
Fran spoke out, "I'll do it Joel," she said as she reached down toward the top of the unit.
John froze in horror, "Not that!" he cried. "Don't touch that!" but she had already committed to freeing the pinned switch. John jumped and shoved her harshly away but it only served to free the pinned output control. There was an explosion and flash as the output cables vaporized. A split second later, the fuel supply fail-safes kicked in and shut down the unit.
Fredericks had shielded Andrew so all he got was a momentary flash blindness but others weren't so lucky. Fredericks was down and writhing on his stomach. The back of his right leg was pretty fried. Andrew turned around to find Susan while he tried to wipe his watering eyes. John who had been almost directly over the output cables had shielded Fran, Joel and Tod. Ling had rushed in and was trying to minister to John's severe burns while Steve just dug his fingers in his ears and paced back and forth.
Philips and Drucker came running in. Philips had come out and was telling the paramedics where to go. Andrew felt like he could hug that man right then. John was unconscious with severe burns on the front of his lower body and crotch. Fran was pale...stunned...stumbling.
Drucker started yelling some crazy shit...it was hard to remember all he said at the moment. Philips took off his jacket and spread it over Fredericks, trying to keep him from going into shock.
The paramedics were there in a couple of minutes and had whisked Fredericks and John away. A second squad had come in and checked out the others while Drucker ranted and raved about kids and things they didn't have any business messing with.
Drucker yelled, "I'm going to have you expelled and this dangerous project shut down at once. I'm going to..."
Philips slapped him across the face...hard. "You're not going to do anything of the sort," he said in a low, deadly tone. "I will jerk the financial supports out from under this school if you interfere with them in any way." He turned to Andrew. "I'll make sure...what's his name?"
"John Brattor," Andrew said.
"I'll make sure John gets the best treatment. You have my word on it." Philips said.
Andrew was numb. He nodded and wondered why Philips was such a rabid supporter now. He hadn't seen Philips scoop up the old, burnt out piece output cable. Sections of the heavy 4/0 cable output cable for that tiny power plant had been vaporized.
All their work took on a somber note and Andrew, hit hardest of all, simply plunged deeper into his work. Fredericks would be okay after a couple of weeks lying on his stomach. He wasn't angry and wrote a sweet note to Fran and the team to encourage them to keep working and finish what no one had been able to do before. John was in pretty bad shape though – having to undergo skin grafts plus a long series of operations. They doubted he'd be able to have kids do to the burn damage in his crotch. He was going to be a loss to the group in more ways than his expertise.
Steve showed up the next day with a black eye and wouldn't talk about it. Susan finally got it out of Ling and told Andrew about it. Seems that Steve was pissed that his screen had been fried and Ling had decked him when he mentioned it. He smiled at the thought of petite little Ling, smacking Steve. What a dweb. Ling helped in other ways too. She got Fran through the guilt of the accident and tended the others to get the group running again. Ling even got Andrew fired up again when he was feeling sorry for himself. He liked her a lot more as he learned more about her.
Andrew had another project that was showing promise right about then also. He was working long hours with Desiree trying to draw every bit of technology he could out of the language/picture teaching he had received at the hands of the alien. He would read word by word from a technical dictionary and record the alien images it would make him recall in the alien language. Andrew was also taking the rules of grammar, diction, and pronunciation and with Desiree's help, was making a language program for the alien's language. It was far from an ideal way to do it but the assisting computers never forgot and greatly aided the work. Andrew soon convened the team.
Without any emotion other than weariness showing, Andrew said, "I want you to build the others according to my specs as soon as possible. I'm going to present our entire plan to the university now." He detailed what he intended to do and then had everyone leave.
Susan was interrupted from her shower by a knock on her door. Wrapping a towel around her, she checked through the peephole and seeing Andrew, she hurriedly opened the door.
"What in the world is the matter?" Susan pleaded, "You look awful."
"We finished the large, shipboard power supplies," he said as he collapsed on the couch.
"But that's great! So soon, but what's the problem?” She said as she sat down next to him.
"The university totally rejected our offer. They said the space flight was out of the question but, of course, the power supply was their property since it was built on university property with university funding. The other universities I contacted wouldn't even touch the plan for space flight," he said with total defeat in his voice.
Gingerly she reached out to stroke his face to help soothe some of his hurts. "They're wrong about the custody of the power system, because I've already checked the university charter on synthesist projects. We have total control on any device or discovery during a group synthesist project. We can have it out with them tomorrow. They do get a percentage of any profits from patent sales but we retain control. Immediate proceeds reimburse any expenses for the project. When the first money is received as a result of research funded by the university it goes first to the university to pay off any expenses incurred by the university. Plus they also charge indirect costs for administrative support and the researcher gets one-half of what’s left. We’ll still make a fortune on those power supplies."
"That must be why they said they would not fund anything but the power supply... no ship... get rid of the tanks... one serious injury is enough... they plan to turn over our project to experts."
"Tonight, let's just think about something else," she said as she leaned over and tenderly kissed his lips.
Andrew surrendered his problems to her scent and her caresses as he looked down into her sparkling green eyes.
Susan was awakened by the phone early in the morning and rolled out of bed to answer it.
"What? Hello. Tod, what are you calling me this early for? They tried what! Yeah. OK. I'll get him over there," Susan said as she looked at Andrew's still sleeping, boyish countenance.
"Andrew. Andrew! Wake up. There has been an attempted break in at the lab where we had the first prototype of the power supply," Susan said.
"Huh, did they get anything?" Andrew asked sleepily.
"No. But there was a fight. Tod said for us to come over. I'll come over as soon as I've contacted the others," Susan said with controlled concern.
Andrew was dressed and heading out the door when he turned back to Susan.
"Thanks. I needed you."
"I needed you as much. Now hurry."
When Andrew got to the lab, he saw Desiree straightening equipment but nothing looked out of place. As he got further inside he saw two seedy looking men tied with electrical cords to two chairs. Tod came walking in from the restroom nursing a new bruise he was sporting under his ear.
"So. I see you had a little fight. I'm glad you are all right. What happened and who are these fellows?" Andrew asked.
"Well. Desiree was over here...helping me with some calculations; when these two guys came in as bold as you please and saw us. I guess they were coming to steal the prototype. One slapped Desiree and the other hit me behind the ear w
ith something. When I woke up; this is how they were," Tod said.
"Desiree? ...maybe you can fill in the details," Andrew said turning to the lithe woman.
"I was here working with Tod," she said and turned to grin at Tod, "When these two thugs came in. One slapped me."
Desiree took a step toward one of the men and he cringed visibly.
"Anyway, they ignored me after that and I had this short pipe; so to speak."
Andrew looked from Desiree to the two things with growing astonishment.
"I fight dirty and four years of Karate helped," she said.
Andrew walked over to the two tied men and then turned to the others and said, "We had better turn these folks over to the police. I wish we could get them to talk first though," he said looking down at the men who were glaring up at him.
"They already told me all they know," Desiree stated.
Andrew jerked around, incredulous at this side of Desiree he had never seen before. He knew Tod and Desiree had been serious for some time but he had seen her as delicate and passive.
"You don't think I just used those electrical cords just to tie them up, do you?" She said, obviously amused at Andrew's shock.
The police came fairly promptly which was unusual these days and questioned the two men who wouldn’t give them the time of day. Tod and Desiree were asked to go downtown and swear out warrants but they refused knowing how many wasted hours of their time would be used on the repeated continuances conjured up by defense attorneys in the criminal justice system. Heck, Tod thought, they’d be more likely to arrest us for our ‘innovative’ questioning techniques than they would keep the two for aggravated assault and attempted burglary. When the police had finished their non-productive questioning and removed the two after charging them with criminal trespassing. No witnesses had to go downtown for that charge since these two were definitely not students and campuses had enacted some pretty stiff trespassing laws with so many ‘incidents’ at universities over the years. The police carted them off and the rest of the team had drifted in by then.
Andrew began the discussion with the now assembled group. He told them of the rejection by the different universities and of the subsequent attack. Desiree related the information she had obtained adding that the university knew of their plans and the information had leaked. Someone, Andrew guessed Philips, had sent these two to obtain the prototype for though the university desperately wanted the fusion generator; they would have nothing to do with an ‘outer space suicide’ as they termed it. They appeared to be as fanatical at getting the prototype generator, as they were adamant about sabotaging any space flight plans.
Andrew suggested that they ask for round-the-clock lookouts from the team to be placed in the lab and they should all continue with their research and development until he could get the final funding and support.
Susan suggested that he return to her apartment, where they revived through their mutual tenderness and love. It was two sleepless days of frustrating silence later that Andrew received a personal message on his MemDex.
Will arrive Tuesday with offer and possible assistance. Please accept no other offer until then. Bradford R. Kyger, W.D.A.
"What the hell does this mean? How did he get my filtered address? What's the W.D.A.? I've never heard of it, have you?" he said turning to Susan. They found no mention of Bradford Kyger on the Net and there were several thousand acronyms using WDA. Too much undefined information was the same as no information.
"No, probably some commercial interest monopoly. We really don't have much choice, do we? Maybe he'll have an offer we can use."
***
Aboard the ES ship in deep space
The Exploration Service interrogator had felt uneasy with the departure of the solo Tros named Rett. The whole interview had left something out. This Rett didn't seem to be a smuggler or exploiter and a homemade solo ship was extraordinary in itself. His ship had been tiny and it was an unusual design but pretty fast. Why had he felt as if the Tros was not telling the truth, even under interrogation?
Trying to protect the innocents of this spiral arm was not his chore. His duty was to see that no advanced race interfered with trade or disrupted trade with a planet before his service was ready for that sanctioned trade to begin. So many worlds; it was impossible to visit all these backwaters.
At least we have all the home world information on this Rett. If any problems arise, I shall just dispatch the closest ship for eradication. Maybe I should head closer to that section of the spiral arm. No rush; careful acts are not hasty acts, the interrogator thought to himself.
***
At the university
Andrew was working on a field generator to hook to the fusion power supply when the enunciator chimed to indicate a visitor to his lab. Since Andrew was more cautious of late, he looked through the viewer and saw a neat man in his thirties with a briefcase.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Andrew said through the door speaker.
"My name is Brad Kyger. I sent you a message. Are you Williams? I was told he was here," the man said.
"Yes, that's me. Come on in," Andrew said warily though the door.
The man was a little short of two meters tall with short black hair and as the man walked in Andrew noted how erect and confident his stride seemed.
"What do you know about our project and why have you come? Andrew asked.
"I'll get right to the point. The World Government wants your assistance in the design of further power systems. Individual power systems like you propose will destabilize the world economy and threaten the peace of the world. I was sent here to negotiate a deal with you," the man stated and sat down and opened his briefcase.
"You want to suppress the fusion power supply system then," Andrew said sarcastically.
"Not at all. We, the world government, wish to mass produce your power supply at little more than cost. We would educate the population in its use and set up distribution to lessen the impact of sporadic production and distribution. Half the countries of the world don't have anything to power even if they had the generators. The other half would be destabilized; utility companies, airlines, automobile manufacturers. The participation of the World Government would give the credibility they need right now. I have seen your contract with the university and we have precedents that we can use to pay them off and still give them a small percentage."
"Temporarily destabilized, but increased energy abundance would also mean many new jobs -- new inventions. What do you know about our project? I will not help you unless I have a written guarantee for funding and assistance on this project,” Andrew stated. “Plus we have some other projects we want to finish also.”
"Well," the man continued, "I have a contract with me that shows clear cut guarantees and I'm empowered to make necessary deletions or additions."
As Andrew looked at the copy and began reading the contract, he was amazed at the depth of knowledge the World Government had concerning their spacecraft. How could they have gotten this information? The university must have been so panicked by his offer that they turned all of the information over to the World Government plus some information gathered on their own.
"Why is the World Government so anxious to help us when everyone else has an aversion to the thought of going into space?" Andrew asked, looking up from the contract.
Lieutenant Colonel Kyger didn't hesitate and said, "The World Government is in its infancy. A destabilizing influence like your power supply could set up the warring nations' syndrome again. We need a distraction and a positive focus. Right now, we want to aid in setting up a strong government and your fusion generators could be that factor. We are interested in how your team has managed all these technological advances in this backwater university. Your project could help us do focus the attention of the world, it seems. How did you come up with the designs?"
Andrew was affronted by the term backwater but figured it was essentially true for the University of Arizona. "We
keep control of our project. No exceptions," Andrew stated flatly, ignoring the implication the designs weren't their own work.
"I know you need a chemist. I am also a linguist of sorts. We don't want control of your project but we do require free access to all information gathered from it. This project isn't going to get far as it is set up now. We can give you the logistical support the university isn't willing to commit. We already have a verbal commitment from them to release you from their contract. You'll get credit for patents and ten per cent of the profits on any devices or techniques you come up with after expenses. The university gets some bragging rights. The power supplies alone ought to make your group wealthy, the university will be VERY well off too. For that reason, a condition for acceptance by the World Government is that they send someone along with your group if you are successful. It's in the contract; you just haven't read that far yet. That person, me, will also help to coordinate protection for you from hostile factions," the man said.
Andrew couldn't help liking this man with the infectious grin, but the contract was the best part. It looked legitimate. Everybody must know about this help. He knew that if this guy knew this much...the government leaks would simply get worse and worse until it was totally out of their hands. This contract might save the project if the team went for it.
"How many months will it take before you can complete another working model of your generator?" the man asked.
Well he doesn't know everything, thought Andrew. "We've already built one and are finishing installations on our ship."
Lieutenant Colonel Kyger looked shocked at this news but said nothing.
"What do your friends call you?" Andrew asked.
"Call me Brad," he said as they shook hands.
Andrew took Brad and the contract to meet the rest of the group. All seemed to accept him but they were still hurt by John's injury and Brad just reminded them of John's absence. They couldn't be too enthusiastic. Andrew related his concerns about Philips but Brad said he was aware of the problem.
