Action Division Three
Page 10
"No, sir-you've succeeded brilliantly in keeping that part a secret from me."
Nike Quinto nodded emphatically. "I tried! If I couldn't at least have managed that much I wouldn't have deserved my assignment here. Alright, I'll tell you: what's involved is an item of raw material." He stated this in such a tone that one might infer the whole secret in all its details had suddenly been revealed.
"Oh?" It was all Ron could reply.
"Oh?" Quinto mocked him. "That doesn't bring anything to mind to you?"
Ron shook his head.
"Alright, then here it is. You're familiar with the remarkable glass the Ghamese make use of, right? It's completely transparent. And I mean 100%! There's no dispersion effect in the visible light range. An unbelievably low angle of incidence for total reflection. In brief, it's the ideal material for anything that's to be made invisible. And it also has outstanding characteristics in other frequency ranges. It's perfect for an infra-red laser, for example. And so on and so on..."
Ron Landry had to admit that this made things a bit more understandable.
"We didn't quite know what the raw material was," Quinto continued. "We were able to make tests of the finished material but our scientists couldn't find out how the stuff was prepared. They knew that some manufacturing process unknown to our technology was involved. We figured that we could learn more if we could get a test sample of the raw material itself, or better yet if we could become friendly enough with the Ghamese that they would finally reveal the whole secret to us. Because we need this material badly. The infra-red laser can become a weapon such as the galaxy has never seen before. Moreover, the Springers were on the same trail as we were and that made the situation more difficult. So now maybe you can see why this whole business had to be handled so quietly and inconspicuously, right?"
Ron nodded. "Certainly, sir," he answered. "And that's why I'm at a loss to explain why you consider the outlay for the navigable Lidioks to be so unbearable."
Nike Quinto appeared to explode. "Why?" he almost screamed. "Because the whole problem's been solved without them! Through the pluck and ingenuity of a certain young lieutenant-who is a captain now, by the way-a man who knew what to do at the right moment and was able to get out of the city on his own without any need for a steerable Lidiok."
Ron furrowed his brow. "From what I can gather, sir, you are speaking of Dick Silligan."
"Indeed I'm talking about Dick Silligan! It was this young man who revealed the secret to us. He was there where the Ghamese manufacture this miracle substance and he managed to bring along a semi-processed sample."
Ron Landry remained silent.
Quinto continued. "The raw material, some kind of silicate, is melted down in an oven. Then the molten material is quick-cooled in sea water at normal temperature. Probably that's all the Ghamese understand, themselves, about the process. But from Silligan's sample we were able to recognize that there was more than the cooling technique involved. The sea water they keep replenishing in their cooling trough by an ingenious method turns out to contain a type of algae that bring about a chemical conversion within the glass. Without the algae the glass would be regular old-fashioned window-pane material. It's the algae that reveal the whole principle. Dick Silligan brought us a piece of glass that hadn't been fully processed yet, or at least it still contained traces of the algae. That was enough for our scientists to unravel the whole mystery. Now we can produce the Ghama glass ourselves!" Having concluded at last, he leaned back in his chair with such an air of satisfaction that it appeared he considered the whole thing to be his personal contribution.
Ron Landry grinned. "And now, sir," he asked, "are we free to deal with the Ghamese as we please?"
Immediately Nike Quinto shot forward in his chair. "You get one thing straight!" he bellowed at high pitch. "The inhabitants of Ghama are our friends and we're going to deal with them as genuine friends!" Suddenly and unexpectedly, he stood up. "Now get out of here! These senseless questions are too much of a strain on my heart. What's to become of my blood-pressure? And tomorrow report to Personnel. Personally, do you understand? They've got something for both of you. If I gather correctly it seems that it has something to do with either a demotion or a promotion. Now get-both of you!"
Ron and Larry got to their feet. They saluted and went out. Once they were in the hallway and at a safe distance from Nike Quinto's office door, they came to a stop and grinned at each other.
"Do you think we could go for a glass, Captain?" asked Ron Landry, pointedly.
Larry Randall sighed. "I'm not sure that my blood-pressure could stand it, Major!"
• • •
Relay 14 to Ghama Station: Have observed 23 transitions from Ghama area. Close formation. Assume Springer base in retreat. Confirmation requested. Over...
Ghama Station to Relay 14: Confirmed. No Springers left on Ghama. Things pretty dull around here. Over and out...
ACTION DIVISION THREE
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