Read Ebook: Walker's Appeal with a Brief Sketch of His Life And Also Garnet's Address to the Slaves of the United States of America by Garnet Henry Highland Walker David

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Ebook has 399 lines and 37036 words, and 8 pages

ATOMIC BONANZA

A device which could decontaminate any bit of radioactive matter would be invaluable--only it was impossible. But Doctor Velikof was ready to demonstrate just such a machine!

The visitor arriving at General Atomic Research climbed a broad flight of stairs and then encountered a sort of plaza presided over by a rare combination of brains and beauty. Here the visitor inspected the beauty while the brains inspected the visitor's credentials. After which mutual inspection the visitor stepped into the exact center of a long corridor and turned either to the right or to the left, depending upon which of the two main offices he was to visit.

At one end was the office of Doctor Howard Mangler, Director of Research; at the other end of the corridor was the office of Phillip Newton, Director of Operations. Between the two was the corridor called "The Battlefield" by the clerks, stenographers, and office boys.

Up and down the silent battle raged, its casualties mutely entombed in the filing cabinets, swathed in directives and counter-directives .

It was not a bloody battle. It was fought with words and words and words of argument, counter-thrust, statement, rebuttal and rejoinder; espionage and security. The objective was Control.

For Howard Mangler objected most violently to having a "mere business man" running the delicate field of Operations, while Phillip Newton felt that physicists should stay in their white ivory tower and let business men run the details of business. Open battle did not join every day, sometimes it smouldered for weeks before breaking out in a welter of directives, memorandums, and hot words. But any long period of quiet brought a foreboding of imminent war to the office force; and when the first thrust was sent home, the force cleared its desk so that the passage of memorandums could flow untrammeled by the processes of work.

The rumor of war preceded the opening of hostilities by long enough for preparation so that--

"Lillian, you'd better polish off that batch of invoices, quick-like."

"In a hurry?"

"We will be. Grant has just invaded Richmond."

"Oh."

Sometimes it was Shiloh, but when Grant invaded Richmond, it meant that Howard Mangler had stamped down the long corridor to blast his way through the defences of the outer office of Phillip Newton and into the inner sanctum itself--and was now firing his big guns in the enemy's face.

"This has got to go through!" roared Mangler.

"It is unnecessary."

"How would you know?" demanded Mangler.

"The inventory says we have twelve Tectroscopes now; what do we need with four more?"

"Because we have more men."

Newton snorted. "Does each man need a complete set of laboratory equipment?"

"Not a complete set. But a thing like this--"

"I've been through there recently and found no less than eight of them not even turned on, let alone being used."

Mangler grunted. "It's not the constant use that demands extra equipment. It's the fact that it takes time for a man to run down what he needs, borrow it, set it up, and then return it."

"You'll have to continue that way for a bit; we're over our budget now."

"Almost."

Mangler sat back with a derisive gesture. "And I know why," he said with scorn.

"Indeed?"

"I do. You've sent through an appropriation for fifty thousand for your own fool--"

"I'm no fool, Mangler!"

"You are."

"If so, you are an opinionated idiot!"

"My opinion is quite valid."

"In your own opinion, your own opinion is valid. Stop defining 'A' in terms of 'A', Mangler; if I did that you'd be the first to scorn my definitions."

"What in the devil do you know about atomics anyway?"

"Only what you've taught me; if I'm a fool, it's your fault. What do you know about business?"

"Enough to make a time study and add up to four. Enough to balance the price of equipment against the lost man-hours because of the lack of it, and come up with a mathematical decision."

"But an eminently impractical decision; blood cannot be extracted from a radish."

"No, but you can dig up a bunch of radishes, sell them, and buy a pint of blood."

"That takes time. Just wait. As soon as we catch up with our budget--"

"If you hadn't sent through that appropriation--"

"I have that right."

"For what?"

"A device that, first, is needed right in our laboratory and, second, will eventually bring in millions once it is developed in large size."

"And may I ask the nature of this marvelous instrument?"

"Mangler, what would be the ultimate worth of a device that can extract the radioactivity of--"

"Worth billions, but it can't be--"

"Exactly. Such a device would be worth billions."

"Trillions. Any number you want. It just ain't practical. In words of one syllable that even you can understand such a process does not exist--nor can such a device be made."

"This decision of yours is, I gather, final?"

"It is no decision of mine. It is the opinion of every scientist worthy of the name."

"Who, of course, know all there is to know?" sneered Newton.

"Extracting the radioactivity from a radioactive substance is impossible."

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