A nuisance, he told himself. And illegal, too. But the only way in which he and Ramsey could keep their wave length from being tapped.
He set the ’visor call dial, snapped up the toggle and punched the signal key. The screen lighted up and Scott Ramsey looked out at him.
«I’ve been expecting you,» said Ramsey. «You listened to Walker?»
Cobb nodded. «I liked that part where he practically bawled over how the poor widows and orphans with their savings all tucked away in power securities would want for a crust of bread.»
«It may sound laughable to us,» said Ramsey, soberly, «but it got the senators. Mostly, I suppose, because they’re the orphans who have their money socked away in power stocks. It’s dirty politics, but we haven’t seen the worst yet. We’ve got them scared, Bill, and when they get scared, they’re dangerous. There’s a rumor around we’re ready to pop.»
«Walker and his gang will be around with a proposition before long,» predicted Cobb. «You know what to do.»
«Sure. There was someone around this morning. But I don’t think he was connected with the power lobby. Wanted to know how he could help us. I laughed at him. Said his name was Ford Adams. Mean anything to you?»
«Never heard of him,» said Cobb. «Probably just a screwball.»
«I’m afraid of something happening at the plant,» declared Ramsey. «You better get hold of Butler. If you got time, it might be a good idea to go out and see him rather than just calling him. Impress on him the necessity to be on guard all the time. He’s so tied up in his research he doesn’t know half what’s going on.»
«They wouldn’t try anything at the plant,» said Cobb.
«That’s what you think,» Ramsey told him. «This gang is all steamed up, I tell you. They’re scared. They figure we’re about due to go on the market any day now and they’re half nuts. They know that once a successful atomic plant is developed they’re dead ducks. To compete with us they’d have to sell their stuff for less than half of actual cost, probably even less than that. There are financial empires at stake, not only here, but all over the world. Men fighting for financial empires won’t stop at anything.»
«How about the Department of the Interior?» asked Cobb. «You going to be able to hold that off?»
«I wish I could tell you yes,» said Ramsey, «but I’m not too sure. Sullivan is getting budget jitters. If he doesn’t play ball the power crowd can cut his budget to a shadow and leave him out on a long, bare limb. And he’s not too happy about those nice, big dams he’s got. Once atomic power comes in, the dams are shot. All they’ll be good for is irrigation then and with this tank farming business, there isn’t going to be too much need for irrigation.
«Then, too, he can slap an order on us to shut down until we can show we have developed adequate safety measures. It won’t hold, of course, for we can prove we’re doing experimental work and there’s always some danger in that type of development. It’s just a recognized fact. But he could hold us up a while.»
«Do the best you can, Scott,» urged Cobb. «No danger of Walker’s law going through, is there?»
«Not this session. Most of them aren’t too sure how the folks back home feel. Maybe it’ll have a chance next session. Especially if the Primitives keep going to town. This town is plastered with soap boxes and spouting preachers. They say it’s sacrilege—»
«Yes, I know. I’ve heard them. Any chance of proving the power gang is behind them?»
«Not a ghost,» said Ramsey.
«O.K., then, I’ll go see Butler tonight. Good luck with Sullivan.»
The screen dimmed and Cobb clicked the toggle, carefully reset the dial to its legal wave length.
The intercommunicator buzzed at him and he flipped it open.
«Yes.»
«A Mr. Adams here to see you,» said Miss Lane. «A Mr. Ford Adams.»
«I don’t know any Ford Adams.»
«He insists that it’s important.»
Ford Adams? Ford—Yes, that was the name of Ramsey’s screwball.
«I’ll see Mr. Adams in a minute,» Cobb said.
He picked up the slip of paper with the dial settings, put it back in the safe and locked it. Back at the intercommunicator he said:
«Send him in.»
Ford Adams was tall, almost wraithlike. He walked with a limp and carried a heavy cane. He laid it on the desk, saw Cobb look at it for a second.
«Sicily,» he explained.
«I missed that one,» said Cobb.
«You probably know I saw Mr. Ramsey this morning.»
Cobb nodded and motioned to a chair.
«I offered my help,» said Adams. «Mr. Ramsey didn’t seem to take me seriously.»
«What makes you think we need your help?»
«It’s obvious,» said Adams. «Here you are, a handful of you, fighting what amounts to a world combine. I’ve looked into the matter quite thoroughly and know much of the background. You offered your developments to the power corporations on condition they would form a world compact among themselves to hold their earnings to no more than their present earnings and, for a period of the next twenty years, would divert the greater portions of those earnings to converting the entire world to atomic power. They refused.»
«Sure they did,» said Cobb. «We expected they would, although we went to them in all good faith. They saw a chance to make a killing and they turned us down. They figured their own technicians could find the answers before we could begin operating. They guessed wrong. Butler is the only man in the field who found the answers and he had them when we talked to them. All the rest of the researchers are a million miles off base.»
«You threatened you would ruin them,» said Adams and he didn’t make it an accusation or a question. It was simply a statement.
Cobb grinned crookedly. «As I remember it, we did. If they’d been decent, we’d gone in with them. Believe it or not, we aren’t out to make a fortune. We probably won’t. Butler is the head man with us and he doesn’t even know there is such a thing as money. You’ve seen his kind. Had one ruling passion. The only thing that counts with him is atomic power. Not atomic power as a theory or as something to play around with, but power that will turn wheels—cheap. Power that will free the world, that will help develop the world. Power so cheap and plentiful and safe to handle that no man is so poor he can’t afford to use it.»
Adams fumbled with a cigarette. «What you’ve said, Cobb, may go for Butler,» he declared, «but it doesn’t go for you. You’ve lost sight of Butler’s goal. It’s become a game for you. A game in which either you or the power lobby wins. You’re out to break the power gang.»
«I hate their guts,» said Cobb.
«You aren’t a scientist,» said Adams.
«No, I’m not. I’m a business man. Butler would be lost in the business end. So I’m here. He’s out in Montana. It works O.K.»
«But you aren’t the only atomic company in the field.»
Cobb laughed shortly. «You’re thinking of Atomic Development. Forget it, Adams. You know as well as I do Development is another power lobby trick. All it’s done is sell stock. They’ve peddled it all over the world. Store clerks and stenographers are loaded with it.»
Adams nodded. «At the psychological moment, it blows.»
«And blows us with it,» said Cobb. «The people, in their blind panic, won’t be able to distinguish between one atomic company and another. To them, we’ll all be crooks.»
«It isn’t a pretty picture,» said Adams.
Cobb leaned across the desk. «Just what do you mean by that?»
«It’s sordid.»
«The power gang asked for it that way,» said Cobb. «They’ve bought off the papers with advertising campaigns. They’ve elected their men to Congress. They have organized a so-called religious sect to preach against us. They’re bringing all the pressure they can in Washington. They’ve established a phony stock company for no other reason than to stir up a scandal that will smear us, too, when it busts wide open.»