He remembered, then, that he had the Artuneemanuscript in both original and translated formin the library. He soon had it on the screen, and ittook only a few minutes to locate the referencesand cross-references to the material included inthe story of a dead alien race. He found what hewanted in a thesis written by one Alaxender ofTrojan.
"It is a fundamental law that an electron at rest,in copper, exerts a force on every other electron atrest, repelling its fellows in inverse proportion to thesquare of the distance between them. This force is measurable, being 8.038 X 10-26pounds."
The force, minute in regard to a single electron,is balanced by a counterforce, respresented by aproton. If the repulsion of the protons were notexactly balanced by that of the electrons, energywould be released. Alaxender of Trojan had calculated the force represented by the binding energiesin two tenth-of-an-inch cubes of copper placed oneinch from each other at over six hundred billiontons. If, somehow, the balance could be destroyed,releasing that energy in a controlled stream, as itwas apparently released by the disrupter—
Not much work had been done in the field sincethe flurry of interest following the translation ofthe Artunee manuscript. The blink drive, the ultimate power source, fulfilled all needs. Man did notneed the power of Bertt, the Artunee. Nor did heneed another weapon of destruction, so interesthad lagged.
It was odd, and it was shaping up to be tragic,that some forgotten Zedeian scientist, possibly onenamed Sargoff, a name mentioned by young Gorben, had discovered Bertt's force quite independently, and centuries before the Cygnus expedition.
The disrupter worked. And he'd seen the speedand accuracy with which the young men of Dorchlunt manned the weapons. A UP fleet, massed forfirepower, could be swept with half a dozen of the disrupters within seconds and each ship wouldthen be dead in space, with all the men inside asdead as the ship's systems.
There was no questioning the real danger to allof UP civilization. By chance, a young scholar had rediscovered a thousand-year-old Zedeian secret.By chance, he'd found the colonization ship andthe descendants of the original scientists. And bychance, a small man with a big body, an engaging laugh, and savage, unrelenting purpose was in a position to become ruler of the entire populatedgalaxy.
"Hey, Pat," a boisterous voice said fromSkimmer'scommunicator. "You there, boy?" "I'm here, sir," Pat answered. For a while hewouldsay sir to a dictator.
"You might wanta see this," the Brenden said."I've got all my young studs assembling on theparade ground. Gonna give 'em one big pep talk."
"I'll be there, sir," Pat said.
The young men of Dorchlunt were marching incompany-size units on a flat, hard-packed area tothe north of the temple. The Brenden had comedown in a launch and was seated under a sunshade on a wooden platform. Pat joined him there.
The ranks of young men marched in perfect unison, the troops arranged by height to give perfect symmetry to each file. Pat recognized one of theofficers bellowing out orders as his friend Gorben.
With over two thousand young men standing atrigid attention, the Brenden used a hailer, in order to be heard, and spoke to them of duty, honor, and a return to their rightful glory. When he was finished a mighty cheer went up. The dictator baskedin it, smiled, laughed, waved his hands, and thenstood at attention and saluted as the men marchedoff the parade ground.
"Magnificent," the Brenden said. "God, boy, whatan army. Makes me almost wish that I'd lived inhistoric times when men fought each other toe totoe and tooth to tooth, right, boy?"
"I'm more the lover type," Pat said, and that gota huge laugh.
Brenden waved the others, all uniformed, off theplatform. "Pat," he said, "I guess by this timeyou've got it all figured out, and I'll bet you caneven give me a layman's explanation of the disrupter."
"I have a very general idea," Pat said. "Has todo, somehow, with unbalancing the forces thatbind molecules in copper."
"Hell, that's all I understand aboutit,"Brendensaid. "You've got the idea. What I need to know,Pat, is just how you feel about the whole deal." Hepinned Pat with that green-eyed gaze, so like Corinne's, and waited.
Pat measured his words for a moment. "Corinnewants to take over the galaxy to feed the hungry. Idon't think that's your motivation."
Brenden roared. "She always was a bleedingheart. Hell, Pat, I'm taking over because Ican.Because I got kicked around as a kid. Iwas hungry a couple of times, not for long, because I damnedwell went out and stole enough to eat. I'm takingover because I had the guts to claw my way upand take over one planet and if you can take overone you can take over as many as there are. I'mtaking over because I want to make a few Zedebastards crawl, and because I think that I'm just alittle smarter than some and can straighten out a few things that have always bothered me." Hegrinned at Pat. "And because I just don't like beingforced to play second fiddle toany man."
"Good reasons," Pat said. "You want to know ifI'm with you?"
"Cory's got her heart set on you, boy."
"I know. That's why I'm here. I'll have to admit,sir—"
"Hell, boy, you're gonna be my brother-in-law,just call me Brenden."
"Thanks. I'll have to admit, Brenden, that I'mnot wild about killing. I don't get all excited aboutblasting poor guys in UP ships."
"Neither do I, neither do I. We're gonna startslow. We'll kill only enough to make believers ofthe others, and of the UP politicians. Hell, Pat, I ain't no murderer, but sometimes events are bigger than individual men, you know that."
No. Pat didn't know that. He knew that the underlying philosophy of the more enlightened people in the UP confederation was just the opposite,that the rights of the individual were more important than any event, or any theory, or any belief,or any government, and the UP had been workingtoward total individual freedom, under a few necessary laws, for the last few thousand years.
But he nodded in agreement to Brenden's statement.
"You love my sister, don't you?"
"Yes," he said truthfully, for in spite of everything he went soft inside when he thought ofCorinne.
"Well, then?"
"I'm with you, Brenden," he said, because, aboveall, he had to retain his freedom of movement sothat he could seize whatever chance came along totry to avert the catastrophe which Brenden wasplanning.
"Here's my hand on it," Brenden said. And still holding Pat's hand in a firm clasp, he said, "I wantyou with Cory tomorrow."
"What's happening tomorrow?" Pat asked, a feeling of dread inside. Was it to be so soon?
"She hasn't given you the timetable." He laughed."Guess you two have been too busy to talk business. Well, here's the plan. Tomorrow we have asort of dress rehearsal. We'll split the fleet, and betargets for each other with uncharged weapons. That'll give the gunners some live onboard practice. Cory'll be in command of the second wing,me the first wing. You go with Cory. She's not too hot about being in command, and if you think youcan learn enough to cut it, we'll see. I need someone I can trust."
"You can't trust the men who've been with youall along?"
"Hell, boy, we've only had a fleet on Taratwo fora few years. Haven't had time to train good navymen. I got a few I can trust with my life, but notwith the command of a wing. They're good men,but they lack experience. And anyhow, my brother-in-law has to be a big part of it, doesn't he?"
"I appreciate it," Pat said.
"After the fleet exercise in space we'll have onemore of these parade shindigs. I like that. And it'll be good for the boys. Keep them alert and ready.Listen, these kids are the key to it, you know. Iguess you've dug up how sensitive and criticalthat damned weapon is."
"Yes, and that scares hell out of me," Pat said. "What if in the heat of battle one of the boys loses his nerve, or gets excited? Can you shut off theexcitation impulses generated by Murphy's Stone?"