Waldo

‘How do you do, Mr Jones.

‘This,' said Gleason, indicating a figure trailing him, ‘is Mr. Harkness, head of our legal staff.

‘Ah, yes indeed. There will be matters of contract to be discussed. Welcome to Freehold, Mr Harkness.

‘Thank you,' Harkness said coldly. ‘Will your attorneys be present?

‘They are present.' Waldo indicated a stereo screen. Two figures showed in it; they bowed and murmured polite forms

‘This is most irregular,' Harkness complained. ‘Witnesses should be present in person. Things seen and heard by television are not evidence.

Waldo drew his lips back. ‘Do you wish to make an issue of it?

‘Not at all,' Gleason said hastily. ‘Never mind, Charles.' Harkness subsided

‘I won't waste your time, gentlemen,' Waldo began. ‘We are here in order that I may fulfil my contract with you. The terms are known, we will pass over them.' He inserted his arms into his primary waldoes. ‘Lined up along the far wall you will see a number of radiant power receptors, commonly called deKalbs. Dr Stevens may, if he wishes, check their serial numbers-

‘No need to.

‘Very well. I shall start my local beamcaster, in order that we may check the efficiency of their operation.' His waldoes were busy as he spoke. ‘Then I shall activate the receptors, one at a time.' His hands pawed the air; a little pair of secondaries switched on the proper switches on the control board of the last set in line. ‘This is an ordinary type, supplied to me by Dr Stevens, which has never failed in operation. You may assure yourself that it is now operating in the normal manner, if you wish, Doctor.

‘I can see that it is.

‘We will call such a receptor a "deKalb" and its operation "normal".' The small waldoes were busy again. ‘Here we have a receptor which I choose to term a "Schneider-deKalb" because of certain treatment it has received' the antennae began to move - ‘and its operation "Schneider-type" operation. Will you check it, Doctor?

‘OK.

‘You fetched with you a receptor set which has failed?

‘As you can see.

‘Have you been able to make it function?

‘No, I have not.

‘Are you sure? Have you examined it carefully?

‘Quite carefully,' Stevens acknowledged sourly. He was beginning to be tired of Waldo's pompous flubdubbery

‘Very well. I will now proceed to make it operative.' Waldo left his control ring, shoved himself over to the vicinity of the defective deKalb, and placed himself so that his body covered his exact actions from the sight of the others. He returncd to the ring and, using waldoes, switched on the activating circuit of the dcKalb

It immediately exhibited Schneider-type activity

‘That is my case, gentlemen,' he announced. ‘I have found out how to repair deKalbs which become spontaneously inoperative. I will undertake to apply the Schneider treatment to any receptors which you may bring to me. That is included in my fee. I will undertake to train others in how to apply the Schneider treatment. That is included in my fee, but I cannot guarantee that any particular man will profit by my instruction. Without going into technical details I may say that the treatment is very difficult, much harder than it looks. I think that Dr Stevens will confirm that.' He smiled thinly. ‘I believe that completes my agreement with you.

‘Just a moment, Mr Jones,' put in Gleason. ‘Is a deKalb foolproof, once it has received the Schneider treatment?

‘Quite. I guarantee it.

They went into a huddle while Waldo waited. At last Gleason spoke for them. ‘These are not quite the results we had expected, Mr Jones, but we agree that you have fulfilled your commission - with the understanding that you will Schneider-treat any receptors brought to you and instruct others, according to their ability to learn.

‘That is correct.

‘Your fee will be deposited to your account at once.

‘Good. That is fully understood and agreed? I have completely and successfully performed your commission?

‘Correct.

‘Very well then. I have one more thing to show you. If you will be patient-' A section of the wall folded back; gigantic waldoes reached into the room beyond and drew forth a large apparatus, which resembled somewhat in general form an ordinary set of deKalbs, but which was considerably more complicated. Most of the complications were sheer decoration, but it would have taken a skilled engineer a long time to prove the fact

The machine did contain one novel feature: a built-in meter of a novel type, whereby it could be set to operate for a predetermined time and then destroy itself, and a radio control whereby the time limit could be varied. Furthermore, the meter would destroy itself and the receptors if tampered with by any person not familiar with its design. It was Waldo's tentative answer to the problem of selling free and unlimited power

But of these matters he said nothing. Small waldoes had been busy attaching guys to the apparatus; when they were through he said, ‘This, gentlemen, is an instrument which I choose to call a Jones-Schneider-deKalb. And it is the reason why you will not be in the business of selling power much longer.~ ‘So?' said Gleason. ‘May I ask why?

‘Because,' he was told, ‘I can sell it more cheaply and conveniently and under circumstances you cannot hope to match.

‘That is a strong statement.

‘I will demonstrate. Dr Stevens, you have noted that the other receptors are operating. I will turn them off.' The waldoes did so. ‘I will now stop the beamcast and I will ask you to assure yourself, by means of your own instruments, that there is no radiant power, other than ordinary visible light, in this room.

Somewhat sullenly Stevens did so. ‘The place is dead,' he announced some minutes later

‘Good. Keep your instruments in place, that you may be sure it remains dead. I will now activate my receptor.' Little mechanical hands closed the switches. ‘Observe it, Doctor. Go over it thoroughly.

Stevens did so. He did not trust the readings shown by its instrument hoard; he attached his own meters in parallel. ‘How about it, James?' Gleason whispered

Stevens looked disgusted. ‘The damn thing draws power from nowhere!

They all looked at Waldo. ‘Take plenty of time, gentlemen,' he said grandly. ‘Talk it over.

They withdrew as far away as the room permitted and whispered. Waldo could see that Harkness and Stevens were arguing, that Stevens was noncommittal. That suited him. He was hoping that Stevens would not decide to take another look at the fancy gadget he had termed a Jones-Schneider-deKalb. Stevens must not learn too much about it - yet. He had been careful to say nothing but the truth about it, but perhaps he had not said all of the truth; he had not mentioned that all Schneider-treated deKalbs were sources of free power

Rather embarrassing if Stevens should discover that! The meter-and-destruction device Waldo had purposely made mysterious and complex, but it was not useless. Later he would be able to point out, quite correctly, that without such a device NAPA simply could not remain in business

Waldo was not easy. The whole business was a risky gamble; he would have much preferred to know more about the phenomena he was trying to peddle, but - he shrugged mentally while preserving a smile of smug confidence - the business had dragged on several months already, and the power situation really was critical. This solution would do - if he could get their names on the dotted line quickly enough