Larchmont nodded. "I presume you are referring to the fusing device. We
X-rayed the thing thoroughly before we opened it. These days, many
devices are rigged to be self-destroying, but that, in itself is a
specialized field. Most of them are traps that are rather easy to get
around if one is expecting them and knows how to handle them. But the
Converter itself, if I may say so, is one of the most original and
elegant devices I have seen in many a day."
"Thanks," said Bending, with a touch of bitterness in his voice. "I--"
The door opened at that moment, and Secretary Condley came in followed
by a tall, round-faced man with dark wavy hair and clear brown eyes.
"Jim!" Sam said in surprise.
The man was James Luckman, Sam Bending's business manager. "Hello, Sam.
What's this all about? The FBI men who picked me up said I wasn't under
arrest, but I had a hunch it was about as close as you can come without
actual arrest."
Sam nodded. "Funny--I had that impression, too." He looked at Condley.
"What's the idea, Condley? Jim doesn't know anything about this."
The Secretary managed to look unoffended at Bending's tone. "Possibly
not. We can't be sure, of course, but--frankly, I'd be willing to accept
your word." He paused. "But--you're not a businessman, Mr. Bending?" He
made it only half a question.
"No. I leave that sort of thing up to Jim. Oh, I don't say I'm
completely ignorant of the field; it's just that I'm not particularly
interested, that's all. Why should I be?" He went on, half
belligerently. "I've known and trusted Jim for years. He knows his
business; I know my science. I know enough to be able to check the
account books, and he knows enough to be able to understand a technical
report. Right, Jim?"
Luckman looked bewildered. "Sure, Sam. But what's all this leading up
to? I don't get it." He frowned suddenly. "Has someone accused me of
cheating you?"
"No, no, no," Condley said rapidly. "Of course not. Nothing like that."
He looked sharply at Luckman. "Do you know anything about the
Converter?"
Jim Luckman glanced at Bending before replying. Bending's face remained
expressionless. "Go ahead, Jim," he said, "square with him."
Luckman spread his hands. "I know that Sam was working on something he
called a Converter. I don't know anything more about it than that. Sam
keeps his ideas secret until he gets them to a marketable stage, which
is all right with me. I have enough work to do, handling the stuff he's
already patented, without worrying about anything that isn't salable
yet. So?"
Condley nodded, then gestured toward a chair. "Sit down, Mr. Luckman. Do
you know these other gentlemen?" he asked rhetorically. He proceeded to
introduce the others. Sam Bending noted with satisfaction that Luckman
looked rather puzzled when the Russian was introduced.
Condley himself sat down again, and said: "Well, we're all here. We're
not going to make this formal, gentlemen, but I hope it won't develop
into a heated argument, either. Let's try to keep our tempers."
* * * * *
"First, as to the Converter itself. We all know, with the possible
exception of Mr. Luckman, what it does, but for his benefit, we'll go
over that. The Converter, by means of what Dr. Larchmont has been wont
to call 'a very elegant method', produces electrical power directly from
the fusion of hydrogen into helium. A pilot model, with a total volume
of a little more than one and one-quarter cubic feet, is capable of
turning out up to five hundred horsepower, either DC or AC in a wide
range of frequencies. The voltage can be regulated from zero to one
thousand volts by simply setting a dial.
"The device is powered by using ordinary water as fuel. At full
capacity, the Converter consumes approximately four hundred milligrams
of water per hour, which can easily be drawn from the moisture of the
air. The machine is thus self-fueling.
"Since the nuclear energy released is converted almost one hundred per
cent into electrical current, there is no danger from radiation; since
the process is, by its very nature, self-limiting, there is no danger of
explosion. The worst that can happen is for the machine to burn out,
and, I understand, it won't do that unless it is purposely tampered
with to make it do so.
"Finally, the device is so inexpensive to produce that it could be sold
for about one-quarter of the price of an ordinary automobile." He
stopped, cleared his throat, and glanced at Larchmont and Vanderlin. "Am
I essentially correct, gentlemen?"