"You blasted fools and idiots!" roared the judge. "Nine of them--!"
He turned and stiffly went to his seat, Channing returned to the
witness chair.
"How do you explain that?" roared Judge Hamilton.
"I can only think of one answer," offered Channing in a low voice.
"We made the power supplies out of power and voltage transducers
and filtered the output for sixty cycles. Buffalo is still using
twenty-five-cycle current. Since the reactances of both capacity and
inductance vary according to the--"
"Enough of this!" roared Hamilton. "I--No, I may not say it. I am on
the bench and what I am thinking would bring impeachment. Proceed,
Attorney Kingman."
Kingman took the cue, and before anyone realized that it was still
Tinken's floor, he opened.
"Dr. Channing, you can send a gallon of gasoline through this, ah,
so-called matter transmitter?"
"Naturally."
"Then, your honor, it is my contention that no matter what the means
or the intent, this instrument utilizes the sub-etheric effects
to transmit energy! It is seldom possible to transmit power over
the same carriers that carry communications--only very specialized
cases prevail, and they are converted to the job. But this thing is
universal. Perhaps it does transmit intelligence. It will and can be
used to transmit energy! _Matter, your honor, is energy!_ That, even
the learned opponent will admit. We have our own means of transmitting
power--this is another--and no matter what is intended, power and
energy will be transmitted over its instruments.
"Since this machine transmits energy, I ask that you rule that it fall
under that classification. I rest my case."
Hamilton nodded glumly. Then he fixed Tinken with an ice-cold stare.
"Have you anything to offer that may possibly be of any interest to me?"
Tinken shook his head. He was still stunned.
"I shall deliver my ruling in the morning. I am overwrought and must
rest. Adjourned until tomorrow morning."
The only sounds in the room were the tinkle of glassware and the
occasional moan of utter self-dislike. Channing sat with his glass in
his hand and made faces as he lifted it. Franks matched his mood. Both
of them were of the type that drinks only when feeling good because
it makes them feel better. When they drank while feeling low, it made
them feel lower, and at the present time they were about as far down
as they could get. They knew it; they took the liquor more as a local
anaesthetic than anything else. Arden, whose disappointment was not
quite as personal as theirs, was not following them drink for drink,
but she knew how they felt and was busying herself with glass, ice, and
bottle as they needed it.
It was hours since the final letdown in the court. They knew that they
could appeal the case, and probably after a hard fight they would win.
It might be a year or so before they did, and in the meantime they
would lose the initial control over the matter transmitter. They both
felt that having the initial introduction in their hands would mean
less headache than having Terran Electric exploit the thing to the
bitter end as quickly as possible.
The fact of sunrise--something they never saw on Venus Equilateral--did
not interest them one bit. It grew light outside, and as the first
glimmerings of sunrise came, a knock on their door came also.
"Mice," hissed Walt.
"S'nock on door."
"Mice knocking on door?"
"Naw!"
"Mice gnawing on door?"
"It's Wes Farrell," announced Arden, opening the door.
"Let'm in. S'all right, Wes. Anyone c'n make mishtake."
"He's sober."
"Gettum drink," said Don. "Gettum drink--gettum drunk."
"Look, fellows, I'm sorry about that fool mistake. I've been working on
the judge's ticker. I've fixed it."
"Fitched it?" asked Walt, opening his eyes wide.
"Close 'em--y'll bleed t'death," gurgled Don.
Farrell dangled the judge's watch before them. It was perfect. It
ticked, it ran, and though they couldn't possibly have seen the hands
from a distance of more than nine inches, it was keeping perfect time.
Don shook his head, moaned at the result of the shaking, put both hands
on his head to hold it down, and looked again. "How'ja do it?"
"Made a recording of the transmitted signal. Fixed the power supply
filters first. Then took the recording--"
"On whut?" spluttered Walt.
"On a disk like the alloy-tuners in the communications beams. Worked
fine. Anyway, I recorded the signal, and then started to buck out the
ripple by adding some out-of-phase hum to cancel the ripple."
"Shounds reas'n'ble."
"Worked. I had a couple of messes, though."
"Messessessesss?" hissed Walt, losing control over his tongue.
"Yes. Had a bit of trouble making the ripple match." Farrell pulled
several watches from his pocket. "This one added ripple. It's quite
cockeyed. This one had cross-ripple and it's really a mess. It sort of
looks like you feel, Walt. I've got 'em with double ripples, triple
ripples, phase distortion, over-correction, and one that reminds me of
a pancake run through a frilling machine."
Channing looked at the collection of scrambled watches and shuddered,
"Take 'em away--_brrrrr_."
Arden covered the uninspiring things with a tablecloth.
"Thanks," said Don.
"Do you think the judge'll forgive us?" asked Farrell.
"Don't say it," said Walt bursting with laughter.
"I don't have to," chortled Don.
"They're both hysterical," explained Arden.
"Carbogen and Turkish bath," roared Don. "And quick! Arden, call us a
taxi."
"You're a taxi," giggled Arden. "O.K., fellows. Can do." She went to
the phone and started to call.
Farrell looked uncomprehendingly at Walt and then at Don, and shook his
head. "Mind telling me?" he pleaded.
"Wes, you're a million!" roared Channing, rolling on the floor.
Farrell turned to Arden.
"Let them alone," she said. "Something probably pleases them highly.
We'll find out later--yes? Operator? Will you call a cab for room 719?
Thanks."
* * * * *
Attorney Tinken faced Judge Hamilton with a slight smile. "Prior
to your ruling, I wish to present you with your watch. Also I ask
permission to sum up my case--an act which I was unprepared to do last
evening."
Hamilton reached for the watch, but Tinken kept it.
"You may state your case--but it will make little difference in my
ruling unless you can offer better evidence than your opponent."
"Thank you," said Tinken. He made a show of winding the watch, and
he set it accurately to the court clock on the wall. "Your honor, a
telegram is a message. It requires energy for transmission. A letter
also requires energy for carrying and delivery. A spacegram requires
the expenditure of great energy to get the message across. The case in
hand is this: If the energy is expended in maintaining the contact,
then communications are involved. But when the energy is expected to
be used on the other side--and the energies transmitted are far above
and beyond those necessary for mere maintenance of contact, it may then
be construed that not the contact but the transmittal of energy is
desired, and power transmission is in force."
Tinken swung Hamilton's watch by the chain.
"The matter of sending flowers by telegram is not a matter of taking
a bouquet to the office and having the items sent by electricity to
Northern Landing. A message is sent--an order to ship or deliver.
It makes no difference whether the order be given in person or sent
by spacegram. It is a communication that counts. In this device, a
communication is sent which directs the device to produce a replica
of the transmitted object. Ergo it must fall under the realm of
communications. I will now demonstrate this effect, and also one other
effect which is similar to telegraphic communications."
Tinken ignored Hamilton's outstretched hand, and put the watch in the
cabinet. Hamilton roared, but Tinken put up a hand to stop him, "I
assure you that this will cause no ill effects. We have repaired the
damage."
"For every minute of delay between now and the moment I receive my
watch, I shall fine you one hundred dollars for contempt of court,"
stormed Hamilton.
"Well worth it," smiled Tinken.
Channing pressed the switch.
_Click!_ went the receiver, and from a slide, Channing removed the
judge's watch. With a flourish he started it, and handed it to the
judge, who glared.
"Now," added Tinken, "I wish to add--
_Click!_
"--two objects may be similar in form--
_Click!_
"--but can not be identities!
_Click!_
"However, two communications--
_Click!_
"--may be dissimilar in form--
_Click!_
"--but identical in meaning!
_Click!_
"We have before us--
_Click!_
"--a condition where--
_Click!_
"--identical messages are--
_Click!_
"--being reproduced in identical form--
_Click!_
"--just like a bunch of--
_Click!_
"--carbon copies!
_Click!_
"The production rate of which--
_Click!_
"--will be high enough--
_Click!_
"--to lower the cost--
_Click!_
"--of this previously rare item--
_Click!_
"--until it is well within the reach of all.
_Click!_
"Just as in communications--
_Click!_
"--we may send an order--
_Click!_
"--directing the fabrication--
_Click!_
"--of several hundred similar items!
_Click!_
"And our supplier will bill us--
_Click!_
"--for them later!
_Brrr-rup!_
"That last buzz or burp was a signal that we have reached the end of
our matter bank, your honor. Our credit, for example, has run out.
However, Dr. Channing is about to make a substantial deposit with the
manufacturer, and we will resume operations later. I ask you--
_Click!_
"--can you do this with energy?"
_Click!_
"Stop that infernal--
_Click!_
"--machine before I have you all held for disrespect, perjury, contempt
of court and grand larceny!" yelled the judge.
Channing stopped the machine and started to hand out the carbon-copy
watches to the audience, who received them with much glee. Kingman came
to life at this point. He rose from his chair and started to object,
but he was stopped by Tinken who leaned over and whispered:
"My worthy and no doubt learned opponent, I'd advise you to keep your
magnificent oratory buttoned tight in those flapping front teeth of
yours. If we all get into that gadget--how would you like to fight ten
or twelve of us?"
_Interlude:_
_Don Channing turned from the court and made his way through the room
to the hallway. In his hand he bore one of the judge's watch-replicas.
In his mind he had the world by the tail._
_He was going to leave the court, make his way to Venus Equilateral and
launch a new era._
_He didn't know that he had launched one already._