Three huskies appeared as by magic to do Blair's bidding. As Ted and
Bill landed on the sidewalk, one of the vice-presidents said, "Do you
think that was smart, H. J.? They might cause trouble."
Blair snorted. "They haven't got a prayer. A meter reader and a grocery
clerk!"
"We could have at least given them a few hundred."
"Not on your life. Never give a sucker an even break, Jim. Give them
anything at all, we acknowledge their claim. That'd be stupid."
"Maybe you're right."
"Of course I'm right. It's business. Now about those other bids. By gad!
We can run every contractor in town out of competition! They can't touch
our prices!"
Out on the sidewalk, Bill and Ted sat mournfully looking up at the vast
steel skeleton, held together literally by their own genius. Ted said,
"We got a raw deal."
"Maybe we had it coming. We were pretty stupid."
"Anything we can do?"
"Doesn't look like it."
"Maybe the leather solution will turn out."
"Maybe." Bill looked wistfully up at the steel skeleton. "At even a cent
a hole, we'd have done all right."
"Let's go home and get to work."
* * * * *
In the Mighty and Benevolent Kingdom of Szkazia, a minor reign of terror
existed. The King, tired of complaints from his subjects, had just
finished dressing down his Prime Minister. The Prime Minister was
passing the abuse on to his Chief Scientist. "If something isn't done
soon, I won't be responsible for your head, my friend. The King is in a
rage."
The eyes of the Chief Scientist watered--partly from fear, and partly
from nights and days spent in his laboratory beating out his brains on
one idea after another.
"I'm doing my best, sire--"
"It's not good enough! These steel girders coming out of nowhere!
Banging people in the head--whacking them in the stomach! Why it isn't
safe to walk through the halls of the Administration Building. Even the
bedrooms of the Executive Apartments are not safe! The other night the
Director of Propaganda had just gone to bed--"
"I know of the incident," the Chief Scientist said hurriedly.
"Oh, you do? But you've done nothing about--"
"I've been working hard," the scientist said patiently, "and I think I
have the solution. Give me another day."
"One day, then. After that--" The Prime Minister made a significant
slicing motion with his finger.
* * * * *
The Prime Minister chewed his fingernails and watched the clock. Sleep
was out of the question with the King calling up every little while
yelling for action. The Minister counted the hours and presented himself
at the Royal Laboratories precisely twenty-four hours later. "Time's
up," he snapped.
The Chief Scientist was wiping his face. There were new lines around his
mouth. He indicated a small steel box. "I think I've got it," he said.
"Come with me."
They went swiftly to the Administration Building. "This should be close
enough. We depress this lever and--and hope."
"Well, do it--do it!"
The Chief Scientist pushed the lever on the steel box. A whirring sound
came from within. All the steel girder ends in sight--all the nasty
little rivets--disappeared. The Chief Scientist smiled and wiped his
face again. "It worked," he said.
"Excellent. I'll see that you get a medal."
"Thank you," the Chief Scientist said sadly. That was the trouble with
people nowadays. They either handed you a medal or your head.
* * * * *
Ted and Bill stared sadly at the mess around the City Hall. Bill said,
"It's a good thing it collapsed at night so nobody was killed, isn't
it?"
"You said it. I'd have felt guilty if there'd been any casualties."
"What do you suppose went wrong?"
"You got me. What do you think they'll do to old Blair?"
"I don't know, but it looks pretty bad. They refused to let him out on
bail."
"Serves him right. The way he treated us."
"You've got it wrong. He treated us swell. He did us a big favor. We
could have been blamed for this."
Bill thought it over before saying, "I guess you're right. I hadn't
looked at it that way."
"Let's go home and get to work on the leather solution."
So they did.