Across the table from him the ancient Honorable Russ said, "It is
difficult to measure. We seem to count refrigerators and privately owned
automobiles. You seem to ignore personal standards and concentrate on
steel tonnage."
The Texcocan scientist, Wiss, said easily, "Given the steel mills, and
eventually automobiles and refrigerators will run off our assembly lines
like water, and will be available for everyone, not just those who can
afford to buy them."
"Hm-m-m, eventually," Peter MacDonald laughed nastily.
The atmosphere was suddenly hostile. Hostile beyond anything that had
gone before in earlier conferences.
And then Martin Gunther said without inflection, "I note that you have
removed from the _Pedagogue's_ library the information dealing with
nuclear fission."
"For the purpose of study," Dick Hawkins said smoothly.
"Of course," Gunther said. "Did you plan to return it in the immediate
future?"
"I'm afraid our studies will take some time," Watson said flatly.
"I was afraid so," Gunther said. "Happily, I took the precaution of
making microfilms of the material involved more than a year ago."
Barry Watson pushed his chair back. "We seem to have accomplished what
was possible by this conference," he said. "If anything." He looked to
right and left at his cohorts. "Let's go."
They came stiffly erect. Watson turned on his heel and started for the
door.
As they left, Natt Roberts turned for a moment and said to Gunther, "One
thing, Martin. During this next ten years you might consider whether or
not half a century has been enough to accomplish our task. Should we
consider staying on? I would think the Co-ordinator would accept any
recommendation along this line that we might make."
The Genoese contingent looked after him, long after he was gone.
Finally Martin Gunther said, "Baron Leonar, I think it might be a good
idea if you began putting some of your men to work on making steel
alloys suitable for spacecraft. The way things are developing, perhaps
we'll be needing them."
Buchwald and MacDonald looked at him unblinkingly.