He felt the texture of the cloth. “It doesn’t look like much,” he said.
“And look here.” Very deliberately he stretched the diving suit out
full length. “Doesn’t that look just like an ordinary diving suit?” he
asked.
“Yes, but--”
“Isn’t its design similar to that of any diving suit?”
“Yes, but--”
“And a diver underground acts the same as a diver underwater.”
“Well, sure. But--”
“And, as a matter of fact, listen to this.” Krome picked up the
application and read a few paragraphs to me. “Now,” he said, “all I
have to do is change the word ‘underground’ to ‘underwater,’ change the
word ‘ground’ or ‘earth’ to ‘sea,’ and I have a perfect description of
a deepsea diving suit. Am I right?”
“I know all that,” I said. “But--”
“Well, then--there is no invention here. Once the cabbagite crystal is
known it becomes so obvious that any routineer could use it in a diving
suit. A new use of an old thing or an old process cannot be patented.
Regar & Sons, Incorporated versus Scott and Williams, Incorporated.”
* * * * *
I protested, “But wait a minute. Wait until I demonstrate it for you.
I’ll tie this rope on and then--”
“No you don’t,” he said. “You don’t pull any rope tricks on me. I’ve
read the spec. I know how it’s _supposed_ to work. _I’ll_ put it on.”
And he began to climb into it.
“Kindly stop opening and closing your mouth,” he said, “and help me
with the helmet.”
“Please,” I gasped. “The controls aren’t--”
“Put the helmet on,” he said.
“But the controls aren’t--”
“Put the helmet on,” he insisted.
With nerveless fingers I obeyed. I can remember wondering whether there
was anything in his life insurance policy that would have covered
a possibly fatal outcome. I hoped they wouldn’t make his widow and
children wait seven years.
I turned to glance at the door to see if there were any witnesses. No
one was watching. I turned back to Krome and noticed with alarm that he
appeared to have grown shorter. For a moment I thought he had fallen to
his knees. But then I saw that he was slowly sinking through the floor.
I made gestures with my hands in front of his face plate in a frantic
attempt to show him how to operate the controls. Lower and lower he
sank. I followed him right down to the floor until he disappeared
through it, leaving me on my hands and knees staring at the blank and
dusty tiles.
Then I realized with horror that we were on the seventh floor.
I turned and rushed out of the room and down the hall to the stairway.
I tore down the stairs, and out into the hall below. I ran for the room
directly underneath the one where Krome had been. Before I could reach
it several sickeningly-curdled screams resounded through the corridor,
and I heard the muffled bangs of things crashing to the floor. A few
loose papers floated out through the open door.