Part 2

"It is changed into harmless radiations of mere light, a bit of electrostatic discharge, and a burst of magnetic field," said Velikof. "All energy has an equivalent wavelength; by inserting the proper equivalent wavelength artificially and exciting the material properly, the energetic radiation is heterodyned into harmless energy which can be dissipated easily."

"Amazing! Have you another sample?"

"No, unfortunately. Radioisotopes cost money. Why?"

"I'd like to try it again."

"You may do it at your laboratory. This machine is now yours."

"Then let's take it out of here--quick! I've got work to do!"

Newton smiled. "We'd like another check-out on the process," he said.

"Well, we can go through the mere motions," said Velikof slowly.

"Oh, no," said Newton. "I've a sample here with me."

"With you?" exploded Mangler. "That's dangerous, you idiot."

"Not at all," smiled Newton taking a small flat case from his pocket. It was heavy; lead. He pried it open on the table with a long screwdriver and lifted a small sample out of the case with the tongs. "Now we can do it again," he said happily.

The counters chattered happily as Newton held the sample in front of the probes.

Velikof looked at his watch. "Would you like to try it?" he asked nervously. "The banks close at noon today, you know."

"You have a half-hour. Then, there's always tomorrow."

Velikof shook his head. "Tomorrow I must be gone," he said; "there are men who would kill me for what I've done."

Newton smiled. "You have a good half-hour. I'd like some instructions. Please?"

Velikof nodded. "You do it," he said. "But please hurry."

"The measurements take time."

"I know. But--well, go ahead."

Newton nodded and put the sample on the scales. His hands fumbled a bit and he started over--

"Please hurry."

"I guess that's close enough," said Newton. He set the mass dial, looked at it, looked back at the balance, then shrugged. He dunked the sample in the volumetric graduate, flashed it through the electrical bridges, and made the appropriate settings on the dials of the control box.

"You're being rather sloppy," said Mangler pointedly.

"I fear he has been too sloppy," said Velikof. "But we have too little time to repeat."

"You set the radioactive constants," said Newton to Mangler. Mangler thought for a moment and then set them; and his setting was precise.

"Now!" said Newton. He thrust the switch home.

* * * * *

Again came the brief sizzle of corona, the urge of magnetic attraction, and then the blinding flare of light.

Newton reached for the sample.

"No!" said Velikof quickly.

"Why?"

Mangler grunted. "You've been as sloppy as a kid," he sneered. "That sample is probably as hot as it was."

"But you have the right process," said Velikof. "And now I must get going."

Shrugging, Newton took up the tongs, lifted the sample from its place, and thrust it in front of the counter.

The counter was silent.

"Dead!" glowed Newton.

"Hmmmm."

Velikof turned back from the door. "Dead?" he said. "Dead?"

"Dead," said Newton. "I couldn't have been as sloppy as you accused me of being."

"Maybe the thing isn't as demanding as you suggest," said Mangler.

"We'll find out," said Newton; "Howard, help me pack up."

"Sure."

Velikof shook his head. He handed the envelope back to Newton.

Newton took it, wonderingly. "Why?"

"I'm not selling," said Velikof.

"But you did sell. It's mine--ours."

"You took your envelope back."

Mangler growled. "Not if I have anything to say about it!"

Velikof eyed Mangler, looked the big man up and down. "But this isn't--"

Mangler flexed his hands. "You can't play that game with us," he snarled. "What do you want--more money?"

"I want my machine. It has just occurred to me that I know how to exploit it for myself, in safety from my countrymen."

"Well, you can't back out of a contract that easily."

* * * * *

"This is a matter of business," Newton said softly, as he waved Mangler aside. "Which comes under my jurisdiction. I'll handle it."

"All right, but don't let him get away with that machine."

"Business is business," smiled Newton. Then to Velikof, he said: "Business is one of the things we Americans specialize in, you know."

"I see," said Velikof; "you want a profit."

"We want the machine!"

"This is my job, Howard." Newton nodded at Velikof. "Make me an offer."

"You have your original fifty thousand; I'll buy the machine back for ten thousand."

"No."

"Twenty."

"No."

"Twenty-five."

"Hmm."

"Look, Newton, this is worth a lot more than that."

"Thirty."

"Make it fifty."

"Done!"

"Cash!"

Velikof went to the dresser drawer and took out a sheaf of bills. He counted off fifty of them and handed them to Newton. "Now get out!" he snapped.

"Oh, come now, let's be friends."

"So that he can see my machine and copy it? No!"

"Come on, Mangler. Let's go."

Newton led Mangler from the room. The elevator that came for them also dropped six policemen who hurried up the hall. They were rapping on the door as the elevator door closed.

"You're an imbecile," snapped Mangler. "I know what you're thinking; that I could reproduce that machine. But I can't. I can't. And you've sold it back for a measly fifty thousand. You're an imbecile. It's worth millions."

"No, just fifty thousand," said Newton, waving his envelope.

"But Velikof will make millions--"

"He may have," chuckled Newton, "but not any more; the gentlemen in uniform will see to that."

"What do you mean?"

"Mangler, I bow to your knowledge in matters scientific, but the Commission put me in charge of business because you are incredibly naive. A few years ago they were selling little doohickeys that printed dollar bills. Ten days after Hiroshima, there were advertisements for everything from atomic permanent waves to atomic patent pills. Develop something new, and there will be ten sharpers making sucker-money out of it."

"But what happened?"

Newton chuckled. "First, Velikof, who is a charlatan of the first water, demonstrated a machine to me. I, a simple business man, was duly impressed by the wonders of science. I agreed to buy this fabulous gadget for fifty grand.

"Then," he continued cheerfully, "I mentioned it to you. You jeered, and then finally went along with the gag so that you'd have the splendid opportunity of watching me get clipped.

"And then again," he went on even more cheerfully, "the man who knew it wouldn't work in the first place was convinced by a bit of sleight-of-hand. There, Mangler, you did a fine job for me."

Mangler growled. "Yeah--? How?"

"By acting your natural self: The brainy physicist being convinced by a gadget. You convinced the charlatan that he had something."

"But--"

* * * * *

Newton grinned. "Mangler, you should know by now that cylindrical magnet cores are never made of laminations because it is just as efficient to make a square core out of laminations. Turning a laminated core is an unnecessary nuisance."

"Yes."

"So I figured that the only reason for making a laminated, cylindrical core was to conceal some minute crack--the sort of crack that would be visible on a smooth surface. The sort of crack made by a pair of cunning trap doors. Two samples, elaborately sculped into remarkable similarity, one radioactive and one dead. God knows how many times Velikof has done this bit of legerdemain at fifty Gee a clip. Safe, too, because no man would care to handle the hot sample close enough to mark it. The flare of photostrobe light to blind the eyes, the elaborate preparations, and all the rest. And so, the gent who was going to watch me get clipped fell for the job itself!"

Newton roared with laughter.

"But--"

"Oh," said Newton cheerfully, "even you don't get it?"

"No."

"Simple. Y'see, I had to make a profit. I used a few thousand dollars worth of radon gas. Radon gas and beryllium produce lots and lots of neutrons. Neutrons can bombard elements; I had one of your boys prepare one of the short-term elements for me and put it in my little lead box. One of the five-minute half lives that would activate the counters and then die out in the half hour it took to run through the measurements. By being sloppy in my analysis, I convinced Velikof that his equipment could be made to actually work if he figured out _how wrong to set his dials_!"

Newton waved the envelope at Mangler. "So from here on, you stay at your end of the hall and run the gadgets, and I'll stay at my end and run the business. And if you are a good gadgeteer, I'll put through your request--not order--for tectroscopes. I guess we can afford it, now."