Trade secret

Somewhat sadly, he turned to get a look at each of them. There was nothing familiar except a certain thoughtless determination that could be associated with crusaders like Baird — or equally well with thugs who hoped to torture out of him his secrets for their own use.

With the point of his elbow, Mart pressed the control segment of the teleport belt and found himself sitting on the cornice of the apartment building watching the taxi jolt through the traffic below. He watched until it disappeared. He would have to get Carolyn and the children out of town, he thought. He had known the party would be rough, but he hadn’t anticipated it quite this bad.

He moved himself down to the apartment and faced Carolyn, who gave a start at his sudden appearance. “I thought you went to the office!” she said.

He told her what had occurred.

“Well, we’re not going to move somewhere out in the sticks,” she said. “That’s the craziest idea you’ve had yet. If anyone is going to kidnap us, they could do it ten times as easy out there as they could here in town. You would be worrying constantly about how we were. There's no sense in it. We’re staying right here until it’s over.

“The children are as competent in their use of the belts as you or I. And that reminds me, you are going to have to speak to Jimmy. His teacher gave him a scolding yesterday about his homework, and he teleported himself right out of class and back home. The teacher became hysterical, and it scared the other children out of their wits. I made him go right back. But you’ve got to warn him that it’s not to be used like that.”

Mart grinned at the thought of Jimmy’s teacher. But he sobered and admitted to himself that Carolyn was right. It would be foolish to send them away. The incident in the taxi still gave him jitters, however. Something would have to be done to speed things up.

When he finally reached the office, a couple of hours late, it looked as if that something had occurred. Berk handed him a telegram from Jennings.

It said, “Looks like you’re going to need help, boy. We’re going to give it whether you want it or not. Las Vegas has become the mecca of American physical scientists. The poor guys are losing their shirts. This thing has got to end. Following is a copy of the message we have sent to Washington:

“The undersigned believe it to be to the best interest of the nation that the suggestion be acted upon to investigate the claims and discoveries of one Dr. Martin Nagle, but not for the purpose of suppressing Dr. Nagle, and penalizing him, as has been suggested elsewhere. We ask that such an investigation allow Dr. Nagle to receive an impartial judgment concerning his claims and decisions.”

Below the name of Jennings were the names of sixty-five other leading physicists throughout the country.

Mart’s hand was shaking just a little when he put the paper down. “Quite a lot of names there of people I didn’t think would go along with us. Sort of gives you an idea of who your friends are, anyway.”

V.

With a speed that astonished Mart, this effort produced results. In less than two weeks a formal notification to appear came from a Congressional Committee for Investigation of the Intellectual Resources of the United States.

At Keyes’ invitation they stopped in at ONR upon their arrival in Washington. It was a dull, rainy day, and the first that Mart had spent in the city since his last visit to Keyes.

The director’s greeting was warmer than his last parting had been, but his face still held a frustrated expression, as if he would like to believe in them, but could not because of a lifetime of believing otherwise.

“They’re calling me to testify,” he said. “I wish you could tell me more of what you are trying to do. I want to be fair but it goes against the grain of all we’ve been taught since the beginnings of our scientific careers.”

They spent the remainder of the afternoon in Keyes' office. While the rain dripped steadily outside the window, Mart tried to make the older man understand their divergent point of view. He was not sure whether he had made it or not. Keyes remained noncommittal, but the uncertainty seemed to have been replaced by deep reflection. Mart hoped he would understand, because his testimony would mean a great deal to their case, one way or the other.

The first session of the hearing was scheduled for the following morning. It was called to order in a committee room filled with an impressive gathering which included more than fifty top-drawer scientists and research engineers. Mart recognized many as signers of the Jennings telegram.

Jennings himself was there, evidently having arrived that very morning, since he had not contacted them. Mart recognized other men from the AEC, from the Bureau of Standards, and top universities. There were a number of his former students who filled top scientific posts.