The War of Immensities (42 page)

“I’m just
telling them what’s going to happen. That’s my job.”

“No, Professor,
it is not. Your job is to gather data and draw conclusions and pass
your recommendations on to the relevant authorities. Our job is to
decide who tells who what.”

“And your
natural response is to secrecy on the basis that the less the
public knows, the better you can control them.”

Grayson
laughed, reaching for a more personal tone. “You really are still
the naive under-graduate at heart, Harley. Look, all we want is
time to study your data and conclusions and make a broad-based
decision regarding the announcement. Perhaps we will decide that
your action is correct, but first we must study all aspects of the
effects of any announcement.”

“The more time
you have to evacuate the region, the more lives you will save.”

“You cannot
just evacuate a million people without a clear idea of what you are
doing. Suppose there is an error and you evacuate them into the
path of the disaster—the death toll will be increased manyfold,
quite unnecessarily.”

“There is no
error.”

“Harley, surely
you must see that we cannot take any one man’s word for this, no
matter how skilful and well qualified he is. We must at least have
the opportunity to consider your data and draw independent
conclusions. You must also see that.”

Thyssen nodded
in agreement. He was beginning to get the run of it now.

“Yes, I see
that. Which is exactly why I went ahead on my own. No two
scientists are going to agree on this. Only someone who knows the
subject as intimately as I do can possibly reach the correct
conclusion.”

“I think you
underestimate your colleagues...”

“I was
precisely correct last time. No one agreed with me.”

“Because no one
else possessed your data. Now we do.”

It was a slip.
Thyssen could see it plainly. Not a flicker of a grimace showed in
Grayson’s face, but you could feel it ripple through his aura.

“Do you now?”
Thyssen said provocatively.

Grayson sighed
and bowed his head and when he looked up, his eyes flashed with
anger.

“Yes. The
facilities of Project Earthshaker have been seized and everyone
involved placed under house arrest.”

“Then why are
you bothering with this pleasant little chat?”

“Because we
wish to retain the project and we wish to retain your input...”

Thyssen could
feel the anger rising in him like bile. “But on your terms, to your
agenda. I don’t think so.”

“Then the
project funds will have to be withdrawn...”

“That would be
idiotic,” Thyssen snapped.

“You will not
raise your voice in this room!”

“You have no
sensible reason for doing this. It isn’t even in your own best
interests. But there’s some power to be had and you just can’t
stand the idea that you don’t control it. You’ll do anything, take
any risk, just to make sure that all of the power is in your
hands.”

“You cannot
speak to the President of the United Sates in that fashion,
Professor Thyssen. Get out!” Grayson demanded. The secret service
men had mysteriously appeared in the room.

Thyssen was on
his feet anyway. “Well this time it won’t run for you, Mr.
President! I have always distrusted governments and I have always
been vindicated in doing so. This time you are out of your depth,
as you will soon find to your loss and to that of thousands of
others. You’re up against forces so far beyond your control that
you can’t get your head around them and yet you try to dictate
terms. Well you can rot in your folly for all I care!”

Nothing
happened for a moment. When Thyssen was prepared to be dragged from
the room, heels bumping over the carpet, shouting all the way, the
secret service men had not seized him. They stood beside and behind
him, ready to play their game of stacks on the mill if Thyssen made
the slightest threatening gesture, but Grayson had signalled them
to wait. It took some time for the President to bring himself under
control—as for Thyssen, he had lost it completely and would have
continued to rave had the President not roared back at him.
“Please, Professor Thyssen! Listen to me!”

“You have
nothing to say that I want to hear!” Thyssen thundered back.

Grayson let
another pause pass, then tried again for a calmer tone. “Suppose I
said you can just walk out of here.”

“I don’t
believe it.”

“You can go.
After you’ve heard what I have to say.”

“And the
project?”

“It can be
fully restored at any time.”

“At what
cost?”

“Only that you
withhold your statements regarding the time and location of...”

“Not a
chance!”

“Please
listen... the location of the next eruption, just long enough to
allow us to examine your data.”

“Not
possible.”

“You must be
reasonable, Harley. Thousands of lives are at stake.”

“Precisely. And
I will not allow the political priorities of the government of the
United States nor any other country to override my duty to the
population of the earth as a whole. They have the right to know
everything I know, as soon as I know it.”

They were
heating up again, standing toe to toe now, each with his nose
within inches of the others. “No individual can be permitted to
dictate terms to the planet in the manner you describe!” Grayson
positively yelled.

“It isn’t me
dictating terms. The planet is doing that. My position is just a
simple case of honesty. No secrets. Just plain honesty!” Thyssen
shouted back.

“Such
ill-considered honesty can be very dangerous.”

“Only to people
who live by lies.”

Grayson turned
away, shaking with anger. Thyssen was sweating like a horse and
weak at the knees. The secret service men fidgeted and glanced
desperately from one to the other. Once more, Grayson had forced a
calm into his voice. His will power was formidable.

“I had hoped to
avoid this, Harley, but I’m afraid we must detain you.”

“That won’t
stop the information from getting out.”

“It will give
us the breathing space we need, and maybe give you a bit of time to
come down from your absurdly high moral ground. Once we decide to
make our announcement, you will be released and allowed to
continue.”

“You can’t stop
the truth. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of people already know.”

“Yes. You put
it on the Net. We know that. We’ve put two hundred identical
alternative predictions into the system alongside it.”

“You can’t keep
something as big as this under wraps,” Thyssen told him.

“I can keep you
and your friends under wraps,” Grayson said quietly. “That will
just have to be enough.”

“There’s only
me. The others can’t harm you.”

“No. But maybe
some pressure on your loyal little team might just help you see
reason.”

“You have no
right to do this!”

“I was elected
to protect the best interests of this nation, Harley. Who elected
you?”

“I serve no
interests. I’m just doing my job.”

“Your job is to
do what I tell you!”

“My job is to
present the facts in a completely disinterested manner, which I
have done, and will continue to do and there isn’t a damned thing
you can do to stop me.”

“Don’t be so
sure.”

“Is that a
threat, Mr. President?”

“Get out of
here, Thyssen. Take him away and lock him up.”

“You’ll have to
kill me to stop me, Grayson,” Thyssen raged, completely out of
control now. As the secret service men closed in, gripped his
biceps and set about removing him from the room, he yelled back
over his shoulder, “Think about the political cost of that when the
Shastri Effect hits California!”

That brought
everything to a standstill. Grayson stood, clenching and
unclenching his fists, but his look caused the secret servicemen to
freeze. Thyssen, the secret servicemen holding him roughly by the
arms, gazed back at the President and smiled faintly.

Grayson raised
his head, his eyes shinning defiantly, his brow glistening with
beads of sweat. “You’re bluffing.”

Thyssen shook
his head sadly, a grim smile stretched on his face, his narrow eyes
squinted as if facing bright light. “The concept of truth is really
alien to you isn’t it? You just don’t understand it at all.”

Grayson was
right at the end of his tether. “I am the President of the United
States! You can’t talk to me in this tone.”

“Which only
makes you a bigger fool that everybody else!” And they were roaring
like a pair of combatant dinosaurs again.

“I won’t play
your game, Thyssen! I won’t call your bluff!”

“Data doesn’t
bluff!”

Grayson sighed.
The secret service men had Thyssen by the arms but they remained,
waiting for the dismissal that never came. The President had his
head bowed, his face strained with what might have been physical
pain. Gradually, that effort of will forced him back under control
and when he finally raised his head, he was calm again.

“Tell me about
California,” he said quietly.

Thyssen
grinned. “No. You cannot be trusted with that information.”

“You bastard,”
Grayson thundered erratically. “So what was all that crap about the
public’s right to know.”

“I tell
everybody or I tell nobody. No compromise.”

Grayson sagged.
He slid into his chair, his head in his hands. When he spoke it was
to the security men. “It’s too late to go on with this. Take him
back to the hotel. Keep him under guard.”

“That’s another
advantage in always telling the truth, Eugene. You never have to
make difficult decisions.”

Thyssen was
walking to the door, the secret service men trailing behind. He
heard Grayson’s voice pursuing him.

“Don’t let
anybody talk to him. Don’t allow any harm to come to him. Don’t let
anything happen concerning him, whatsoever.”

As he went
through the door, Thyssen was grinning as widely as he could.

Joe Solomon sat
behind his desk in his wheelchair that day, which he never usually
did. Ordinarily, there was the well-practiced action in which he
transferred himself into his executive chair which he performed
without thinking these days. But that morning, it had slipped his
mind and the thought amused him—a definite Freudian slip, he knew.
He was staying in his wheelchair in case he needed a fast getaway,
as any criminal should. Ridiculous, of course, but somehow the idea
persisted as he waited for Barney Touhey to arrive. The picture of
himself trundling through the office with policemen in hot pursuit
was just too funny for words.

Barney arrived
and didn’t notice the difference. But he did notice the worried
look on Joe’s face and commented immediately on that.

“I think I’m
going to be arrested,” Joe said.

“How exciting,”
Barney said. “Did you do it?”

“Unfortunately,
yes.”

“If you are
about to confess to a crime, perhaps I ought to have my lawyer
present.”

“Very
funny.”

“Will I get to
be an accessory after the fact or whatever it is?”

“You watch too
much television. And I think you’d better take this seriously.”

Barney took a
deep breath, forced the smile off his face, and sat ready to be
serious.

Joe Solomon
eyed his friend strangely. It was good to have friends who accepted
you without question, even if you were wrong. That was the sort of
friend he needed now.

“First,” Joe
began. “You will not be implicated in any way because this
conversation will never have taken place. I’ll never admit I told
you and you will deny all knowledge.”

“Does that mean
I leave now?”

“Lissie will
take over the business here, should I get into hot water, but I
don’t want him to know anything about this. I want to keep the
firm’s normal business and my dubious extra-curricular activities
completely separate.”

Barney nodded.
He was growing very red in the face as he sat, hunched, ready for
whatever horror lay ahead.

“Okay,” Joe
went on. “I’m telling you because I think someone ought to know...
in case something that doesn’t bear thinking about happens to me.
You understand?”

“Not at
all.”

“I got a call
from that sinister John Cornelius character, late at night, in
whispers, the full melodramatic bit. He told me that Project
Earthshaker was just about to be scrapped and that Thyssen was
arrested, everyone else could expect to be, and generally we were
to be taken out of existence.”

“That ought to
be a great relief to you.”

“Well, I didn’t
believe it, of course. But I checked. Thyssen has this set-up at
MIT—some of his students on computers doing his sums for him—and I
called there. I got a gruff voice demanding to know who I was.”

“I see,” Barney
said. “So you reckon they’ve been nabbed.”

“Exactly. And I
assumed that the funds would be seized.”

“No doubt. How
much are we talking about here?”

“Over ten
million.”

Barney choked
on his cup of tea. “That much?”

“Yes. Well, it
is a very big project. And there was income. From short term
investments and television rights and Andromeda’s concerts make a
huge profit. I kept all that in a sort of slush fund.”

“Ten million
dollar slush funds boggle the mind. I can’t imagine it.”

“There it is
there,” Joe said, pointing across the office.

Barney turned
in his seat and stared. Beside the shredder was a huge pile of
strips. “That is the ten million?”

“More like
fifteen. And no, that is the proof of the existence of the fifteen
million.”

Barney gave a
little shudder. In fact, Joe could see his hands were shaking.