“The deuce you say! That’s interesting-how did you come to be located . . . if you don’t mind my asking?”
“Well, you see I was in the Navy and one of my superior officers-”
“Got it! Got it! I thought you were a spaceman. You’re Slipstick Libby, the Calculator.”
Libby grinned sheepishly. “I have been called that.”
“Sure, sure. The last can I piloted was equipped with your paragravitic rectifier. And the control bank used your fractional differential on the steering jets. But I installed that myself-kinda borrowed your patent.”
Libby seemed undisturbed by the theft. His face lit up. “You are interested in symbolic logic?”
“Only pragmatically. But look, I put a modification on your gadget that derives from the rejected alternatives in your thirteenth equation. It helps like this: suppose you are cruising in a field of density ‘x’ with an n-order gradient normal to your course and you want to set your optimum course for a projected point of rendezvous capital ‘A’ at matching-in vector ‘rho’ using automatic selection the entire jump, then if-”
They drifted entirely away from Basic English as used by earthbound laymen. The newsbox beside them continued to hunt; three times it spoke up, each time Libby touched the rejection button without consciously hearing it.
“I see your point,” he said at last. “I had considered a somewhat similar modification but concluded that it was not commercially feasible, too expensive for anyone but enthusiasts such as yourself. But your solution is cheaper than mine.”
“How do you figure that?”
“Why, it’s obvious from the data. Your device contains sixty-two moving parts, which should require, if we assume standardized fabrication processes, a probable-” Libby hesitated momentarily as if he were programming the problem. “-a probable optimax of five thousand two hundred and eleven operation in manufacture assuming null-therblig automation, whereas mine-”
Lazarus butted in. “Andy,” he inquired solicitously, “does your head ever ache?”
Libby looked sheepish again. “There’s nothing abnormal about my talent,” he protested. “It is theoretically possible to develop it in any normal person.”
“Sure,” agreed Lazarus, “and you can teach a snake to tap dance once you get shoes on him. Never mind, I’m glad to have fallen in with you. I heard stories about you way back when you were a kid. You were in the Cosmic Construction Corps, weren’t you?”
Libby nodded. “Earth-Mars Spot Three.”
“Yeah, that was it-chap on Mars gimme the yarn. Trader at Drywater. I knew your maternal grandfather, too. Stiffnecked old coot.”
“I suppose he was.”
“He was, all right. I had quite a set-to with him at the Meeting in 2012. He had a powerful vocabulary.” Lazarus frowned slightly. “Funny thing, Andy . . . I recall that vividly, I’ve always had a good memory-yet it seems to be getting harder for me to keep things straight. Especially this last century.”
“Inescapable mathematical necessity,” said Libby.
“Huh? Why?”
“Life experience is linearly additive, but the correlation of memory impressions is an unlimited expansion. If mankind lived as long as a thousand years, it would be necessary to invent some totally different method of memory association in order to be eclectively time-binding. A man would otherwise flounder helplessly in the wealth of his own knowledge, unable to evaluate. Insanity, or feeble-mindedness.”
“That so?” Lazarus suddenly looked worried. “Then we’d better get busy on it.”
“Oh, it’s quite possible of solution.” “Let’s work on it. Let’s not get caught short.”
The newsbox again demanded attention, this time with the buzzer and flashing light of a spot bulletin: “Hearken to the DATA, flash! Nigh Council Suspends Covenant! Under the Emergency Situation clause of the Covenant an unprecedented Action-in-Council was announced today directing the Administrator to detain and question all members of the so-called Howard Families-by any means expedient! The Administrator authorized that the following statement be released by all licensed news outlets: (I quote) ‘The suspension of the Covenant’s civil guarantees applies only to the group known as the Howard Families except that government agents are empowered to act as circumstances require to apprehend speedily the persons affected by the Action-in-Council. Citizens are urged to tolerate cheerfully any minor inconvenience this may cause them; your right of privacy will be respected in every way possible; your right of free movement may be interrupted temporarily, but full economic restitution will be made.”