“Now, Colonel, please,” Ardmore broke in, irritated more than he would admit to himself and inhibited by the presence of Private Thomas, “you can kill a man with it or you can’t and you can control whom you kill or you can’t.”
“That’s an oversimplification,” Calhoun argued. “However, we think that the new set-up will be directional in its effect. Dr. Brook’s investigations caused him to hypothecate an asymmetrical relationship between the action and organic life it is applied to, such that an inherent characteristic of the life form determines the effect of the action as well as the inherent characteristics of the action itself.
That is to say, the effect is a function of the total factors of the process, including the life form involved, as well as the original action — ”
“Easy, easy, Colonel. What does that mean as a weapon?”
“It means that you could turn it on two men and decide which one it is to kill — with proper controls,” Calhoun answered testily. “At least, we think so. Wilkie has volunteered to act as a control on it, with mice as the object.”
Ardmore granted permission for the experiment to take place, subject to precautions and restrictions.
When Calhoun had gone, his mind returned at once to the problem of what he was going to do with the weapon — if any. And that required data that he did not have. Damn it! — he had to have a service of information; he had to know what was going on outside.
The scientists were out, of course. And Scheer, for the scientific staff needed his skill. Graham? No, Graham was a good cook, but nervous and irritable, emotionally not stable, the very last man to pick for a piece of dangerous espionage. It left only himself. He was trained for such things; he would have to go.
“But you can’t do that, sir,” Thomas reminded him.
“Huh? What’s that?” He had been unconsciously expressing his thoughts aloud, a habit he had gotten into when he was alone, or with Thomas only. The man’s manner encouraged using him for a sounding board.
“You can’t leave your command, sir. Not only is it against regulations, but, if you will let me express an opinion, everything you have done so far will fall to pieces.”
“Why should it? I’ll be back in a few days.”
“Well, sir, maybe it would hold together for a few days — though I’m not sure of that. Who would be in charge in your absence?”
“Colonel Calhoun — of course.”
“Of course.” Thomas expressed by raised eyebrows and ready agreement an opinion which military courtesy did not permit him to say aloud. Ardmore knew that Thomas was right. Outside of his specialty, Calhoun was a bad-tempered, supercilious, conceited old fool, in Ardmore’s opinion.
Ardmore had had to intercede already to patch up trouble which Calhoun’s arrogance had caused. Scheer worked for Calhoun only because Ardmore had talked with him, calmed him down, and worked on his strong sense of duty.
The situation reminded him of the time when he had worked as press agent for a famous and successful female evangelist. He had signed on as director of public relations, but he had spent two-thirds of his time straightening out the messes caused by the vicious temper of the holy harridan.
“But you have no way of being sure that you will be back in a few days,”
Thomas persisted. “This is a very dangerous assignment; if you get killed on it, there is no one here who can take over your job.”
“Oh, now, that’s not true, Thomas. No man is irreplaceable.”
“This is no time for false modesty, sir. That may be true in general, but you know that it is not true in this case. There is a strictly limited number to draw from, and you are the only one from whom all of us will take direction. In particular, you are the only one from whom Dr. Calhoun will take direction. That is because you know how to handle him. None of the others would be able to, nor would he be able to handle them.”
“That’s a pretty strong statement, Thomas.”