“Oh, I wouldn’t use it to interfere with Delos’s operations. He’s our man; we’re backing him. But I would feel a lot safer if I had the right to call a halt if he tried to commit us to something we couldn’t pay for. You know Delos; he’s an incurable optimist. We ought to have some sort of a brake on him.”
Strong thought about it. The thing that hurt him was that he agreed with everything Dixon said; he had stood by and watched while Delos dissipated two fortunes, painfully built up through the years. D.D. no longer seemed to care. Why, only this morning he had refused even to look at a report on the H & S automatic household switch—after dumping it on Strong.
Dixon leaned forward. “Name a price, George. I’ll be generous.”
Strong squared his stooped shoulders. “I’ll sell—”
“Good!”
“—if Delos okays it. Not otherwise.”
Dixon muttered something. Enteuza snorted. The conversation might have gone acrimoniously further, had not Harriman walked in.
No one said anything about the proposal to Strong. Strong inquired about the trip; Harriman pressed a thumb and finger together. “All in the groove! But it gets more expensive to do business in Washington every day.” He turned to the others. “How’s tricks? Any special meaning to the assemblage? Are we in executive session?”
Dixon turned to Entenza. “Tell him, Jack.”
Entenza faced Harriman. “What do you mean by selling television rights?”
Harriman cocked a brow. “And why not?”
“Because you promised them to me, that’s why. That’s the original agreement; I’ve got it in writing.”
“Better take another look at the agreement, Jack. And don’t go off halfcocked. You have the exploitation rights for radio, television, and other amusement and special feature ventures in connection with the first trip to the Moon. You’ve still got ‘em. Including broadcasts from the ship, provided we are able to make any.” He decided that this was not a good time to mention that weight considerations had already made the latter impossible; the Pioneer would carry no electronic equipment of any sort not needed in astrogation. “What I sold was the franchise to erect a-television station on the Moon, later. By the way, it wasn’t even an exclusive franchise, although Clem Haggerty thinks it is. If you want to buy one yourself, we can accommodate you.”
“Buy it! Why you—”
“Wups! Or you can have it free, if you can get Dixon and George to agree that you are entitled to it. I won’t be a tightwad. Anything else?”
Dixon cut in. “Just where do we stand now, Delos?”
“Gentlemen, you can take it for granted that the Pioneer will leave on schedule—next Wednesday. And now, if you will excuse me, I’m on my way to Peterson Field.”
After he had left his three associates sat in silence for some time, Entenza muttering to himself, Dixon apparently thinking, and Strong just waiting. Presently Dixon said, “How about that fractional share, George?”
“You didn’t see fit to mention it to Delos.”
“I see.” Dixon carefully deposited an ash. “He’s a strange man, isn’t he?” Strong shifted around. “Yes.”
“How long have you known him?”
“Let me see—he came to work for me in—”
“He worked for you?”
“For several months. Then we set up our first company.” Strong thought back about it. “I suppose he had a power complex, even then.”
“No,” Dixon said carefully. “No, I wouldn’t call it a power complex. It’s more of a Messiah complex.”
Entenza looked up. “He’s a crooked son of a bitch, that’s what he is!”
Strong looked at him mildly. “I’d rather you wouldn’t talk about him that way. I’d really rather you wouldn’t.”
“Stow it, Jack,” ordered Dixon. “You might force George to take a poke at you. One of the odd things about him,” went on Dixon, “is that he seems to be able to inspire an almost feudal loyalty. Take yourself. I know you are cleaned out, George-yet you won’t let me rescue you. That goes beyond logic; it’s personal.”
Strong nodded. “He’s an odd man. Sometimes I think he’s the last of the Robber Barons.”
Dixon shook his head. “Not the last. The last of them opened up the American West. He’s the first of the new Robber Barons—and you and I won’t see the end of it. Do you ever read Carlyle?”