Beaumont fitted his fingertips carefully together. `You walk dogs for a fee. But of course you do – you walk my pair. Five minim-credits seems rather cheap.’
`It is. But a hundred thousand dogs, twice a day, soons runs up the gross take.’
`The “take” for walking this “dog” would be considerable.’
`How much?’ asked Francis. It was his first sign of interest. Beaumont turned his eyes on him. `My dear sir, the outcome of this, ah, roundtable should make a difference of literally hundreds of billions of credits to this planet. We will not bind the mouth of the kine that treads the corn, if you pardon the figure of speech.’
`How much?’
`Would thirty percent over cost be reasonable?’
Francis shook his head. `Might not come to much.’
`Well, I certainly won’t haggle. Suppose we leave it up to you gentlemen – your pardon, Miss Cormet! – to decide what the service is worth. I think I can rely on your planetary and racial patriotism to make it reasonable and proper.’
Francis sat back, said nothing, but looked pleased.
`Wait a minute,’ protested Clare. `We haven’t taken this job.’
`We have discussed the fee,’ observed Beaumont.
Clare looked from Francis to Grace Cormet, then examined his fingernails. `Give me twenty-four hours to find out whether or not it is possible,’ he said finally, `and I’ll tell you whether or not we will walk your dog.’
`I feel sure,’ answered Beaumont, `that you will.’ He gathered his cape about him.
`Okay, masterminds,’ said Clare bitterly, `you’ve bought it.’
`I’ve been wanting to get back to field work,’ said Grace.
`Put a crew on everything but the gravity problem,’ suggested Francis. `It’s the only catch. The rest is routine.’
`Certainly,’ agreed Clare, `but you had better deliver on that. If you can’t, we are out some mighty expensive preparations that we will never be paid for. Who do you want? Grace?’
`I suppose so,’ answered Francis. `She can count up to ten.’
Grace Cormet looked at him coldly. `There are times, Sance Francis, when I regret having married you.’
`Keep your domestic affairs out of the office,’ warned Clare. `Where do you start?’
`Let’s find out who knows most about gravitation,’ decided Francis. `Grace, better get Doctor Krathwohl on the screen.’
`Right,’ she acknowledged, as she stepped to the stereo controls. `That’s the beauty about this business. You don’t have to know anything; you just have to know where to find out.’
Dr Krathwohl was a part of the permanent staff of General Services. He had no assigned duties. The company found it worthwhile to support him in comfort while providing him with an unlimited drawing account for scientific journals and for attendance at the meetings which the learned hold from time to time. Dr Krathwohl lacked the single-minded drive of the research scientist; he was a dilettante by nature.
Occasionally they asked him a question. It paid.
`Oh, hello, my dear!’ Doctor Krathwohl’s gentle face smiled out at her from the screen. `Look – I’ve just come across the most amusing fact in the latest issue of Nature. It throws a most interesting sidelight on Brownlee’s theory of – `Just a second, Doc,’ she interrupted. `I’m kinda in a hurry.’ `Yes, my dear?’
`Who knows the most about gravitation?’
`In what way do you mean that? Do you want an astrophysicist, or do you want to deal with the subject from a standpoint of theoretical mechanics? Farquarson would be the man in the first instance, I suppose.’
`I want to know what makes it tick.’
`Field theory, eh? In that case you don’t want Farquarson. He is a descriptive ballistician, primarily. Dr Julian’s work in that subject is authoritative, possibly definitive.’
`Where can we get hold of him?’
`Oh, but you can’t. He died last year, poor fellow. A great loss.’
Grace refrained from telling him how great a loss and asked, `Who stepped into his shoes?’
`Who what? Oh, you were jesting! I see. You want the name of the present top man in field theory. I would say O’Neil.’
`Where is he?’
`I’ll have to find out. I know him slightly – a difficult man.’
`Do, please. In the meantime who could coach us a bit on what it’s all about?’