it. Above everything else, he had to see to it that they had completefaith in his motives.
"Then one of your machines," he suggested. "I have to make themunderstand I'm not a crank."
"That sounds sensible. Which one, Mr. Elvin? The Degravitational Unit isthe smallest, and it would do the least harm if--" David looked awayagain. "--if it got out of your hands."
"It isn't sensational enough. I rather wanted to show them this thingyou used to transpose the bank and a square of jungle."
"Oh, no!" Marilyn broke in. "We couldn't--"
"Why that, Mr. Elvin?"
"I've already told you. It's the sort of thing that would attract theattention of the important officials immediately, because it could beconverted so readily to a weapon of inestimable value."
There was a long silence, while the thirty youngsters looked from one tothe other. It lengthened. Elvin felt a creeping edge of fear. Davidspoke at last,
"I think you're right, Mr. Elvin. We could show the world how to build asociety adjusted to the needs of man; we could develop techniques forwiping out disease and mental disorders; we could show you how toconserve our resources, how to build material things for the mutualhappiness of all people; how to create instead of destroying. But ofcourse you're right. The only thing that would really interest any of uswould be a new weapon, wouldn't it? All right; we'll give it to you."
Marilyn sprang up. "But, David--"
"I know what I'm doing!" he snapped at her in a tense whisper. Turningback to Elvin he added smoothly, "But we'll want something from youfirst, Mr. Elvin."
"Anything, my boy; anything to promote the welfare of mankind. But nomore of your tricks, mind."
"This is far from a trick, Mr. Elvin."
"So long as that's understood--"
"We're working on a machine--a new one. We have everything we needexcept tungsten. They use that in building television sets, among otherthings. I want you to drive down to one of the plants in Los Angeles andget us a pound of tungsten. They won't sell it to you; you'll have tosteal it."
"Now, David! Only a thick-skulled schoolboy would take such an unsocialattitude! I'm a teacher, a responsible citizen, proud--"
"Do you want the machine for transposing matter?"
"Yes; for the good of the nation. But--"
"Then you'll have to take this risk. We'll give you a DegravitationalUnit. That'll help you get away. When you bring us the tungsten, we'lldeliver the transportation machine."
Elvin made the drive to Los Angeles in record time. The highway wasjammed with traffic, but all of it was moving in the opposite direction,toward San Benedicto. He refused to think of the consequences if he werecaught. The glittering dream was still blazing on the horizon of hismind. If they refused him the learning capsule, it was unfortunate, butthere was nothing he could do about it. The important machine was theone that transposed matter through time. With that one device alone,Elvin could sway the world. Placed in the scales against such a reward,the moral issue of theft counted not at all.
* * * * *
Los Angeles whirled chaotically in the monetary crisis. The streets werejammed with people, buying everything they could before prices jumpedagain. In the confusion, Elvin had no difficulty breaking into atelevision plant. He didn't trip a burglar alarm until he was leavingthe factory, but the Degravitational Unit made his escape easy. Withinfour hours he was back in San Benedicto. He hurried to the workshop. Butwhen he pounded on the door, there was no response. He tried the latchand the door swung open.
The room was empty, but on the table was a large envelope addressed tohim. A thin thread of wire was fastened to it; as he picked it up, thewire broke and somewhere in the distance a motor began to hum.
"Dear Mr. Elvin," he read. "It was unkind of us to play another trick onyou, but we're sure you'll be clever enough to steal the tungstenwithout getting caught. When you came to talk to us, we realized thatthe conclusion we had reached was right. Children--adolescentminds--have wrecked our world. You know all about that, Mr. Elvin;teachers always do. And you've told us so often in class about theunstable emotions of adolescents, their tantrums, theirunpredictability, their unsocial behavior, their egocentricity and allthe rest. We'd like to help, but there isn't much we can do, not really;you just want the machines we know how to make, not the ideas we'velearned. We grew up, you see, on the day we turned the desert to gold.We found out what happens when you give children dangerous toys to playwith.
"We made our mistake, and we know how to straighten it out. We've onlywaited for you to read this so that you would understand, at least for amoment. We have isolated ourselves in suspended time; we're right herein the workshop with you, but you can't see us, naturally, because westarted standing still in time more than an hour ago. When you openedyour envelope, you tripped the motor of a matter transposition machinewhich will throw all time backward to last Friday night. None of thiswill have happened then. That should straighten everything out, don'tyou think?
"You'll find the rocket again, and you'll open it, just as you didbefore. But this time there'll be only a jar of bubble gum inside,because we've already consumed the learning capsules. There won't be anymemory left for anyone--except ours. We've learned how to work with aplanet of adolescents. We think we can help you mature in spite ofyourselves; but this time no one will ever know how it is being done."
Elvin looked up, but before the anger and frustration could crystalizein his mind, the yellow lamp dimmed, the walls of the workshop faded andvanished. He fought for a moment against the blackness rising in hismind. The light paled and paled and finally it was nothing more than ared streak in the sky.
It moved closer and he saw that it was a falling object followed by along plume of red flame. It flashed momentarily overhead and Elvin hearda dull thud as it fell in a field beyond the ranch house. He sprang upfrom the couch and moved off in the darkness. It had been a meteorite,of course; if it had survived the friction of the atmosphere, it wouldmake an interesting exhibit for the science classroom....
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