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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b340cda --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #51255 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51255) diff --git a/old/51255-h.zip b/old/51255-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 75804cf..0000000 --- a/old/51255-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/51255-h/51255-h.htm b/old/51255-h/51255-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index f9e94ff..0000000 --- a/old/51255-h/51255-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1185 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=us-ascii" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of Chain Reaction, by Boyd Ellanby. - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -.caption {font-weight: bold;} - -/* Images */ -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -div.titlepage { - text-align: center; - page-break-before: always; - page-break-after: always; -} - -div.titlepage p { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0em; - font-weight: bold; - line-height: 1.5; - margin-top: 3em; -} - -.ph1, .ph2, .ph3, .ph4 { text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; } -.ph1 { font-size: xx-large; margin: .67em auto; } -.ph2 { font-size: x-large; margin: .75em auto; } -.ph3 { font-size: large; margin: .83em auto; } -.ph4 { font-size: medium; margin: 1.12em auto; } - - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Chain Reaction, by Boyd Ellanby - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Chain Reaction - -Author: Boyd Ellanby - -Release Date: February 20, 2016 [EBook #51255] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAIN REACTION *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/cover.jpg" width="372" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> -<h1>CHAIN REACTION</h1> - -<p>By BOYD ELLANBY</p> - -<p>Illustrated by DOKTOR</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Galaxy Science Fiction September 1956.<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus1.jpg" width="600" height="365" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph3"><i>Would this be the last poker game—with all<br /> -life at stake and every card a mere deuce?</i></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>MacPherson shuffled the cards over and over again. His hands were -almost steady.</p> - -<p>"Want to place a limit on the bets?" he asked.</p> - -<p>His two colleagues who had made the night drive with him from the -University said nothing, but Rothman laughed.</p> - -<p>"Today?" he said. "Today, the sky's the limit."</p> - -<p>MacPherson rested the deck on the table and watched as Rothman stood -up to look through the barred window at the glittering Arizona desert. -Rothman had got thinner during his months of confinement; his shoulders -were bony beneath the gray hospital robe and his balding head looked -like a skull.</p> - -<p>"Are you going to play?" asked MacPherson. "Or is poker too childish an -amusement for a mathematician?"</p> - -<p>Rothman turned his back to the window. "Oh, I'll play. When three old -friends from the Project suddenly turn up for a visit, even a madman -will string along."</p> - -<p>Shuffling the cards again, MacPherson wished the other men would say -something; it wasn't fair of them to make him carry the conversation. -Professor Avery, who had cut his physics classes in order to join the -morning's party, sat in glum silence. His plump face was pale, and -behind thick-lensed spectacles which enlarged his eyes grotesquely, he -blinked as he watched the flickering cards. Dr. Neill, from Physical -Chemistry, was tapping his toe against the table leg, watching Rothman, -who stood at the window, waiting.</p> - -<p>"But we can't have much of a game with only four people," said Rothman. -"We ought to have a fifth."</p> - -<p>"Maybe we can find someone." MacPherson walked to the locked steel door -and rattled the rectangular lattice set in at shoulder height, put his -mouth to the metal bars and called out.</p> - -<p>"Hey, Joe!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>An attendant in white uniform shuffled into the corridor of closed -doors, carrying a tray with one hand and scratching his head with the -other.</p> - -<p>"How about joining us for a game of poker?"</p> - -<p>Joe shook his head and grinned. "Not me, Professor! I start buddying -around with the loonies, I lose my job."</p> - -<p>"But we're not inmates!"</p> - -<p>"Maybe not, but Dr. Rothman is."</p> - -<p>"Doesn't prove I'm crazy, Joe," said Rothman. "Conversely, not being -inmates doesn't prove these men are sane."</p> - -<p>"It's a fact you don't look any crazier to me than a lot of -professors," confessed Joe. "I don't know. All I know is, <i>I'm</i> -not crazy enough to break the rules and lose my job. Besides, you -long-hairs wouldn't stand a chance at poker with me."</p> - -<p>Still grinning, he shuffled out of sight down the hall.</p> - -<p>MacPherson sighed and went back to the table. "Well, we'll have to get -along with just the four of us."</p> - -<p>"There's always the unseen guest," said Rothman, "but you won't need to -deal him a hand. He already holds all the cards."</p> - -<p>Neill looked up. "Stop hamming and sit down. Quit making like a maniac. -It's not even a good act."</p> - -<p>"Okay." Rothman drew up a chair. "Now what was said about limiting the -bets?"</p> - -<p>"Why bother setting a limit?" said Neill. "We're not likely to mistake -each other for millionaires and we all got exactly the same pay when we -were on the Project. Unless your sick pay has had two or three zeros -tacked onto it, you're not going to be making any wild bets, and as for -the rest of us—"</p> - -<p>"University professors are still being paid less than nightclub -dancers," said Avery. "You're lucky to be out of the rat race, -Rothman. While we worry about how to pay the grocery bill, you can -relax, eating and sleeping at government expense. You never had it so -good."</p> - -<p>"Maybe you'd like to get yourselves committed and keep me company?"</p> - -<p>MacPherson rapped the deck on the table. "Stop that kind of talk. We -came here to play poker."</p> - -<p>"Did you?" asked Rothman, grinning. "Then why don't you deal?"</p> - -<p>"Cut, Neill?" said MacPherson. As he shot the slippery cards over the -table top, each flick of his thumb watched by Rothman's intent eyes, -he regretted this impulsive visit; it now seemed a gesture without -meaning. He wondered whether the others were as nervous as he was.</p> - -<p>On the drive over from Los Angeles during the night, Neill had seemed -calm enough and even Avery, who had changed a lot during work on the -Project, had chatted with them unconstrainedly. It was hard to be -certain what other men were feeling, even when you had known them a -long time, but it could not be pleasant for any of them to be visiting -a former colleague who had been removed from the Project directly to a -sanitarium.</p> - -<p>"Tell me something," said Rothman as he picked up his cards. "Do you -still think I'm crazy?"</p> - -<p>"Don't be an idiot," MacPherson snapped. "Do you think we'd cut our -classes and drive nearly five hundred miles just to play poker with a -lunatic?"</p> - -<p>"No," said Rothman. "That's how I know. But why aren't you frank about -it? Why keep on pretending there wasn't a special reason for your -visit?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Neill was beating his foot against the table leg again and Avery's eyes -were hard and staring as he examined his cards.</p> - -<p>"Who'll open?" MacPherson asked. "I can't."</p> - -<p>"I can," said Rothman. "I'm betting one blue chip. Listen, Avery, why -won't you look at me? If you think I'm hamming, what do you call your -own act? How long are we going to go on kidding each other? They've -shut me up here, but that doesn't mean they've stopped me from logical -thinking. My three old friends from the Project don't turn up in the -middle of a Friday morning just to calm my fevered brain with a card -game."</p> - -<p>"What's wrong with poker?" demanded MacPherson.</p> - -<p>"Poker? Nothing. I know—It must be the test. Total conversion of -matter to energy. Not just a minute percentage any more—<i>total</i> -conversion. They've finished the set, haven't they? They're ready to -test. They're going to disintegrate Waaku, aren't they? It must be -today. Then this is the day the world ends. Tell me, when is zero hour?"</p> - -<p>Neill's cards had slipped from his fingers and he stooped to the floor, -fumbling for them. Avery was bending one corner of a card, creasing it, -smoothing it out, and creasing it again. Nobody was going to answer, -MacPherson realized. They were leaving it up to him.</p> - -<p>He spoke sharply. "You're getting onto forbidden ground, Rothman. You -know we're not allowed to discuss the Project with you. We're allowed -to visit you only under the strictest promise not to speak of it at -all. You're certainly rational enough to understand what the therapists -have told you, that you'd get well easily enough if you'd stop -worrying. Forget about zero hour. Everything's going to be all right."</p> - -<p>Rothman turned to look out the window. "Is it today?"</p> - -<p>"How should we know? We're only innocent bystanders now, like you. -Remember, we all left the Project over six months ago, except Avery, -and last month they let him go."</p> - -<p>Neill had rearranged his cards now and he looked at them instead of -Rothman as he spoke. "There's nothing to worry about. Your calculations -were wrong. The test is not going to get out of control—if and when -they make it. But they don't tell us things any more."</p> - -<p>"Since they fired you," said Rothman.</p> - -<p>"That's right, since they fired us," Neill said. The creased corner of -a card suddenly broke off in his fingers.</p> - -<p>"If you didn't believe in my calculations, why did you back me up? I -didn't ask you to. If you didn't believe in the danger, why didn't you -stay out of the argument and keep your jobs? It wasn't your fight. You -could have kept out of it—or attacked me, like Avery."</p> - -<p>"All we did was insist that even if you had made a mistake in your -calculations, that didn't necessarily prove you were crazy," said -Neill. "We didn't know whether you were right or not. We couldn't argue -about the math. Avery tore that to pieces and the boys at Columbia and -Harvard backed him up. MacPherson and I aren't competent to check your -math. To us, you didn't seem any crazier than the people who sent you -here. But after you'd scared them silly, they had to do something to -stop your scaring other people."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He turned to pick up his cards again, but stopped at the sight of -Avery. Avery was standing and crumpling a card spasmodically, his lips -were moving without sound, and he was breathing rapidly.</p> - -<p>"Look here," said MacPherson. "You'd better change the subject. If -little Joe passes by the door and hears us talking about the Project, -he'll have our visiting privileges revoked before you can say nuclear -fission, and they'll stay revoked forever."</p> - -<p>"How long is forever?" asked Rothman.</p> - -<p>Avery threw down his cards and walked to the window. Through the bars, -there was nothing to be seen but the expanse of sand, glinting in the -morning sun, and a cactus plant casting a stubby shadow. He whirled to -face the others.</p> - -<p>"Look, MacPherson," he burst out. "I'm fed up with this game. Snookums -Rothman mustn't think about the Project any more, so we mustn't say the -naughty word. But we were all in it together at the beginning and there -was a while when we were all every bit as scared as he was. Why not -tell him we came this morning in case—just in case—he'd heard about -the test and was worrying? What's the harm in telling him what the -whole university knows? That zero hour is today, this morning, now!"</p> - -<p>"Shut up, you fool!" said MacPherson.</p> - -<p>But Rothman glanced at his cards again, then looked up. "When does it -begin? What time is it now?"</p> - -<p>"Don't answer!" shouted MacPherson. "Are you trying to knock him off -balance again?"</p> - -<p>"I will answer!" said Avery. "I'm going to tell him. He scared us silly -with his calculations; now let us scare him with some cold facts. It'll -do him good. Maybe when the test is over, if he finds—I mean <i>when</i> he -finds—he was wrong, he'll be cured."</p> - -<p>"Yes, and maybe he'll really be crazy."</p> - -<p>Grabbing Avery fiercely by the arm, MacPherson tried to drag him to the -door, but Avery broke away.</p> - -<p>"Listen, Rothman!" Avery's breath was coming quick and shallow. "Today -is the day! Zero hour is eleven o'clock this morning!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>MacPherson sagged. No one spoke or moved as they all watched Rothman.</p> - -<p>At last Rothman sighed, once. "What time is it now?"</p> - -<p>From the door came a scratching sound. MacPherson turned to see Joe, -grinning at them through the steel lattice.</p> - -<p>"How's things?" Joe wanted to know. "Thought I heard a commotion in -here. Doc Rothman's not acting up, I hope?"</p> - -<p>"Everything's under control, Joe," MacPherson assured him. "Just having -a friendly game."</p> - -<p>"Don't cheat while they're watching you," said Joe, and his face -disappeared.</p> - -<p>"Well, the murder's out," said MacPherson.</p> - -<p>"No use kidding you any longer," Neill said, fanning his cards. -"Eleven o'clock this morning. Six o'clock tomorrow morning, Waaku time. -But it's just another test. Nothing's going to happen."</p> - -<p>Avery took off his glasses and began to polish the lenses. "Any idea -of a possible chain reaction is ridiculous. As a matter of fact, I -recently spent a full week checking the math again myself, so I know. -But we knew how you felt about it, Rothman, and we didn't want you to -be worrying here all alone, in case you'd found out. That's why we -came."</p> - -<p>Rothman was looking out the window. He did not answer. Slowly -MacPherson went back to his chair and picked up his cards. "And now how -about playing some poker? Rothman, you opened for a blue. What about -you, Neill?"</p> - -<p>"I'm staying," said Neill, shoving in a chip. "Always was a gambler. -I'm going to stay till the cows come home."</p> - -<p>"What time is it?" Rothman asked. "I haven't got a wristwatch. They -think I might break the crystal and cut my throat."</p> - -<p>MacPherson slammed down his cards and jerked his watch from his pocket. -"What does it matter what time it is? Why couldn't they give you a -watch with a plastic crystal? If you have to know, it's eleven-forty."</p> - -<p>"And thirteen seconds," added Neill.</p> - -<p>"Then it's already started," said Rothman.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He leaned his head against the back of his chair and closed his eyes. -"It's on its way now. There's somewhat more than a third of the -Earth between us and Waaku—the place where Waaku was, I mean. The -disintegration wave is moving slowly. The seismic wave of an earthquake -would get here in about fifty minutes, more or less. But the shock wave -from Waaku, traveling somewhere around five thousand miles an hour, -will need about an hour and seventeen minutes, plus or minus a minute -or so. That means it will reach us in about thirty-seven minutes from -now, and the disintegration wave is following close behind. Well, nice -to have known you, fellows. Anyone want to check my math?"</p> - -<p>He waved toward the desk behind him, piled high with manuscript and a -sprawling heap of books on which rested a slide-rule.</p> - -<p>"Calm down," said MacPherson. "Nothing is going to happen. Damn you, -Avery! Are you proud of what you accomplished?"</p> - -<p>Avery glared. "It'll do him good! He's got to learn to face reality, -like the rest of us. In a little more than half an hour, the test will -be finished. The world will still be here. Rothman will have to admit -his equations were wrong—and then he'll be cured."</p> - -<p>Rothman leaned forward. "Or contrariwise, Rothman will <i>not</i> have to -admit he was wrong and Rothman will <i>not</i> be cured! If I made a mistake -in my math, why couldn't anybody put his finger on it? I'm not so crazy -that I wouldn't be able to see an error in calculus when it was pointed -out to me. If you're sure my calculations are wrong, why do you look so -frightened?"</p> - -<p>"Do we have to go over all that again?" said MacPherson. "The boys -at Columbia told you where the mistake was. It's where you inverted -that twelve-by-twelve matrix. Didn't you bother to check the inverted -matrix?"</p> - -<p>"The same old tale." Rothman picked up his cards. "No mathematician -will ever admit that another mathematician could invent a method beyond -his comprehension. Still harping on an error in my inverted matrix. -What time is it now?"</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus2.jpg" width="600" height="298" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>"There's no doubt that your calculations are wrong," said Neill, "but -I still don't see why we have to insist on proving it the hard way. -With bombs, why do we need to fool around with the total disintegration -of matter? Sure, I know the new model releases a googol times the -energy you get out of uranium fission, but who cares? There's plenty of -uranium for our needs."</p> - -<p>"The trouble with uranium is that it doesn't make a big enough bang," -said MacPherson. "People aren't impressed by it any more. The same -goes for plutonium, even for lithium, at least for any size bomb we -can make. The idea is to show the world something so convincing that -they'll never even think of a war again. When they see every island in -the Waaku chain wiped off the map, they'll get the point."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Avery creased another card and cleared his throat. "<i>Did</i> you check the -inverted twelve-by-twelve, Rothman?"</p> - -<p>"I suppose you think I forgot to. Have <i>you</i> checked it?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, I have. I may not know much math, but I did check it."</p> - -<p>"Even after the Columbia boys said it was nonsense? Well, does it come -out right?"</p> - -<p>"No, it doesn't! You multiply the inverted matrix by the original and -you not only don't get zeros for all elements outside the diagonal, -you get a haphazard assortment of ones and twos. Worse still, every -element in the diagonal comes out equal to zero. The product of the two -matrices is about as different from the identity matrix as anything -could be. You're one of our most brilliant mathematicians—how could -you manage to make so many mistakes in one set of calculations?"</p> - -<p>"Did I tell you that was an inverted matrix? Maybe, for this problem, -you need something a little more advanced than algebra. Anyhow, if my -math is all wrong, why did your first report okay it?"</p> - -<p>"What do you mean, my first report?"</p> - -<p>"The one you sent to Prexy. The one you later called in and burned. -Except Prexy showed it to me and I photostated it. Here." Rothman -reached into the pile of papers on his desk and drew out a little -envelope. It contained photographic prints. He held one before Avery's -glasses. "Does that look familiar?"</p> - -<p>Avery drew his hand across his forehead, but did not reply.</p> - -<p>"Is that true, Avery?" asked MacPherson. "Did you make a report okaying -Rothman's calculations and then withdraw it?"</p> - -<p>"Well, what if I did? The report didn't seem to make me much more -popular than Rothman was. What if some very influential people in -Government explained to Prexy, and he explained to me, just how -unpopular that first report might make me? Or suppose they didn't. -Maybe I simply didn't find the mistakes in the math until later." Avery -kept looking at his cards as he spoke.</p> - -<p>"Oh, great," said MacPherson. "Rothman gets put away here, Neill and -I lose our jobs, and there's hell to pay in Washington, all because -Avery says Rothman's math is full of holes. Now it turns out he wasn't -sure and maybe was pressured into it. Grand. Between a screwball and a -skunk, I'll choose the screwball. Maybe if Avery had stuck to his guns, -there wouldn't have been any test."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"It doesn't matter," said Rothman. "Avery was probably warned to mend -his ways. I was. Or maybe he couldn't face the truth. I'm sure he's -been much happier, the last few months, believing I'm crazy. Anyway, -I don't blame him any more. Maybe my math will soon speak for itself. -For your benefit—" he turned to Avery—"I may point out that the -errors you said you found affect only the <i>velocity</i> of the wave of -disintegration. So what if that isn't quite right? The proof that the -reaction will be self-sustaining is independent of that."</p> - -<p>Avery was white with rage. "The proof, as you called it, that the -reaction will be self-sustaining and will consume the entire substance -of the Earth doesn't make sense, either. You used D as an operator -where it should have been a constant. That's what finally made them -certain that you were insane."</p> - -<p>There was a rap at the door and Joe poked his head in. "Lunch, -Professors! Twelve o'clock, high noon, like they say. How about some -turkey sandwiches?"</p> - -<p>MacPherson began to sweat; the thought of food made him feel sick.</p> - -<p>Was it possible, he wondered, that in spite of everything, he was not -quite sure? He looked at Neill and Avery, but they had turned their -heads away.</p> - -<p>"We won't bother with lunch, Joe," said Rothman.</p> - -<p>"Must be a pretty good game if you won't even knock off to eat," said -Joe. "Well, will you at least mark your menu for tomorrow?"</p> - -<p>"For tomorrow? Tomorrow isn't going to come, you know."</p> - -<p>"Nuts," muttered Joe as he closed and locked the door. "Pure nuts."</p> - -<p>Avery cleared his throat, and his voice was thin. "Look here, Rothman! -If the Universe were composed of matter as unstable as you claim, -it would have ceased to exist long ago. Somewhere, somehow, in the -infinity of chance events since the creation of the Earth, something -would have occurred to start the self-sustaining chain reaction, and -all matter would have been annihilated."</p> - -<p>"Are you trying to prove something to yourself?" asked Rothman. "Surely -you don't equate infinity with a mere four billion years. That's -a finite time—long enough for the more dangerous radioactives to -disappear completely, of course, but not long enough for all possible -chance events to have taken place. Anyway, I never have asserted that -the reaction would reach from Earth to the other planets, or even to -the Moon. The Universe, including the Solar System, will still go on. -But our old Earth is going up like a pile of magnesium powder mixed -with potassium chlorate when you drop a lighted match on it."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Avery wiped his forehead. "I don't know why I keep arguing with -a lunatic. But you know yourself that the value you give for the -integration constant in those equations is a pure guess, only you -spend ten pages of doubletalk trying to hide that fact. If the constant -is the one you give, why, sure, then you get a chain reaction. But -you made it up! Who ever heard of a constant of that magnitude in the -solution of an ordinary differential equation?"</p> - -<p>"That's one criticism of my work the Harvard and Columbia boys never -mentioned."</p> - -<p>"Okay, then I mention it. You're crazy!"</p> - -<p>"Are you sure?"</p> - -<p>"Positive!"</p> - -<p>"Then why can't you forget the approach of zero hour? I'll tell you -why and you aren't even making a good show of hiding it. You know -that, compared to mine, your knowledge of mathematics is about on a -level with that of a college sophomore. Deep down, you know that my -calculations were correct. You are convinced—<i>convinced</i>—that the -bombing of Waaku has already started a chain reaction. And that about -seventeen minutes past twelve, around eight minutes from now, the shock -wave will reach us, and then the wave of disintegration. Look out of -the window! See that cactus in the sand, with its little yellow flower? -It will be annihilated. All that desert will go, too—every pebble, -every grain of sand. Everything you see, and you yourself, will be -disintegrated, transformed into energy!"</p> - -<p>Suddenly he relaxed into a grin and softened his voice. "I thought we -were playing poker. We're waiting for you to bet. Why don't you at -least look at your cards?"</p> - -<p>Avery opened his mouth, then closed it, and picked up his hand, -riffling the five cards.</p> - -<p>"I'm staying," he said. "Here's your blue and I raise you a blue."</p> - -<p>Slowly the others picked up their hands and stared at the cards. -MacPherson scarcely looked at his as he spoke.</p> - -<p>"I'm staying." He picked up the deck. "Cards, gentlemen?"</p> - -<p>Rothman shook his head. "I'll play these."</p> - -<p>Neill took two. "I like to hold a kicker," he explained.</p> - -<p>Avery and MacPherson drew three.</p> - -<p>"I opened," said Rothman, "and I'll bet five blue chips."</p> - -<p>"See you and raise you a blue," Neill said.</p> - -<p>"I'll string along," said Avery.</p> - -<p>MacPherson threw his hand in. "I'll let you guys fight it out."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>They all looked at Rothman, who was studying his cards.</p> - -<p>"I'll see you," he began, and paused. Then he shoved all of his chips -into the pot. "I'll see you and raise you a hundred blue chips."</p> - -<p>"Damn it Rothman!" MacPherson protested. "I know we agreed on no -limit, but if you go on playing like this, you'll lose more than you -can afford."</p> - -<p>"I've already lost everything," said Rothman, "and so have you. Don't -you know what time it is? In a few minutes, none of you will be around -to try to collect. What time is it now?"</p> - -<p>Avery reached for his watch, then stopped.</p> - -<p>Rothman turned his head. "What's that?"</p> - -<p>Nobody moved.</p> - -<p>A noise like the roar of a swift freight train rushed into the -room, rattling the windows. The walls shook, the floor trembled, the -slide-rule slid off the pile of books and clattered to the floor.</p> - -<p>They jumped to their feet and Avery ran to the window, clutching at the -bars.</p> - -<p>"Not yet," said Rothman calmly. "The cactus plant will still be there, -casting its little shadow. You might as well sit down and finish the -game. That was only the shock wave. Have you forgotten that it is -transmitted through the Earth faster than the wave of disintegration? -We still have a few minutes left. Isn't anybody going to see my bet?"</p> - -<p>Avery lurched to the desk, grabbed a remnant of torn paper and -scribbled on it</p> - -<p>"I'll see you," he yelled, "and raise you a hundred and twenty-five -billion blues!"</p> - -<p>MacPherson walked to the window. "Look at the sky. This is it."</p> - -<p>They all jammed against his back, trying to see the horizon, waiting. -Avery dropped the scrap of paper and covered his eyes.</p> - -<p>"What is there to see?" Neill whispered.</p> - -<p>"I thought—there was a flash...." MacPherson's voice trailed off, and -he rubbed his eyes.</p> - -<p>"But I didn't see anything," said Neill. "There's nothing to see."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>A minute went by. The desert remained calm, the blue sky was unmarked -by even a cloud, the air was still.</p> - -<p>A second minute went by.</p> - -<p>Neill drew out his watch, looked wonderingly at the steady march of -the second hand. Then he turned and stumbled into the lavatory. They -could hear his dry heaves.</p> - -<p>Rothman's eyes wavered from MacPherson to Avery, and back to -MacPherson, and he sighed.</p> - -<p>"Looks as if I was wrong, gentlemen," he said. "Maybe I am crazy, after -all. I wonder if that integration constant could have been wrong." He -reached down to the floor to pick up the fallen slide-rule, sat down -and drew a pad of paper toward him.</p> - -<p>MacPherson leaned against the window, too weak to move. He saw Avery -take his hands away from his eyes. He could hear the chattering of -Avery's teeth, could hear them click as he clamped them together, -trying to control his lips. It seemed a long time before Avery managed -to speak.</p> - -<p>"<i>You!</i>" cried Avery. He lunged forward, grabbed Rothman by the -shoulder and jerked him to his feet. "This—will teach you—not to -make—mistakes—"</p> - -<p>He smashed his fist into Rothman's face.</p> - -<p>Still MacPherson could not move, could not even shout. He could only -listen to Avery.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus3.jpg" width="600" height="219" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>"And this will teach you—not to set up matrices—that don't -multiply—that burn up—the world—"</p> - -<p>Again Avery struck and knocked Rothman to the floor.</p> - -<p>Breaking through his paralysis, MacPherson clutched Avery by the -shoulder, but Avery kicked at the man on the floor, again and again.</p> - -<p>"Avery!" shouted MacPherson. "Snap out of it, man! It's all over! The -test is finished. We're still here. Rothman was wrong, just as we -always knew he was!"</p> - -<p>But Avery was on his knees, pounding Rothman with both fists, sobbing -out meaningless words, oblivious to the shouts outside and to -MacPherson's tugging.</p> - -<p>The door burst open and Joe rushed in, followed by two other attendants.</p> - -<p>"What goes on?" After a glance at Avery's contorted face, Joe grabbed -for his legs. "Send for the doc, boys. We're going to need help."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>One of the men ran down the corridor while Joe and the others succeeded -in pulling Avery away from Rothman, who struggled to his feet. A doctor -came in with a loaded hypodermic. He gave Avery an injection in the arm.</p> - -<p>"Go easy there," said MacPherson. "He'll be all right in a few minutes. -He's had a shock, that's all."</p> - -<p>"Shock," Avery mumbled.</p> - -<p>MacPherson gripped Avery's arm. "Try to relax, man. It's finished. We -never believed in it, of course. But I'll admit it's a relief, even to -me, to be <i>sure</i> there was no danger of a chain reaction at all."</p> - -<p>Suddenly he felt cold.</p> - -<p>There was no understanding in Avery's eyes. He slumped to the floor.</p> - -<p>"Do you think he'll be all right when he comes out from under the -drug?" asked MacPherson.</p> - -<p>"I can't say," said the doctor. "I only saw him a few minutes, when -you came here this morning. I thought at the time he was pretty -disturbed. Much more than Rothman here. Next week, I think, we're going -to send Rothman home."</p> - -<p>Rothman wiped the blood off his chin and grinned weakly. "You don't -mean that, Doc. I used the wrong integration constant in a little -calculation. I must be crazy."</p> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Chain Reaction, by Boyd Ellanby - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAIN REACTION *** - -***** This file should be named 51255-h.htm or 51255-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/2/5/51255/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Chain Reaction - -Author: Boyd Ellanby - -Release Date: February 20, 2016 [EBook #51255] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAIN REACTION *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - CHAIN REACTION - - By BOYD ELLANBY - - Illustrated by DOKTOR - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Galaxy Science Fiction September 1956. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - - - - Would this be the last poker game--with all - life at stake and every card a mere deuce? - - -MacPherson shuffled the cards over and over again. His hands were -almost steady. - -"Want to place a limit on the bets?" he asked. - -His two colleagues who had made the night drive with him from the -University said nothing, but Rothman laughed. - -"Today?" he said. "Today, the sky's the limit." - -MacPherson rested the deck on the table and watched as Rothman stood -up to look through the barred window at the glittering Arizona desert. -Rothman had got thinner during his months of confinement; his shoulders -were bony beneath the gray hospital robe and his balding head looked -like a skull. - -"Are you going to play?" asked MacPherson. "Or is poker too childish an -amusement for a mathematician?" - -Rothman turned his back to the window. "Oh, I'll play. When three old -friends from the Project suddenly turn up for a visit, even a madman -will string along." - -Shuffling the cards again, MacPherson wished the other men would say -something; it wasn't fair of them to make him carry the conversation. -Professor Avery, who had cut his physics classes in order to join the -morning's party, sat in glum silence. His plump face was pale, and -behind thick-lensed spectacles which enlarged his eyes grotesquely, he -blinked as he watched the flickering cards. Dr. Neill, from Physical -Chemistry, was tapping his toe against the table leg, watching Rothman, -who stood at the window, waiting. - -"But we can't have much of a game with only four people," said Rothman. -"We ought to have a fifth." - -"Maybe we can find someone." MacPherson walked to the locked steel door -and rattled the rectangular lattice set in at shoulder height, put his -mouth to the metal bars and called out. - -"Hey, Joe!" - - * * * * * - -An attendant in white uniform shuffled into the corridor of closed -doors, carrying a tray with one hand and scratching his head with the -other. - -"How about joining us for a game of poker?" - -Joe shook his head and grinned. "Not me, Professor! I start buddying -around with the loonies, I lose my job." - -"But we're not inmates!" - -"Maybe not, but Dr. Rothman is." - -"Doesn't prove I'm crazy, Joe," said Rothman. "Conversely, not being -inmates doesn't prove these men are sane." - -"It's a fact you don't look any crazier to me than a lot of -professors," confessed Joe. "I don't know. All I know is, _I'm_ -not crazy enough to break the rules and lose my job. Besides, you -long-hairs wouldn't stand a chance at poker with me." - -Still grinning, he shuffled out of sight down the hall. - -MacPherson sighed and went back to the table. "Well, we'll have to get -along with just the four of us." - -"There's always the unseen guest," said Rothman, "but you won't need to -deal him a hand. He already holds all the cards." - -Neill looked up. "Stop hamming and sit down. Quit making like a maniac. -It's not even a good act." - -"Okay." Rothman drew up a chair. "Now what was said about limiting the -bets?" - -"Why bother setting a limit?" said Neill. "We're not likely to mistake -each other for millionaires and we all got exactly the same pay when we -were on the Project. Unless your sick pay has had two or three zeros -tacked onto it, you're not going to be making any wild bets, and as for -the rest of us--" - -"University professors are still being paid less than nightclub -dancers," said Avery. "You're lucky to be out of the rat race, -Rothman. While we worry about how to pay the grocery bill, you can -relax, eating and sleeping at government expense. You never had it so -good." - -"Maybe you'd like to get yourselves committed and keep me company?" - -MacPherson rapped the deck on the table. "Stop that kind of talk. We -came here to play poker." - -"Did you?" asked Rothman, grinning. "Then why don't you deal?" - -"Cut, Neill?" said MacPherson. As he shot the slippery cards over the -table top, each flick of his thumb watched by Rothman's intent eyes, -he regretted this impulsive visit; it now seemed a gesture without -meaning. He wondered whether the others were as nervous as he was. - -On the drive over from Los Angeles during the night, Neill had seemed -calm enough and even Avery, who had changed a lot during work on the -Project, had chatted with them unconstrainedly. It was hard to be -certain what other men were feeling, even when you had known them a -long time, but it could not be pleasant for any of them to be visiting -a former colleague who had been removed from the Project directly to a -sanitarium. - -"Tell me something," said Rothman as he picked up his cards. "Do you -still think I'm crazy?" - -"Don't be an idiot," MacPherson snapped. "Do you think we'd cut our -classes and drive nearly five hundred miles just to play poker with a -lunatic?" - -"No," said Rothman. "That's how I know. But why aren't you frank about -it? Why keep on pretending there wasn't a special reason for your -visit?" - - * * * * * - -Neill was beating his foot against the table leg again and Avery's eyes -were hard and staring as he examined his cards. - -"Who'll open?" MacPherson asked. "I can't." - -"I can," said Rothman. "I'm betting one blue chip. Listen, Avery, why -won't you look at me? If you think I'm hamming, what do you call your -own act? How long are we going to go on kidding each other? They've -shut me up here, but that doesn't mean they've stopped me from logical -thinking. My three old friends from the Project don't turn up in the -middle of a Friday morning just to calm my fevered brain with a card -game." - -"What's wrong with poker?" demanded MacPherson. - -"Poker? Nothing. I know--It must be the test. Total conversion of -matter to energy. Not just a minute percentage any more--_total_ -conversion. They've finished the set, haven't they? They're ready to -test. They're going to disintegrate Waaku, aren't they? It must be -today. Then this is the day the world ends. Tell me, when is zero hour?" - -Neill's cards had slipped from his fingers and he stooped to the floor, -fumbling for them. Avery was bending one corner of a card, creasing it, -smoothing it out, and creasing it again. Nobody was going to answer, -MacPherson realized. They were leaving it up to him. - -He spoke sharply. "You're getting onto forbidden ground, Rothman. You -know we're not allowed to discuss the Project with you. We're allowed -to visit you only under the strictest promise not to speak of it at -all. You're certainly rational enough to understand what the therapists -have told you, that you'd get well easily enough if you'd stop -worrying. Forget about zero hour. Everything's going to be all right." - -Rothman turned to look out the window. "Is it today?" - -"How should we know? We're only innocent bystanders now, like you. -Remember, we all left the Project over six months ago, except Avery, -and last month they let him go." - -Neill had rearranged his cards now and he looked at them instead of -Rothman as he spoke. "There's nothing to worry about. Your calculations -were wrong. The test is not going to get out of control--if and when -they make it. But they don't tell us things any more." - -"Since they fired you," said Rothman. - -"That's right, since they fired us," Neill said. The creased corner of -a card suddenly broke off in his fingers. - -"If you didn't believe in my calculations, why did you back me up? I -didn't ask you to. If you didn't believe in the danger, why didn't you -stay out of the argument and keep your jobs? It wasn't your fight. You -could have kept out of it--or attacked me, like Avery." - -"All we did was insist that even if you had made a mistake in your -calculations, that didn't necessarily prove you were crazy," said -Neill. "We didn't know whether you were right or not. We couldn't argue -about the math. Avery tore that to pieces and the boys at Columbia and -Harvard backed him up. MacPherson and I aren't competent to check your -math. To us, you didn't seem any crazier than the people who sent you -here. But after you'd scared them silly, they had to do something to -stop your scaring other people." - - * * * * * - -He turned to pick up his cards again, but stopped at the sight of -Avery. Avery was standing and crumpling a card spasmodically, his lips -were moving without sound, and he was breathing rapidly. - -"Look here," said MacPherson. "You'd better change the subject. If -little Joe passes by the door and hears us talking about the Project, -he'll have our visiting privileges revoked before you can say nuclear -fission, and they'll stay revoked forever." - -"How long is forever?" asked Rothman. - -Avery threw down his cards and walked to the window. Through the bars, -there was nothing to be seen but the expanse of sand, glinting in the -morning sun, and a cactus plant casting a stubby shadow. He whirled to -face the others. - -"Look, MacPherson," he burst out. "I'm fed up with this game. Snookums -Rothman mustn't think about the Project any more, so we mustn't say the -naughty word. But we were all in it together at the beginning and there -was a while when we were all every bit as scared as he was. Why not -tell him we came this morning in case--just in case--he'd heard about -the test and was worrying? What's the harm in telling him what the -whole university knows? That zero hour is today, this morning, now!" - -"Shut up, you fool!" said MacPherson. - -But Rothman glanced at his cards again, then looked up. "When does it -begin? What time is it now?" - -"Don't answer!" shouted MacPherson. "Are you trying to knock him off -balance again?" - -"I will answer!" said Avery. "I'm going to tell him. He scared us silly -with his calculations; now let us scare him with some cold facts. It'll -do him good. Maybe when the test is over, if he finds--I mean _when_ he -finds--he was wrong, he'll be cured." - -"Yes, and maybe he'll really be crazy." - -Grabbing Avery fiercely by the arm, MacPherson tried to drag him to the -door, but Avery broke away. - -"Listen, Rothman!" Avery's breath was coming quick and shallow. "Today -is the day! Zero hour is eleven o'clock this morning!" - - * * * * * - -MacPherson sagged. No one spoke or moved as they all watched Rothman. - -At last Rothman sighed, once. "What time is it now?" - -From the door came a scratching sound. MacPherson turned to see Joe, -grinning at them through the steel lattice. - -"How's things?" Joe wanted to know. "Thought I heard a commotion in -here. Doc Rothman's not acting up, I hope?" - -"Everything's under control, Joe," MacPherson assured him. "Just having -a friendly game." - -"Don't cheat while they're watching you," said Joe, and his face -disappeared. - -"Well, the murder's out," said MacPherson. - -"No use kidding you any longer," Neill said, fanning his cards. -"Eleven o'clock this morning. Six o'clock tomorrow morning, Waaku time. -But it's just another test. Nothing's going to happen." - -Avery took off his glasses and began to polish the lenses. "Any idea -of a possible chain reaction is ridiculous. As a matter of fact, I -recently spent a full week checking the math again myself, so I know. -But we knew how you felt about it, Rothman, and we didn't want you to -be worrying here all alone, in case you'd found out. That's why we -came." - -Rothman was looking out the window. He did not answer. Slowly -MacPherson went back to his chair and picked up his cards. "And now how -about playing some poker? Rothman, you opened for a blue. What about -you, Neill?" - -"I'm staying," said Neill, shoving in a chip. "Always was a gambler. -I'm going to stay till the cows come home." - -"What time is it?" Rothman asked. "I haven't got a wristwatch. They -think I might break the crystal and cut my throat." - -MacPherson slammed down his cards and jerked his watch from his pocket. -"What does it matter what time it is? Why couldn't they give you a -watch with a plastic crystal? If you have to know, it's eleven-forty." - -"And thirteen seconds," added Neill. - -"Then it's already started," said Rothman. - - * * * * * - -He leaned his head against the back of his chair and closed his eyes. -"It's on its way now. There's somewhat more than a third of the -Earth between us and Waaku--the place where Waaku was, I mean. The -disintegration wave is moving slowly. The seismic wave of an earthquake -would get here in about fifty minutes, more or less. But the shock wave -from Waaku, traveling somewhere around five thousand miles an hour, -will need about an hour and seventeen minutes, plus or minus a minute -or so. That means it will reach us in about thirty-seven minutes from -now, and the disintegration wave is following close behind. Well, nice -to have known you, fellows. Anyone want to check my math?" - -He waved toward the desk behind him, piled high with manuscript and a -sprawling heap of books on which rested a slide-rule. - -"Calm down," said MacPherson. "Nothing is going to happen. Damn you, -Avery! Are you proud of what you accomplished?" - -Avery glared. "It'll do him good! He's got to learn to face reality, -like the rest of us. In a little more than half an hour, the test will -be finished. The world will still be here. Rothman will have to admit -his equations were wrong--and then he'll be cured." - -Rothman leaned forward. "Or contrariwise, Rothman will _not_ have to -admit he was wrong and Rothman will _not_ be cured! If I made a mistake -in my math, why couldn't anybody put his finger on it? I'm not so crazy -that I wouldn't be able to see an error in calculus when it was pointed -out to me. If you're sure my calculations are wrong, why do you look so -frightened?" - -"Do we have to go over all that again?" said MacPherson. "The boys -at Columbia told you where the mistake was. It's where you inverted -that twelve-by-twelve matrix. Didn't you bother to check the inverted -matrix?" - -"The same old tale." Rothman picked up his cards. "No mathematician -will ever admit that another mathematician could invent a method beyond -his comprehension. Still harping on an error in my inverted matrix. -What time is it now?" - -"There's no doubt that your calculations are wrong," said Neill, "but -I still don't see why we have to insist on proving it the hard way. -With bombs, why do we need to fool around with the total disintegration -of matter? Sure, I know the new model releases a googol times the -energy you get out of uranium fission, but who cares? There's plenty of -uranium for our needs." - -"The trouble with uranium is that it doesn't make a big enough bang," -said MacPherson. "People aren't impressed by it any more. The same -goes for plutonium, even for lithium, at least for any size bomb we -can make. The idea is to show the world something so convincing that -they'll never even think of a war again. When they see every island in -the Waaku chain wiped off the map, they'll get the point." - - * * * * * - -Avery creased another card and cleared his throat. "_Did_ you check the -inverted twelve-by-twelve, Rothman?" - -"I suppose you think I forgot to. Have _you_ checked it?" - -"Yes, I have. I may not know much math, but I did check it." - -"Even after the Columbia boys said it was nonsense? Well, does it come -out right?" - -"No, it doesn't! You multiply the inverted matrix by the original and -you not only don't get zeros for all elements outside the diagonal, -you get a haphazard assortment of ones and twos. Worse still, every -element in the diagonal comes out equal to zero. The product of the two -matrices is about as different from the identity matrix as anything -could be. You're one of our most brilliant mathematicians--how could -you manage to make so many mistakes in one set of calculations?" - -"Did I tell you that was an inverted matrix? Maybe, for this problem, -you need something a little more advanced than algebra. Anyhow, if my -math is all wrong, why did your first report okay it?" - -"What do you mean, my first report?" - -"The one you sent to Prexy. The one you later called in and burned. -Except Prexy showed it to me and I photostated it. Here." Rothman -reached into the pile of papers on his desk and drew out a little -envelope. It contained photographic prints. He held one before Avery's -glasses. "Does that look familiar?" - -Avery drew his hand across his forehead, but did not reply. - -"Is that true, Avery?" asked MacPherson. "Did you make a report okaying -Rothman's calculations and then withdraw it?" - -"Well, what if I did? The report didn't seem to make me much more -popular than Rothman was. What if some very influential people in -Government explained to Prexy, and he explained to me, just how -unpopular that first report might make me? Or suppose they didn't. -Maybe I simply didn't find the mistakes in the math until later." Avery -kept looking at his cards as he spoke. - -"Oh, great," said MacPherson. "Rothman gets put away here, Neill and -I lose our jobs, and there's hell to pay in Washington, all because -Avery says Rothman's math is full of holes. Now it turns out he wasn't -sure and maybe was pressured into it. Grand. Between a screwball and a -skunk, I'll choose the screwball. Maybe if Avery had stuck to his guns, -there wouldn't have been any test." - - * * * * * - -"It doesn't matter," said Rothman. "Avery was probably warned to mend -his ways. I was. Or maybe he couldn't face the truth. I'm sure he's -been much happier, the last few months, believing I'm crazy. Anyway, -I don't blame him any more. Maybe my math will soon speak for itself. -For your benefit--" he turned to Avery--"I may point out that the -errors you said you found affect only the _velocity_ of the wave of -disintegration. So what if that isn't quite right? The proof that the -reaction will be self-sustaining is independent of that." - -Avery was white with rage. "The proof, as you called it, that the -reaction will be self-sustaining and will consume the entire substance -of the Earth doesn't make sense, either. You used D as an operator -where it should have been a constant. That's what finally made them -certain that you were insane." - -There was a rap at the door and Joe poked his head in. "Lunch, -Professors! Twelve o'clock, high noon, like they say. How about some -turkey sandwiches?" - -MacPherson began to sweat; the thought of food made him feel sick. - -Was it possible, he wondered, that in spite of everything, he was not -quite sure? He looked at Neill and Avery, but they had turned their -heads away. - -"We won't bother with lunch, Joe," said Rothman. - -"Must be a pretty good game if you won't even knock off to eat," said -Joe. "Well, will you at least mark your menu for tomorrow?" - -"For tomorrow? Tomorrow isn't going to come, you know." - -"Nuts," muttered Joe as he closed and locked the door. "Pure nuts." - -Avery cleared his throat, and his voice was thin. "Look here, Rothman! -If the Universe were composed of matter as unstable as you claim, -it would have ceased to exist long ago. Somewhere, somehow, in the -infinity of chance events since the creation of the Earth, something -would have occurred to start the self-sustaining chain reaction, and -all matter would have been annihilated." - -"Are you trying to prove something to yourself?" asked Rothman. "Surely -you don't equate infinity with a mere four billion years. That's -a finite time--long enough for the more dangerous radioactives to -disappear completely, of course, but not long enough for all possible -chance events to have taken place. Anyway, I never have asserted that -the reaction would reach from Earth to the other planets, or even to -the Moon. The Universe, including the Solar System, will still go on. -But our old Earth is going up like a pile of magnesium powder mixed -with potassium chlorate when you drop a lighted match on it." - - * * * * * - -Avery wiped his forehead. "I don't know why I keep arguing with -a lunatic. But you know yourself that the value you give for the -integration constant in those equations is a pure guess, only you -spend ten pages of doubletalk trying to hide that fact. If the constant -is the one you give, why, sure, then you get a chain reaction. But -you made it up! Who ever heard of a constant of that magnitude in the -solution of an ordinary differential equation?" - -"That's one criticism of my work the Harvard and Columbia boys never -mentioned." - -"Okay, then I mention it. You're crazy!" - -"Are you sure?" - -"Positive!" - -"Then why can't you forget the approach of zero hour? I'll tell you -why and you aren't even making a good show of hiding it. You know -that, compared to mine, your knowledge of mathematics is about on a -level with that of a college sophomore. Deep down, you know that my -calculations were correct. You are convinced--_convinced_--that the -bombing of Waaku has already started a chain reaction. And that about -seventeen minutes past twelve, around eight minutes from now, the shock -wave will reach us, and then the wave of disintegration. Look out of -the window! See that cactus in the sand, with its little yellow flower? -It will be annihilated. All that desert will go, too--every pebble, -every grain of sand. Everything you see, and you yourself, will be -disintegrated, transformed into energy!" - -Suddenly he relaxed into a grin and softened his voice. "I thought we -were playing poker. We're waiting for you to bet. Why don't you at -least look at your cards?" - -Avery opened his mouth, then closed it, and picked up his hand, -riffling the five cards. - -"I'm staying," he said. "Here's your blue and I raise you a blue." - -Slowly the others picked up their hands and stared at the cards. -MacPherson scarcely looked at his as he spoke. - -"I'm staying." He picked up the deck. "Cards, gentlemen?" - -Rothman shook his head. "I'll play these." - -Neill took two. "I like to hold a kicker," he explained. - -Avery and MacPherson drew three. - -"I opened," said Rothman, "and I'll bet five blue chips." - -"See you and raise you a blue," Neill said. - -"I'll string along," said Avery. - -MacPherson threw his hand in. "I'll let you guys fight it out." - - * * * * * - -They all looked at Rothman, who was studying his cards. - -"I'll see you," he began, and paused. Then he shoved all of his chips -into the pot. "I'll see you and raise you a hundred blue chips." - -"Damn it Rothman!" MacPherson protested. "I know we agreed on no -limit, but if you go on playing like this, you'll lose more than you -can afford." - -"I've already lost everything," said Rothman, "and so have you. Don't -you know what time it is? In a few minutes, none of you will be around -to try to collect. What time is it now?" - -Avery reached for his watch, then stopped. - -Rothman turned his head. "What's that?" - -Nobody moved. - -A noise like the roar of a swift freight train rushed into the -room, rattling the windows. The walls shook, the floor trembled, the -slide-rule slid off the pile of books and clattered to the floor. - -They jumped to their feet and Avery ran to the window, clutching at the -bars. - -"Not yet," said Rothman calmly. "The cactus plant will still be there, -casting its little shadow. You might as well sit down and finish the -game. That was only the shock wave. Have you forgotten that it is -transmitted through the Earth faster than the wave of disintegration? -We still have a few minutes left. Isn't anybody going to see my bet?" - -Avery lurched to the desk, grabbed a remnant of torn paper and -scribbled on it - -"I'll see you," he yelled, "and raise you a hundred and twenty-five -billion blues!" - -MacPherson walked to the window. "Look at the sky. This is it." - -They all jammed against his back, trying to see the horizon, waiting. -Avery dropped the scrap of paper and covered his eyes. - -"What is there to see?" Neill whispered. - -"I thought--there was a flash...." MacPherson's voice trailed off, and -he rubbed his eyes. - -"But I didn't see anything," said Neill. "There's nothing to see." - - * * * * * - -A minute went by. The desert remained calm, the blue sky was unmarked -by even a cloud, the air was still. - -A second minute went by. - -Neill drew out his watch, looked wonderingly at the steady march of -the second hand. Then he turned and stumbled into the lavatory. They -could hear his dry heaves. - -Rothman's eyes wavered from MacPherson to Avery, and back to -MacPherson, and he sighed. - -"Looks as if I was wrong, gentlemen," he said. "Maybe I am crazy, after -all. I wonder if that integration constant could have been wrong." He -reached down to the floor to pick up the fallen slide-rule, sat down -and drew a pad of paper toward him. - -MacPherson leaned against the window, too weak to move. He saw Avery -take his hands away from his eyes. He could hear the chattering of -Avery's teeth, could hear them click as he clamped them together, -trying to control his lips. It seemed a long time before Avery managed -to speak. - -"_You!_" cried Avery. He lunged forward, grabbed Rothman by the -shoulder and jerked him to his feet. "This--will teach you--not to -make--mistakes--" - -He smashed his fist into Rothman's face. - -Still MacPherson could not move, could not even shout. He could only -listen to Avery. - -"And this will teach you--not to set up matrices--that don't -multiply--that burn up--the world--" - -Again Avery struck and knocked Rothman to the floor. - -Breaking through his paralysis, MacPherson clutched Avery by the -shoulder, but Avery kicked at the man on the floor, again and again. - -"Avery!" shouted MacPherson. "Snap out of it, man! It's all over! The -test is finished. We're still here. Rothman was wrong, just as we -always knew he was!" - -But Avery was on his knees, pounding Rothman with both fists, sobbing -out meaningless words, oblivious to the shouts outside and to -MacPherson's tugging. - -The door burst open and Joe rushed in, followed by two other attendants. - -"What goes on?" After a glance at Avery's contorted face, Joe grabbed -for his legs. "Send for the doc, boys. We're going to need help." - - * * * * * - -One of the men ran down the corridor while Joe and the others succeeded -in pulling Avery away from Rothman, who struggled to his feet. A doctor -came in with a loaded hypodermic. He gave Avery an injection in the arm. - -"Go easy there," said MacPherson. "He'll be all right in a few minutes. -He's had a shock, that's all." - -"Shock," Avery mumbled. - -MacPherson gripped Avery's arm. "Try to relax, man. It's finished. We -never believed in it, of course. But I'll admit it's a relief, even to -me, to be _sure_ there was no danger of a chain reaction at all." - -Suddenly he felt cold. - -There was no understanding in Avery's eyes. He slumped to the floor. - -"Do you think he'll be all right when he comes out from under the -drug?" asked MacPherson. - -"I can't say," said the doctor. "I only saw him a few minutes, when -you came here this morning. I thought at the time he was pretty -disturbed. Much more than Rothman here. Next week, I think, we're going -to send Rothman home." - -Rothman wiped the blood off his chin and grinned weakly. "You don't -mean that, Doc. I used the wrong integration constant in a little -calculation. I must be crazy." - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Chain Reaction, by Boyd Ellanby - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAIN REACTION *** - -***** This file should be named 51255.txt or 51255.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/2/5/51255/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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