The Cosmic Computer H. Beam Piper (reader novel txt) đ
- Author: H. Beam Piper
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âWhat did he tell you?â
The old man had been incredibly thin and frail. Under normal gravitation, his life would have gone out like a blown match. Even at one-sixth G, it had cost him effort to rise and greet the guest. There had been a younger man, a mere stripling of seventy-odd; he had been worried, and excused himself at once. Travis had laughed after he had gone out.
âMike Shanlee; my aide-de-camp on Poictesme. Now he thinks heâs my keeper. Heâll have a squad of doctors and a platoon of nurses in here as soon as youâre gone, so take your time. Now, tell me how things are on Poictesmeâ ââ âŠâ
âJust about that,â he told his father. âI finally mentioned Merlin, as an old legend people still talked about. I was ashamed to admit anybody really believed in it. He laughed, and said, âGreat Ghu, is that thing still around? Well, I suppose so; it was all through the Third Force during the War. Lord only knows how these rumors start among troops. We never contradicted it; it was good for morale.âââ
They had started walking again, and were out on the Mall; the sky was flaming red and orange from high cirrus clouds in the sunset light. They stopped by a dry fountain, perhaps the one from which he had seen the dust blowing. Rodney Maxwell sat down on the edge of the basin and got out two cigars, handing one to Conn, who produced his lighter.
âConn, they wouldnât have believed you and Foxx Travis,â he said. âMerlinâs a religion with those people. Merlinâs a robot god, something they can shove all their problems onto. As soon as they find Merlin, everybody will be rich and happy, the government bonds will be redeemed at face value plus interest, the paper moneyâll be worth a hundred Federation centisols to the sol, and the leaves and wastepaper will be raked off the Mall, all by magic.â He muttered an unprintability and laughed bitterly.
âI didnât know you were the village atheist, Father.â
âIn a religious community, the village atheist keeps his doubts to himself. I have to do business with these Merlinolators. Itâs all I can do to keep Flora from antagonizing them at school.â
Flora was a teacher; now she was assistant principal of the grade schools. Professor Kellton was also school superintendent. He could see how that would be.
âFloraâs not a True Believer, then?â
Rodney Maxwell shook his head. âThatâs largely Wade Lucasâs influence, Iâd say. You know about him.â
Just from letters. Wade Lucas was from Baldur; heâd gone off-planet as soon as heâd gotten his M.D. Evidently the professional situation there was the same as on Terra; plenty of opportunities, and fifty competitors for each one. On Poictesme, there were few opportunities, but nobody competed for anything, not even to find Merlin.
âHeâd never heard of Merlin till he came here, and when he did, he just couldnât believe in it. I donât blame him. Iâve heard about it all my life, and I canât.â
âWhy not?â
âTo begin with, I suppose, because itâs just another of these things everybody believes. Then, Iâve had to do some studying on the Third Force occupation of Poictesme to know where to go and dig, and I never found any official, or even reliably unofficial, mention of anything of the sort. Forty years is a long time to keep a secret, you know. And I canât see why they didnât come back for it after the pressure to get the troops home was off, or why they didnât build a dozen Merlins. This isnât the only planet that has problems they canât solve for themselves.â
âWhatâs Motherâs attitude on Merlin?â
âSheâs against it. She thinks it isnât right to make machines that are smarter than people.â
âIâll agree. Itâs scientifically impossible.â
âThatâs what Iâve been trying to tell her. Conn, I noticed that after Kurt Fawzi started talking about how long it would take to get to the Gamma System, you jumped right into it and began talking up a ship. Did you think that if you got them started on that it would take their minds off Merlin?â
âThat gang up in Fawziâs office? Nifflheim, no! Theyâll go on hunting Merlin till they die. But I was serious about the ship. An idea hit me. You gave it to me; you and Klem Zareff.â
âWhy, I didnât say a wordâ ââ âŠâ
âDown on the shipping floor, before we went up. You were talking about selling arms and ammunition at a profit of two hundred sols a ton, and Klem was talking as though a bumper crop was worse than a Green Death epidemic. If we had a hypership, look what we could do. How much do you think a settler on Hoth or Malebolge or Irminsul would pay for a good rifle and a thousand rounds? How much would he pay for his life?â âthatâs what it would come to. And do you know what a fifteen-cc liqueur glass of Poictesme brandy sells for on Terra? One sol; Federation money. Iâll admit it costs like Nifflheim to run a hypership, but look at the difference between what these tramp freighter captains pay at Storisende and what they get.â
âIâve been looking at it for a long time. Maybe if we had a few ships of our own, these planters would be breaking new ground instead of cutting their plantings, and maybe weâd get some money on this planet that was worth something. You have a good idea there, son. But maybe thereâs an angle to it you havenât thought of.â
Conn puffed slowly at the cigar. Why couldnât they grow tobacco like this on Terra? Soil chemicals, he supposed; that wasnât his subject.
âYou canât put this scheme over on its own merits. This gang wouldnât lift a finger to build a hypership. Theyâve completely lost hope in everything but Merlin.â
âWell, can do. Iâll even convince them
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