MacReedy laughed. "Hardly," he replied. "I"m American, never fear. I"m just one of the lucky few who has been able to make a good living out of my hobby; I have no axes to grind."
"We may have an axe to grind with you," said the General with a hint of grimness. The rocket-launcher and the improved A-gun were like the one-two punch of a good heavyweight-hitter. He went back to the XT-101, said, "About this twin-mount tank--how"d you figure we"d mount the automatic machinery outside the turret?"
"That wasn"t too difficult--if I"m right; and I gather I am," said MacReedy. "There"s simply too much stuff to put inside a tank-turret; you"ve got to mount it outside. And that means plenty of protection, which means an extra armored sleeve. So...."
3
The General said, "MacReedy, why are you showing me this? I could be an imposter, a spy."
"With that official limousine?" the model-maker countered. "I doubt it.
Besides, Toby vouches for you."
"Risky," said the General.
"Besides," said MacReedy with the suggestion of a smile, "I"ve seen your picture in _Life_ magazine." He paused, added, "After all, in my humble way I"m a bit of an ordnance nut myself."
"I don"t believe you," said the General flatly--"I mean about working these things out through logic and guesses. But however you do it, surely you can appreciate that you"re much too dangerous to be walking around loose. Especially since _They_ know about you. I"m afraid I"m going to have to take you back with me."
"Nothing doing," said MacReedy. "I can take care of myself. Besides, this is my home. I like it here."
"You"re being close to treasonable," said the General.
"Not I--_you_ are," came the incredible reply. "You, not I, are attempting to deny a citizen his rights under the Const.i.tution."
"d.a.m.n it, man!" the General backpedaled quickly. "Can"t you understand?
Suppose _They_ got hold of you--_They"d_ have you dishing up our innermost secrets to them ahead of time. I don"t need to tell you what that could mean in the present world situation."
"You don"t, General," said MacReedy. "But I don"t think _They"d_ get much out of me--much that was useful, I mean. I can"t think clearly under drugs or torture; I"d be more of a menace than a help. I explained that to my visitor before you came. He seemed to believe me."
"Maybe _he_ did," said the baffled General, "but don"t bet on his superiors. You"ve been an Army officer, MacReedy; I can have you called back into service."
"With a permanent medical discharge?" MacReedy countered.
The General sighed. He knew when he was beaten. He said, "You"ll have to stand for a guard then--twenty-four hours. We"ll keep them out of sight as much as possible." He wished the whole business were rationally explicable to his own superiors. As it was he knew his hands were tied when it came to drastic action.
"I suppose it"s necessary," said MacReedy sadly, but not defiantly; "I should never have tried to show off."
"It"s too late for that sort of thing," said the General. "I"m going to have to take some of your models with me--it"s too late to do much about the new tank, but I"ll have to have the rocket-launcher and the A-gun.
And I"ll want your promise not to indulge in any more such experiments except as I request."
"That I am glad to give you," said MacReedy and there was no doubting the sincerity of his words.
"I"ll pay you for them," offered the General.
"Of course," replied the model-maker; "my name isn"t MacReedy for nothing."
As he handed over a couple of hundred dollars the General found himself almost liking the man. _d.a.m.n these screwb.a.l.l.s_, he thought. He wondered when he was going to wake up and find it hadn"t happened. It _couldn"t_ be happening, any of it. But the perilously-perfect models, of weapons that were yet to be, felt terribly real to his touch.
He said, "Toby, run upstairs and tell Sergeant Riley to come down here and take some stuff out to the car." And, when the boy was gone, "MacReedy, will you do some work for us?"
"Of course," said the other. "A man gets feeling a bit useless making toy soldiers in times like these."
"The pay won"t be much...." the General began.
"I can afford it," said MacReedy with the unexpected generosity of the true Scotsman. "What do you want me to do?"
"_They_ have a new weapon building," said the General. "All we"ve got are a few spy-photographs--not very good, I"m afraid."
"What sort of weapon?" the model-maker asked.
"That"s just it--we don"t know," replied the General. "I"m going to send you what we have on it tomorrow; I"m hoping you can give us a line on its purpose." He paused, added grimly, "As it is we don"t know how to meet it. We haven"t an inkling. It"s given the Chief a whole new patch of grey hairs."
"I"ll do what I can," said MacReedy. "But don"t expect the moon."
"All I want is the nature and purpose of that weapon--if it _is_ a weapon," was the General"s reply. Then Toby and Sergeant Riley came clumping down the stairs and the conference was at an end.
Before he left the General gave Toby five dollars. "That"s for bringing me here," he told the lad. "You"ll be seeing me again."
"Yes, sir," said Toby. He didn"t sound at all surprised.
When he got back In the car alone, the general counted the models on the seat beside him--one rocket-launcher, one A-gun. He said, "Riley, how are we fixed for gas?"
"Pretty good, sir," came the reply. "We can make the city okay, sir."
"Fill up before you get there," the General told him. "We"re going right on through to Washington tonight."
"But, sir, I haven"t notified the motor pool at Governor"s Island," the Sergeant protested.
"d.a.m.n the motor pool!" the General exploded. "I"ll take care of them.
Now get going; we"ve got a long drive ahead."
The big car gathered speed through the thickening night snow.
The General slept most of the way, after he and the Sergeant stopped for dinner at a Howard Johnson restaurant on Route One, just north of New Brunswick. After a shower, a change into uniform and breakfast, he was in sound operating shape when he reached his office at the Pentagon the next morning.
He arranged for a round-the-clock guard of Angus MacReedy"s house, ordered investigation of the model-maker"s record, had a copy of the complete file on the possible enemy weapon forwarded to Long Island by special messenger. Then he summoned a special meeting of top-echelon Ordnance bra.s.s and produced the models of the XT-101, the self-reloading rocket launcher and the improved A-gun.
If such a Broadway-Hollywood term as _sensational_ could be used in any connection with a Pentagon conference, the General"s meeting with his colleagues might have qualified for it. Experts were quick to understand the practicability of the models, quick to recast their plans accordingly.
Within the week, he was summoned before the Combined Chiefs and commended by that body for his clear-sightedness in cutting Gordian knots of the most baffling order. There was talk of a third star and appointment as Chief of Ordnance once the somewhat-doddering inc.u.mbent was retired, come June. He was a sort of brown-haired white-haired boy.
He was interviewed by representatives of three national newsweeklies.
Though he wore his new honors gracefully, actually the General was thoroughly uncomfortable. He was far more concerned with the safety of the country than with his own advancement; and his ego was much too solidly-based to permit him enjoyment of honors that were not rightfully his.
The worst of it was that he couldn"t explain. If he told his superiors that his "inspirations" came from the intuitive head of a toy-soldier maker on Long Island who even denied his intuition in the name of logic--not only would his own career be permanently damaged, but the value of MacReedy"s models would be suspected. So much so that they might be disregarded entirely--thus retying the Gordian knots that were stymying the armament program.