Rapidly, Dougla.s.s was dismounting the apparatus, as Devin started for the stock room. Kendall started making some new connections, reconnecting the apparatus they had intended using on the "atomic engine," largely high-capacity resistances. He seemed to perform this work mechanically, his mind definitely on something else. Suddenly he stopped, and looked carefully into the receiver of the machine. The metal in it was silvery, liquid, and here and there a floating crystal of the dull red metal. Slowly a smile spread across his face. He turned to Dougla.s.s.
"Dougla.s.s--ah, you"re through. Get on the trail of MacBride, and get him and his crew to work making half a dozen smaller things like this. Tell "em they can leave off the tungsten shield. I want different metals in the receiver of each. Use--hmmm--sodium--copper--magnesium--aluminium, iron and chromium. Got it?"
"Yes, sir." He left, just as Devin returned with a large electrostatic voltmeter.
"I"d like," said he, "to know how you know the voltage will range around eighty thousand."
"K-ring excitation potential for mercury. I"m willing to bet that thing simply shoved the whole electron system of the mercury out a notch--that it simply _hasn"t_ any K-ring of electrons now. I"m trying some other metals. Dougla.s.s is going to have MacBride make up half a dozen more machines. Machines--they need a name. This--ah--this is an "atostor."
MacBride"s going to make up half a dozen of "em, and try half a dozen metals. I"m almost certain that"s not mercury in there now, at all. It"s probably element 99 or something like it."
"It looks like mercury--"
"Certainly. So would 99. Following the periodic table, 99 would probably have an even lower melting point than mercury, be silvery, dense and heavy--and perhaps slightly radioactive. The series under the B family of Group II is Magnesium, Zinc, Cadmium, Mercury--and 99. The melting point is going down all the way, and they"re all silvery metals. I"m going to try copper, and I fully expect it to turn silvery--in fact, to become silver."
"Then let"s see." Swiftly they hooked up the apparatus, realigned the projector, and again Kendall took his place at the power-board. As he closed the switch, on no-load, the electrostatic voltmeter flopped over instantly, and steadied at just over 80,000 volts.
"I hate to say "I told you so,"" said Kendall. "But let"s hook in a load. Try it on about 100 amps first."
Devin began cutting in load. The resistors began heating up swiftly as more and more current flowed through them. By not so much as by a vibration of the voltmeter needle, did the apparatus betray any strain as the load mounted swiftly. 100--200--500--1000 amperes. Still, that needle held steady. Finally, with a drain of ten thousand amperes, all the equipment available could handle, the needle was steady as a rock, though the tremendous load of 800,000,000 watts was cut in and out.
That, to atoms, atoms by the nonillions, was no appreciable load at all.
There was _no_ internal resistance whatever. The perfect acc.u.mulator had certainly been discovered.
"I"ll have to call McLaurin--" Kendall hurried away with a broad, broad smile.
VI
"h.e.l.lo, Tom?"
The telephone rattled in a peeved sort of way. "Yes, it is. What now?
And when am I going to see you in a social sort of way again?"
"Not for a long, long time; I"m busy. I"m busy right now as a matter of fact. I"m calling up the vice-president of Faragaut Interplanetary Lines, and I want to place an order."
"Why bother me? We have clerks, you know, for that sort of thing,"
suggested Faragaut in a pained voice.
"Tom, do you know how much I"m worth now?"
"Not much," replied Faragaut promptly. "What of it? I hear, as a matter of fact that you"re worth even less in a business way. They"re talking quite a lot down this way about an alleged bank you"re setting up on Luna. I hear it"s got more protective devices, and armor than any IP station in the System, that you even had it designed by an IP designer, and have a gang of Colonels and Generals in charge. I also hear that you"ve succeeded in getting rid of money at about one million dollars a day--just slightly shy of that."
"You overestimate me, my friend. Much of that is merely contracted for.
Actually it"ll take me nearly nine months to get rid of it. And by that time I"ll have more. Anyway, I think I have something like ten million left. And remember that way back in the twentieth century some old fellow beat my record. Armour, I think it was, lost a million dollars a day for a couple of months running.
"Anyway, what I called you up for was to say I"d like to order five hundred thousand tons of mercury, for delivery as soon as possible."
"What! Oh, say, I thought you were going in for business." Faragaut gave a slight laugh of relief.
"Tom, I am. I mean exactly what I say. I want five--hundred--thousand--_tons_ of metallic mercury, and just as soon as you can get it."
"Man, there isn"t that much in the system."
"I know it. Get all there is on the market for me, and contract to take all the "Jupiter Heavy-Metals" can turn out. You send those orders through, and clean out the market completely. Somebody"s about to pay for the work I"ve been doing, and boy, they"re going to pay through the nose. After you"ve got that order launched, and don"t make a christening party of the launching either, why just drop out here, and I"ll show you why the value of mercury is going so high you won"t be able to follow it in a s.p.a.ce ship."
"The cost of that," said Faragaut, seriously now, "will be about--fifty-three million at the market price. You"d have to put up twenty-six cash, and I don"t believe you"ve got it."
Buck laughed. "Tom, loan me a dozen million, will you? You send that order through, and then come see what I"ve got. I"ve got a break, too!
Mercury"s the best metal for this use--and it"ll stop gamma rays too!"
"So it will--but for the love of the system, what of it?"
"Come and see--tonight. Will you send that order through?"
"I will, Buck. I hope you"re right. Cash is tight now, and I"ll probably have to put up nearer twenty million, when all that buying goes through.
How long will it be tied up in that deal, do you think?"
"Not over three weeks. And I"ll guarantee you three hundred percent--if you"ll stay in with me after you start. Otherwise--I don"t think making this money would be fair just now."
"I"ll be out to see you in about two hours, Buck. Where are you? At the estate?" asked Faragaut seriously.
"In my lab out there. Thanks, Tom."
McLaurin was there when Tom Faragaut arrived. And General Logan, and Colonel Gerardhi. There was a restrained air of gratefulness about all of them that Tom Faragaut couldn"t quite understand. He had been looking up Buck Kendall"s famous bank, and more and more he had begun to wonder just what was up. The list of stockholders had read like a list of IP heroes and executives. The staff had been a list of IP men with a slender sprinkling of accountants. And the sixty-million dollar structure was to be a bank without advertising of any sort! Usually such a venture is planned and published months in advance. This had sprung up suddenly, with a strange quietness.
Almost silently, Buck Kendall led the way to the laboratory. A small metal tank was supported in a peculiar piece of apparatus, and from it led a small platinum pipe to a domed apparatus made largely of insulum.
A little pool of mercury, with small red crystals floating in it rested in a shallow hollow surrounded by heavy conductors.
"That"s it, Tom. I wanted to show you first what we have, and why I wanted all that mercury. Within three weeks, every man, woman and child in the system will be clamoring for mercury metal. That"s the perfect acc.u.mulator." Quickly he demonstrated the machine, charging it, and then discharging it. It was better than 99.95% efficient on the charge, and was 100% efficient on the discharge.
"Physically, any metal will do. Technically, mercury is best for a number of reasons. It"s a liquid. I can, and do it in this, charge a certain quant.i.ty, and then move it up to the storage tank. Charge another pool, and move it up. In discharge, I can let a stream flow in continuously if I required a steady, terrific drain of power without interruption. If I wanted it for more normal service, I"d discharge a pool, drain it, refill the receiver, and discharge a second pool. Thus, mercury is the metal to use.
"Do you see why I wanted all that metal?"
"I do, Buck--Lord, I do," gasped Faragaut. "That is the perfect power supply."
"No, confound it, it isn"t. It"s a secondary source. It isn"t primary.
We"re just as limited in the _supply_ of power as ever--only we have increased our distribution of power. Lord knows, we"re going to need a power _supply_ badly enough before long--" Buck relapsed into moody silence.
"What," asked Faragaut, looking around him, "does that mean?"
It was McLaurin who told him of the stranger ship, and Kendall"s interpretation of its meaning. Slowly Faragaut grasped the meaning behind Buck"s strange actions of the past months.
"The Lunar Bank," he said slowly, half to himself. "Staffed by trained IP men, experts in expert destruction. Buck, you said something about the profits of this venture. What did you mean?"