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only to be ignored in pain and misery when the tide of battle
swept past.
One thing Jorgasnovara had never understood was the tragic
magnitude of the decision that had changed Cal Meacham from
a pacifist to a war maker, but if that decision could not be recog-
nized for what it was by the Llannan it had better not have been
made.
Cal faced Jorgasnovara, his voice shaking as he spoke. I ll
manage the project in the manner I consider necessary, or not at
all. I know my own people, and what they will do.
For a moment the two stood looking silently at each other. Cal
felt an intimation of the terrible power latent behind the
Engineer s eyes, and wondered if that power were going to be
turned against him.
Jorgasnovara shifted his weight. He stepped toward Cal. We
can compromise, he said gently. I chose you because I knew
you had the strength and the ability to tell us what we need to
know. We will begin the process of building up the diffused as-
sembly centers as you have suggested, but let us not close down
here until they are completed and in operation. Do you think
that will be satisfactory?
It won t be. Every minute that this plant is in operation we
are running risks of exposure.
We ll take it. In the meantime, the other half of the program
will get under way.
Forrest J Ackerman Presents: This Island Earth 137
And you will have to get some new boys to take over when
Ruth and Ole and I are doing a ten year stretch for un-American
activities.
I don t understand.
Skip it. I ve got to run down with my hat in my hand and ask
the union boys to please go back to their jobs.
It was late, and he was not able to find Biggers or Gush-man
that day. He thought afterwards that he might have been able to
do it if he had not given way to his feelings of frustration in the
face of Jorgasnovara s conflicting demands. He should have ex-
erted himself to run them down, to get the plant in operation to
avoid losing a day s production.
But he did not.
At four o clock the next morning he was awakened by a call
from the plant. It was Peterson, the temporary watchman, com-
ing on at change of shifts. There was the sound of tears and ter-
ror in his voice.
They wrecked the place, Mr. Meacham, he bawled. They
wrecked the place!
What are you talking about?
The strikers! They wrecked the place. George must have been
drugged. He didn t hear a thing.
Cal s mind seemed to wait in a condition of stasis while his
body went through the mechanical motions of donning his
clothes.
Maybe it s the way it should be, he thought. We ll let them get
away with it. We ll let them go, and they ll be too scared to talk.
And Jorgasnovara will have to do things the right way.
He called Ole, who met him and Ruth at the main gate. When
they arrived, there was no one there except the custodial em-
ployees, and the plant was mostly dark. He was glad for that. He
wanted this quiet as yet.
Peterson, a conscientious old man, let them in at the side door.
His hand trembled so greatly he could scarcely manipulate the lock.
138 Forrest J Ackerman Presents: This Island Earth
They may still be around the plant, he said nervously. You
shouldn t have come without the police, Mr. Meacham.
I don t think they ll do us any harm, said Cal. And they prob-
ably beat it long ago. You keep watch at the door. Don t let any-
one else in until I give the word. We ll take a look.
The three passed on into the corridor leading to the main as-
sembly room. The extent of the damage was obvious. It was not
merely the overturning of furniture and scattering of parts that
could have been restored with comparative ease. At each station
along the assembly line all valuable and some almost irreplace-
able metering and test equipment had been methodically
smashed.
Cal marched at a slow pace the full length of the assembly
line, Ruth at his side. Ole paused here and there, poking into the
shards of shattered equipment, then hurrying to catch up with
Cal and Ruth, stopping once more to investigate another station
of disaster like a frightened ant whose tunnels have been de-
stroyed by a boy with a stick.
In an adjoining wing of the building they examined the screen
rooms of the test department. Here the damage was even greater.
The complex instruments required to make final tests of the
interocitor assemblies were smashed beyond repair.
You could hardly ask for a more thorough job, said Cal bit-
terly. We ought to invite all the strikers through here to take a
look. Let them have a piece for a souvenir. It ought to make
them feel very good.
Don t blame the union, said Ruth. They don t support this
kind of thing. It s the crackpot morons who get in that are re-
sponsible for this.
The union is responsible! said Cal. It s responsible because
it admits and upholds and goes on strike in behalf of the crack-
pots and morons. Each individual member of the organization is
responsible for this as long as he votes and strikes in support of
a sub-normal moron we need to remove in order to run a fac-
Forrest J Ackerman Presents: This Island Earth 139
tory. There s no way on Earth they can escape that responsibility.
Ole joined them abruptly. What do you suppose Jorgasnovara
will do now? Do you think he ll make us rebuild this place or go
ahead with the dispersal?
It would be insane to rebuild here, said Cal. If he insists on
that I m through. The raw part of this whole deal is that we can t
publicly or legally lay the blame on the union. All we can do is
take it. If we tried to sue them for damages that would blow the
whole enterprise wide open.
The only satisfaction possible would be the flattening of
Biggers nose, but probably we d better not allow ourselves even
that small pleasure. At least I think we have a club we can hold
over the union s head that may be even better than a punch in
the nose.
He went into the office and put in a call for Biggers and
Cushman. They showed up within a half hour and Cal led them
without warning into the assembly room.
The two union men stared with mouths agape, and Biggers
paled so genuinely that Cal was almost disturbed about their
guilt until he realized that these two were professionals. Un-
doubtedly they had expected this call and were prepared to act
their parts.
It s a good job your goon squad did, he said. So good that
this plant simply isn t going to run any more.
Our boys never done nothing like this! Cushman said. What
do you think we are a bunch of lousy Red saboteurs? You try to
hang this one on us, and we ll really show you what we can do.
As a matter of fact, I ll bet you arranged this yourself just to lay it
on the union.
Biggers turned more calmly to Cal. I assure you, Mr.
Meacham, our men had nothing to do with the affair. I am sure
that, in view of the high priority secrecy of your project, there
are other explanations. Communist sabotage, as my companion
suggested, is the most likely. We shall do all we can to assist you
140 Forrest J Ackerman Presents: This Island Earth
in running down the culprits.
Look, said Cal. We know who did this and we know why it
was done. We re taking this plant out of production completely
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