of Ancient History explained the president to be more of a Minnesotan than a classical scholar and since Lake Itasca was the point of origin of the mighty Mississippi, the slip of the tongue was a natural one.
But, in combination with Lamont's sneer at the extent of his fame, Bronowski found the expression rankling.
When Lamont finally heard the story, he was amused. "Don't go on," he said. "I've been down that road, too. You said to yourself, 'By God, I'll do something even that knot-head will have to get straight.' "
"A little like that," said Bronowski.
Chapter 5
A year's work, however, had netted them very little. Messages had finally come across; messages had come back. Nothing.
"Just guess!" Lamont had said feverishly to Bronowski. "Any wild guess at all. Try it out on them."
"It's exactly what I'm doing, Pete. What are you so jumpy about? I spent twelve years on the Etruscan Inscriptions. Do you expect this job to take less time?"
"Good God, Mike. We can't take twelve years."
"Why not? Look, Pete, it hasn't escaped me that there's been a change in your attitude. You've been impossible this last month or so. I thought we had it clear at the start that this work can't go quickly, and that we've got to be patient. I thought you understood that I had my regular duties at the university, too. Look, I've been asking you this several times, now. Let me ask again. Why are you in such a hurry now?"
"Because I'm in a hurry," said Lamont abruptly. "Because I want to get on with it."
"Congratulations," said Bronowski, dryly, "so do I. Listen, you're not expecting an early death, are you? Your doctor hasn't told you you're hiding a fatal cancer?"
"No, no," groaned Lamont.
"Well, then?"
"Never mind," said Lamont, and he walked away hurriedly.
When he had first tried to get Bronowski to join forces with him, Lamont's grievance had concerned only Hallam's mean-minded obstinacy concerning the suggestion that the para-men were the more intelligent. It was in that respect and that respect only that Lamont was striving for a breakthrough. He intended nothing beyond that - at first.
But in the course of the following months, he had been subjected to endless exasperation. His requests for equipment, for technical assistance, for computer time were delayed; his request for travel funds snubbed; his views at interdepartmental meetings invariably overlooked.
The breaking point came when Henry Garrison, junior to himself in point of service and definitely so in point of ability, received an advisory appointment, rich in prestige, that, by all rights, should have gone to Lamont. It was then that Lamont's resentment built up to the point where merely proving himself right was no longer sufficient. He yearned to smash Hallam, destroy him utterly.
The feeling was reinforced every day, almost every hour, by the unmistakable attitude of everyone else at the Pump Station. Lamont's abrasive personality didn't collect sympathy, but some existed nevertheless.
Garrison himself was embarrassed. He was a quiet-spoken, amiable young man who clearly wanted no trouble and who now stood in the doorway of Lamont's lab with an expression that had more than a small component of apprehension in it.
He said, "Hey, Pete, can I have a few words with you?"
"As many as you like," said Lamont, frowning and avoiding a direct eye-to-eye glance.
Garrison came in and sat down. "Pete," he said, "I can't turn down the appointment but I want you to know I didn't push for it. It came as a surprise."
"Who's asking you to turn it down? I don't give a damn."
"Pete. It's Hallam. If I turned it down, it would go to someone else, not you. What have you done to the old man?"
Lamont rounded on the other. "What do you think of Hallam? What kind of man is he, in your opinion?"
Garrison was caught by surprise. He pursed his lips and rubbed his nose. "Well - " he said, and let the sound fade off.
"Great man? Brilliant scientist? Inspiring leader?"
"Well - "
"Let me tell you. The man's a phony! He's a fraud! He's got this reputation and this position of his and he's sitting on it in a panic. He knows that I see through him and that's what he has against me."
Garrison gave out a small, uneasy laugh, "You haven't gone up to him and said - "
"No, I haven't said anything directly to him," said Lamont, morosely. "Some day I will. But he can tell. He knows I'm one person he isn't fooling even if I don't say anything."
"But,