Lamont said, "Then just help me find my proof. You needn't appear in the open if you fear - "
"I'm not afraid," said Burt, abruptly. "I'm being practical. Dr. Lamont, your half-hour is rather more than gone."
Lamont stared for a moment in frustration but Burt's expression was a clearly intransigent one now. Lamont left. Senator Burt did not see his next visitor immediately. Minutes passed while he stared uneasily at the closed door and fiddled with his tie. Could the man have been right? Could he have had the smallest chance of being right?
He had to admit it would be a pleasure to trip Hallam and push his face into the mud and sit on him till he choked - but it would not happen. Hallam was untouchable. He had had only one set-to with Hallam nearly ten years ago. He had been right, dead right, and Hallam had been egregiously wrong, and events had since proved it to be so. And yet, at the time, Burt had been humiliated and he had almost lost reelection as a result.
Burt shook his head in admonition to himself. He might risk reelection in a good cause, but he could not risk humiliation again. He signaled for the next visitor and his face was calm and bland as he rose to greet him.
Chapter 8
If by this time, Lamont had still felt he had something to lose, professionally, he might have hesitated. Joshua Chen was universally unpopular and anyone who dealt with him was in bad odor at once with almost every corner of the Establishment. Chen was a one-man revolutionary whose single voice could somehow always be heard because he brought to his causes an intensity that was utterly overpowering, and because he had built an organization that was more tightly knit than any ordinary political team in the world (as more than one politician was ready to swear).
He had been one of the important factors accounting for the speed with which the Pump had taken over the planet's energy needs. The Pump's virtues were clear and obvious, as clear as non-pollution and as obvious as for-free, yet there might have been a longer rear-guard fight by those who wanted nuclear energy, not because it was better but because it had been the friend of their childhood.
Yet when Chen beat his drums, the world listened just a little harder. Now he sat there, his broad cheekbones and round face bearing evidence of the approximately three-quarter admixture of Chinese ancestry.
He said, "Let me get this straight. You're speaking only for yourself?"
"Yes," said Lamont tightly. "Hallam doesn't back me. In fact, Hallam says I'm mad. Do you have to have Hallam's approval before you can move?"
"I need no one's approval," said Chen with predictable arrogance, then he lapsed back into thoughtful consideration.. "You say the para-men are farther advanced in technology than we are?"
Lamont had gone that far in the direction of compromise. He had avoided saying they were more intelligent. "Farther advanced in technology" was less offensive, but just as true.
"That is clear," said Lamont, "if only because they can send material across the gap between the Universes and we can't."
"Then why did they start the Pump if it is dangerous? Why are they continuing it?"
Lamont was learning to compromise in more than one direction. He might have said that Chen was not the first to ask this, but it would have sounded condescending, perhaps impatient, and he chose not to do so.
Lamont said, "They were anxious to get started with something that was so apparently desirable as a source of energy, just as we were. I have reason to think they're as disturbed about it now as I am."
"That's still your word. You have no definite evidence about their state of mind."
"None that I can present at this moment."
"Then it's not enough."
"Can we afford to risk - "
"It's not enough, Professor. There's no evidence. I haven't built my reputation by shooting down -targets at random. My missiles have sped true to the mark every time because I knew what I was doing."
"But when I get the evidence - "
"Then I'll back you. If the evidence satisfies me, I assure you neither Hallam nor the Congress will be able to resist the tide. So get the evidence and come see me again."
"But by then it will be too late,"
Chen shrugged. "Perhaps. Much more likely, you will find that you were wrong and no evidence is to be had."