him well enough to say and I hate to overuse the word.”
“Would you say he knew what he was talking about.”
“Barring information to the contrary, I would say, yes.”
Carefully, the Commissioner leaned back in his seat. It had a spindly look about it and by Earth standards it would not have supported his weight. He said, “Would you care to say how you came to know Lamont? Was it by reputation only? Did you meet?”
Denison said, “We had some direct conversations. He was planning to write a history of the Electron Pump; how it started; a full account of all the legendary crap that’s grown up around it. I was flattered that Lamont came to me; that he seemed to have found out something about me. Damn it, Commissioner, I was flattered that he knew I was alive. But I couldn’t really say much. What would have been the use? I would have gained nothing but some sneers and I am tired of it; tired of brooding; tired of self-pity.”
“Do you know anything about what Lamont has been doing in the last few years?”
“What is it you’re thinking of, Commissioner?” asked Denison, cautiously.
“About a year ago, maybe a little more, Lamont spoke to Burt. I am not on the senator’s staff any longer, but we see each other occasionally. He talked to me about it. He was concerned. He thought Lamont might have made a valid point against the Electron Pump and yet could see no practical way of taking up the matter. I, too, was concerned—”
“Concern everywhere,” said Denison, sardonically.
“But now, I wonder. If Lamont talked to you and—”
“Stop! Stop right there, Commissioner. I think I see you sidling toward a point and I don’t want you to move any further. If you expect me to tell you that Lamont stole my idea, that once again I am being treated badly, you are wrong. Let me tell you as forcefully as I can; I had no valid theory. It was purely a guess. It worried me; I presented it; I was not believed; I was discouraged. Since I had no way of demonstrating its value, I gave up. I did not mention it in my discussion with Lamont; we never went past the early days of the Pump. What he came up with later, however much it may have resembled my guess, was arrived at independently. It seems to be much more solid and to be based on rigid mathematical analysis. I lay claim to no priority; to none.”
“You seem to know about Lamont’s theory.”
“It made the rounds in recent months. The fellow can’t publish and no one takes him seriously, but it was passed along the grapevine. It even reached me.”
“I see, Doctor. But I take it seriously. To me the warning was second time round, you understand. The report of the first warning—from you—had never reached the senator. It had nothing to do with financial irregularities, which were what was then on his mind. The actual head of the investigating panel—not myself—considered it—you will forgive me—crackpot. I did not. When the matter came up again, I grew disturbed. It was my intention to meet with Lamont, but a number of physicists whom I consulted—”
“Including Hallam?”
“No, I did not see Hallam. A number of those I consulted advised me that Lamont’s work was utterly without foundation. Even so, I was considering seeing him when I was asked to take up this position, and here I am, and here you are. So you see why I had to see you. In your opinion is there merit in the theories advanced by yourself and by Dr. Lamont?”
“You mean is continued use of the Electron Pump going to blow up the Sun, or maybe the entire arm of the Galaxy?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean?”
“How can I tell you? All I have is my own guess, which is just a guess. As for Lamont’s theory, I have not studied it in detail; it has not been published. If I saw it, the mathematics might be beyond me.… Besides, what’s the difference? Lamont won’t convince anyone. Hallam has ruined him as earlier he ruined me, and the public generally would find it against their short-term interest to believe him even if he went over Hallam’s head, so to speak. They don’t want to give up the Pump, and it’s a lot easier to refuse to accept Lamont’s theory than to try to do something about it.”
“But you’re still concerned about it, aren’t