lf have benefitted by this policy. According to our records,
you are drawing royalties from three patented improvements in the
stellarator which were discovered at times when you were employed by
us--or, rather, by one of our associative corporations--in an advisory
capacity. Those discoveries were, by contract, ours. By law, we could
use them as we saw fit without recompense to you, other than our regular
fee. None the less, we chose to pay you a royalty because that is our
normal policy with all our engineers and scientific research men. We
find it more expedient to operate thus."

Bending was getting a little tired of Olcott's "none the less," but he
didn't show it. "Are you trying to say that my Converter was invented
during my employ with your company, Mr. Olcott?"

Olcott cleared his throat and shook his head. "No. Not necessarily. It
is true that we might have a case on those grounds, but, under the
circumstances, we feel it inexpedient to pursue such a course."

_Which means_, Bending thought, _that you don't have a case at all_.
"Then just what are you driving at, Mr. Olcott?" he asked aloud.

"I'll put my cards on the table, Mr. Bending," Olcott said.

_You've already said that_, Bending thought, _and I've seen no evidence
of it_. "Go ahead," he said.

"Thank you." He cleared his throat again. "If your invention
is ... ah ... worth while, we are prepared to negotiate with you for
use and/or purchase of it."

Bending had always disliked people who said or wrote "and/or," but he
had no desire to antagonize the Power Utilities representative by
showing personal pique. "Let me understand you clearly," he said. "Power
Utilities wants to buy my rights to the Converter. Right?"

Olcott cleared his throat a third time. "In a word, yes. Provided, of
course, that it is actually worth our while. Remember, we know almost
nothing about it; the claims made for it by our ... ah ... anonymous
informer are ... well, ah ... rather fantastic. But your
reputation--" He let the sentence hang.

Bending was not at all immune to flattery. He grinned. "Do you mean that
you came to me to talk about buying an invention you weren't even sure
existed--just because of my reputation?"

"Frankly, yes," said Olcott. "Your reputation is ... ah ... shall we
say, a good one in power engineering circles."

"Are you an engineer?" Bending asked suddenly.

Olcott blinked. "Why, no. No, I am not. I'm a lawyer. I thought you
understood t