red
greatly.

"But the great industrial civilizations of East and West will collapse."

With one breath, Artomonov was saying that the Soviet Union could
weather the storm, and with another he was hinting that it probably
wouldn't. But Sam Bending could see the point in spite of the Russian's
tortuous logic.

"I think that is all I have to say for the moment," Artomonov said,
"except to emphasize one point. The Great Depression hit the world some
fifty years ago. It was a terrible thing for everyone concerned. But it
was as nothing at all--a mere zephyr of ill wind--compared to what the
Depression of the Eighties will be if your machine goes on the market."

* * * * *

There was silence for a minute. Sam Bending was thinking hard, and the
others could see it--and they knew there was no point in interrupting at
that moment.

"Just a second," Sam said. "There's one thing that I don't really quite
see. I can see that the situation you outline would develop if every
power plant in America--or in the Soviet Union or Europe--were to be
suddenly replaced by Converters. I can see that chaos would result." He
paused, marshaling his thoughts, then went on, with a tinge of anger in
his voice.

"But that's not the way it will work! You can't do a thing like that
overnight. To mass produce the Converter will take time--factories will
have to be tooled up for it, and all that. And distribution will take
time. It seems to me that there would be plenty of time to adjust."

Condley started to say something, but Dr. Artomonov burst in
explosively.

"Don't you see, Mr. Bending? The threat of the machine is enough! Even
here in your own country, just the knowledge that such machines were to
be made at some time in the immediate future would have a disastrous
effect! Who would invest in Power Utilities if they knew that within a
short time it would be bankrupt? No one would want to buy such stock,
and those who had it would be frantically trying to sell what they had.
The effect on the banking system would be the same as if the machine
were already being used. Your Mr. Roosevelt pointed out that fear was
the problem."

Bending frowned puzzledly. "I don't see--"

He was interrupted by Dr. Larchmont. "Let me see if I can't give you an
analogy, Mr. Bending. Do you know anything about the so-called 'nerve
gases'?"

"Some," admitted Sam. "Most of them aren't gases; they're finely
dispersed aerosols