ndley. "I don't think that would be
fair. Sam's worked hard on this thing. He deserves recognition. And the
people of Earth deserve to get this machine somehow. Can't something be
worked out?"

"Certainly," said Condley. "In some countries, and in some eras,
dangerous inventions were suppressed by the simplest method. If it was
discovered in time, the inventor was executed summarily, along with
anyone else who knew the secret, and the invention was destroyed. The
United States isn't that kind of country." He looked down at his hands
and the gold pen again before he went on.

"Please don't misunderstand, Mr. Bending; we are not trying to keep the
Converter under wraps forever. In the first place, I don't think it
would be possible. What do you think, Dr. Vanderlin?"

The Bureau of Standards man said: "I doubt it. Granted, the Converter is
not something one would accidentally stumble across, nor automatically
deduce from the 'previous state of the art'. I'll admit frankly that I
doubt if I would ever have thought of it. But I doubt gravely that it is
so unique that it will never be rediscovered independently."

"So," said Condley, "we have no intent to hold it back on that score.
And, in the second place, such an invention is too valuable to allow it
to be lost.

"So here is our proposition. You will sell your rights to the Converter
to Power Utilities. It won't even be patented in the usual sense; we
can't allow the Converter to become public property at this time. We
can't make it possible for just anyone to send in a quarter to the
Patent Office to find out how it works. That's why we stopped the patent
application.

"But the Government will see that a contract is written up which admits
that you are the inventor of the Converter, and which will give you
royalties on every unit built. High royalties.

"Under strict Government supervision, Power Utilities will proceed to
liquidate their holdings--slowly, so that there will be no repercussions
on an economic level. The danger lies, not in the Converter's replacing
existing power equipment, but in the danger of its replacing them too
quickly. But with care and control, the adjustment can be made slowly.
The process will take about ten years, but you will receive a lump sum,
plus a monthly payment, as an advance against future royalties."

"I see," said Bending slowly. "That sounds all right to me. What about
you, Jim? What do you think?"

Jim Luckman was smilin