"Charles L. Harness-The Alchemist" - читать интересную книгу автора (Harness Charles L)

The Alchemist
by Charles L. Harness
This story copyright 1966 by Charles L. Harness. Reprinted by permission of Linn Prentiss. This copy
was created for Jean Hardy's personal use. All other rights are reserved. Thank you for honoring the
copyright.

Published by Seattle Book Company, www.seattlebook.com.

* * *


Andrew Bleeker, research director of Hope Chemicals, had more than once referred to his laboratory
as "the soap opera," "the sideshow," or "the country club." He took instant umbrage, however, if anyone
else ventured any jesting synonyms for his group of some five hundred people in the cluster of red brick
buildings at Camelot, Virginia. Ordinarily, therefore, he would have been mildly incensed when Conrad
Patrick, the Hope patent director, stuck his head in the door and told him that a three-ring circus was
about to start down in Silicon Compounds, with Pierre Celsus in the center ring. But the circumstances
were not ordinary. For the past two days, at the request of the United States government-- which, the
Chairman of the Board had bluntly reminded him, was Hope's biggest single customer-- Bleeker had
been turning the lab inside out for the benefit of Alexei Sasanov, Minister of Technology for the People's
Republic, and for the past several hours had listened patiently to a comparison of decadent American
chemical research and burgeoning socialistic research. The interruption offered a chance of respite, and
his heart leaped. Nevertheless, appearances had to be maintained.
"What's Celsus up to?" he growled.
"He's going to try to start the silamine unit," said Patrick.
Bleeker's voice rose sharply. "Silicon Compounds has been trying to start that crazy thing for two
months. I told them yesterday to junk the project. It's dead."
Patrick laughed. "Old projects never die. They just smell that way."
Bleeker snorted. "How does Celsus intend to do it?"
"He wants to try to synthesize one molecule of silamine in the reactor. He says the reaction should be
autocatalytic, and once seeded, the fluidizer will start making more silamine. There'll be a little picric acid
in the receiver, which ought to throw down a yellow silamine picrate within seconds, if it works."
"But that's idiotic! How can he seed the reactor with one molecule of silamine when not one single
molecule of silamine exists anywhere on earth?"
Bleeker's distinguished visitor spoke up. "I quite agree with Mr. Bleeker." On the face of a less
complicated man, the faint smile that played briefly about Sasanov's mouth might have been interpreted
as a sneer. "It is a technical impossibility. Our central laboratories in Czezhlo have spent hundreds of
thousands of rubles attempting to synthesize silamine. We want it as an intermediate for heat-resistant
silicon polymers for missile coatings. We offered great incentives for success."
"And penalized failures?" murmured Bleeker.
Sasanov shrugged delicately. "The point is, where the most efficient, the most dedicated laboratory in
the world has failed, it is hardly likely that a commercial American laboratory can succeed."
Patrick felt his red mustache bristling. He ignored the warning in Bleeker's eyes. "Would you care to
make a small wager?"
Sasanov turned to Bleeker. "It is permitted?"
It was Bleeker's turn to shrug. "You have diplomatic immunity, Mr. Sasanov."
"So. A small wager then. If you make any silamine, the People's Republic will give Hope Chemicals a
contract for a plant design, with handsome running royalty for every pound of silamine we make."
"At twenty-five cents a pound," said Bleeker quickly.
 Sasanov thought a moment. "Exorbitant, of course. But agreed."