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

preparations. He checked the fluidizer, which was a two-inch-diameter glass tube about one-third full of
silica gel, then the Variac control on the resistance heater wound around the tube, then the ammonia inlet
at the bottom of the fluidizer, then the glassware leading to the condenser-- a two-neck glass flask
venting to the hood. Finally he turned on the ammonia pre-heater and slowly opened the flow meter. The
silica gel in the column shuddered slightly as a "bubble" of ammonia vapor forced its way up through the
bed. Celsus opened the ammonia valve wider and turned up the pre-heater further, his eyes flickering
from the column to the thermocouple readers and the flow meter and back again. Not once did he look
at that collector, where the ammonia flowing into the flask was already sucking the water back, with
intermittent gurgles, into the gas beaker. Finally he seemed satisfied. He stopped adjusting things and
stood back a moment.
Patrick heard strange sounds. Celsus was muttering in a queer rhythm.
The room grew instantly still.
Patrick realized that the man was chanting... to the equipment. The patent director tugged at his red
mustache uneasily. Goose pimples began to flow in waves over the nape of his neck.
Celsus now donned a pair of white asbestos gloves and stroked the fluidizer column as he sang.
Bleeker and Sasanov exchanged glances. Sasanov looked faintly bewildered. Bleeker felt the same
way, but was determined not to let it show.
Patrick looked about him. There were at least fifteen people there-- group leaders and senior
chemists, mostly. A couple of people from his own department were there: Alec Cord and one of the
women attorneys, Marguerite French. They were both completely oblivious to him. Marguerite was
moving her eyes continuously back and forth between Celsus and something metallic she held in her
hand. Patrick recognized it with a start. It was a stopwatch.
It then occurred to Patrick that there was something strangely familiar in Celsus' urgent intonations, and
in the manner in which he stroked and caressed the equipment. But he couldn't quite identify it.
Suddenly Celsus stepped back, right arm raised, and cried: "Silamine! Exist!"
And instantly Patrick had it. Celsus was like a "hot" gambler who had just thrown the dice.
Silent seconds passed, broken only by the shuffle of shore as Bleeker and Sasanov edged in closer to
the bench.
Patrick stole a glance at Marguerite French, who was leaning forward as though hypnotized by the
bubbling liquor in the collection flask. Suddenly a yellow cloud appeared in the flask, and Marguerite's
arm jerked. Patrick knew she had pushed the timer on her watch. She looked down at the watch, and
her face began to turn white. Patrick, concerned, started over to her, But just then, Bond, Silicon
Compounds Group Leader, called out: "That's enough! Let's take a sample for infrared!"
"Go ahead, Prufrock," said Celsus.
A. Prufrock Prentice, Celsus' technician, who until now had been hovering in the background, now
stepped forward, removed the vent assembly in the collector with a swift expert gesture, and drew out a
few cc. of the slurry with a pipette. He dropped the sample into a bottle and then disappeared out the
door.
Patrick forgot momentarily about Marguerite French. He turned to the bemused Sasanov with a grin.
"Efficient, aren't they? We'll know in a minute what it is."
Sasanov shook his head. "How can it be efficient when they were ordered not to do it?"
"You've got a point, Comrade," grumped Bleeker. "You don't see them stumbling all over themselves
on a scheduled run."
"Of course not, Andy," smiled Patrick. "But this was a bootleg run. You ought to institute a required
schedule of bootlegs."
"Bootlegs?" queried Sasanov. "What are these bootlegs, please?"
"Just a decadent American laboratory custom, Comrade. When you have orders to stop trying, but
you know it will work if you try one more time, then you just go ahead and do it. Sneaky, isn't it?"
Sasanov sniffed.
Patrick was in high spirits. He looked about for Marguerite. She had disappeared. That surprised him.