"Theodore Sturgeon - Microcosmic God" - читать интересную книгу автора (Sturgeon Theodore)

power output of the beam, but directs it. Once contact is made, the beam will
never let go. It will follow the receiver anywhere. You can power land, air or
water vehicles with it, as well as any stationary plant. Like it?тАЭ
Conant, who was a banker and not a scientist, wiped his shining pate with the
back of his hand and said, тАЬIтАЩve never known you to steer me wrong yet, Kidder.
How about the cost of this thing?тАЭ
тАЬHigh.тАЭ said Kidder promptly. тАЬAs high as an atomic plant. But there are no high-
tension lines, no wires, no pipelines, no nothing. The receivers are little more com-
plicated than a radio set. Transmitter is-well, thatтАЩs quite a job.тАЭ
тАЬDidnтАЩt take you long,тАЭ said Conant.
тАЬNo,тАЭ said Kidder, тАЬit didnтАЩt, did it?тАЭ It was, the lifework of nearly twelve
hundred highly cultured people, but Kid-der wasnтАЩt going into that. тАЬOf course,
the one I have hereтАЩs just a model.тАЭ
ConantтАЩs voice was strained. тАЬA-model? And it de-livers-тАЭ
тАЬOver sixty-thousand horsepower,тАЭ said Kidder gleefully. тАЬGood heavens! In a
full sized machine-why, one trans-mitter would be enough to-тАЭ The possibilities

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of the thing choked Conant for a moment. тАЬHow is it fueled?тАЭ
тАЬIt isnтАЩt,тАЭ said Kidder. тАЬI wonтАЩt begin to explain it IтАЩve tapped a source of power
of unimaginable force. ItтАЩs-well, big. So big that it canтАЩt be misused.тАЭ
тАЬWhat?тАЭ snapped Conant. тАЬWhat do you mean by that?тАЭ Kidder cocked an
eyebrow. Conant had something up his sleeve, then. At this second indication of
it, Kidder, the least suspicious of men, began to put himself on guard. тАЬI mean just
what I say,тАЭ he said evenly. тАЬDonтАЩt try too hard to understand me-I barely savvy it
myself. But the source of this power is a monstrous resultant caused by the un-
balance of two previously equalized forces. Those equalized forces are cosmic in
quantity. Actually, the forces are those which make suns, crush atoms the way
they crushed those that compose the companion of Sirius. ItтАЩs not anything you
can fool with.тАЭ
тАЬI donтАЩt-тАЭ said Conant, and his voice ended puzzledly.
тАЬIтАЩll give you a parallel of it,тАЭ said Kidder. тАЬSuppose you take two rods, one in
each hand. Place their tips together and push. As long as your pressure is directly
along their long axes, the pressure is equalized; right and left hands cancel each
other. Now I come along; I put out one finger and touch the rods ever so lightly
where they come to-gether. They snap out of line violently; you break a couple of
knuckles. The resultant force is at right angles to the original forces you exerted.
My power transmitter is on the same principle. It takes an infinitesimal amount of
energy to throw those forces out of line. Easy enough when you know how to do
it. The important question is whether or not you can control the resultant when
you get it. I can.тАЭ
тАЬI-see.тАЭ Conant indulged in a four-second gloat. тАЬHeaven help the utility
companies. I donтАЩt intend to. Kidder-I want a full-size power transmitter.тАЭ
Kidder clucked into the radiophone. тАЬAmbitious, arenтАЩt you? I havenтАЩt a staff out
here, Conant-you know that. And I canтАЩt be expected to build four or five
thousand tons of apparatus myself.тАЭ
тАЬIтАЩll have five hundred engineers and laborers out there in forty-eight hours.тАЭ