The Common Man | Page 7

businessman out with his secretary."
Dr. Braun frowned. "Of course, there are many other aspects. It would
mean the end of such things as the Iron Curtain. And also the end of
such things as American immigration control. There are many, many
ramifications, Don, some of which frighten us. The world would be
never quite the same."
Crowley leaned forward confidentially. "Well, I'll tell you. I was
thinking it all out. What we got to do is turn it over to the Army and
soak them plenty for it."
The others ignored his cutting himself a piece of the cake.
Ross Wooley merely grunted bitterly.
Patricia said impatiently, "We've thought most of these things through,
Don. However, Dr. Braun happens to be quite a follower of Lord
Russell."
Crowley looked at her blankly.
"He's a pacifist," she explained.
Braun pushed his glasses back more firmly on his nose and said, gently,
"The military already have enough gadgets to destroy quite literally
everything and I trust one set of them no more than the other. If both
sides had our discovery, then, very well, each would go about
attempting to find some manner of penetrating the invisibility, or taking
various measures to protect their top secrets. But to give it to just one
would be such an advantage that the other would have to embark
immediately upon a desperate attack before the advantage could be

fully realized. If we turn this over to the Pentagon, for exclusive use,
the Soviets would have to begin a preventative war as soon as they
learned of its existence."
"You a red?" Crowley said, scowling.
The doctor shrugged hopelessly. "No," he said.
Crowley turned to the other two. "If you think it's the patriotic thing to
do, why don't one of you sell it to the government?"
Patricia said testily, "You don't understand, Don. Even if we were so
thoroughly in disagreement that we would act unilaterally, we couldn't.
You see, this is a three-way discovery. No one of us knows the
complete process."
His face twisted. "Look, maybe some of this egghead stuff doesn't get
through to me but I'm not stupid, see? You got the stuff, haven't you?
You gave me that shot this morning."
Braun took over, saying reasonably, "Don, this discovery was hit upon
by accident. The three of us are employed in the laboratories of a
medical research organization. I am the department head. Patricia and
Ross were doing some routine work on a minor problem when they
separately stumbled upon some rather startling effects, practically at the
same time. Each, separately, brought their discoveries to me, and,
working you might say intuitively, I added some conclusions of my
own, and ... well, I repeat, the discovery was stumbled upon."
Crowley assimilated that. "None of you knows how to do it, make those
injections like, by himself?"
"That is correct. Each knows just one phase of the process. Each must
combine with the other two."
Patricia said impatiently, "And thus far we wish to keep it that way.
Rossie believes the discovery should be simultaneously revealed on a
world-wide basis, and let man adapt to it as best he can. I think it

should be suppressed until man has grown up a little--if he ever does.
The doctor vacillates between the two positions. What he would truly
like to see, is the method kept only for the use of qualified scientists,
but even our good doctor realizes what a dream that is."
Crowley took them all in, one at a time. "Well, what the devil are you
going to do?"
"That's a good question," Ross said unhappily.
"This experiment was a farce," Patricia said irritably. "After all our
trouble locating Don, our Common Man, we have found out nothing
that we didn't know before. His reactions were evidently largely similar
to our own and...." She broke it off and frowned thoughtfully. The other
three looked at her questioningly.
Patricia said, "You know, we simply haven't seen this thing through as
yet."
"What do you mean, Pat?" Ross growled.
She turned to him. "We haven't given Don the chance to prove which
one of us is right. One day is insufficient. Half the things he wished to
do, such as sneaking around picking up stock tips in Wall Street and
inside information on sporting events...."
"Hey, take it easy," Crowley protested. "I was just, like, curious."
Ross said heatedly, "That's not fair. I'll admit, I, too, thought of exactly
the same possibilities. But thinking about them and going through with
them are different things. Haven't you ever thought about what you'd do
if given the chance to be world-wide supreme dictator? But, truly, if the
job was offered, would you take it?"
"Good heavens," Patricia said disgustedly, "remind me to break off our