Part 28 (1/2)

He looked about him. Insensibly, as he talked to the first man on the fleet to show imagination, other men had gathered around. They were now absorbed.

”I think,” said Hoddan, ”that we can make an electronic field that'll soften the cement.i.te between the crystals of steel, without heating up anything else. If it works, we can make die-forgings and die-stampings with plastic dies! And then that useless junk you've got can be rebuilt--”

They listened gravely, nodding as he talked. They did not quite understand everything, but they had the habit of believing him now. He needed this and that in the huge cargo s.p.a.ces of the s.h.i.+p the leader had formerly used.

”Hm-m-m,” said Hoddan. ”How about duplicating these machines and sending them over?”

They looked estimatingly at the tool-shop equipment. It could be made to duplicate itself--

The new machine shop, in the ancient ark of s.p.a.ce, made another machine shop for another s.h.i.+p. In the other s.h.i.+p that tool shop would make another for another s.h.i.+p, which in turn....

By then Hoddan had a cold-metal die-stamper in operation. It was very large. It drew on the big s.h.i.+p's drive unit for power. One put a rough ma.s.s of steel in place between plastic dies. One turned on the power.

For the tenth of a second--no longer--the steel was soft as putty. Then it stiffened and was warm. But in that tenth of a second it had been shaped with precision.

It took two days to duplicate the jungle-plow Hoddan had first been shown, in new sound metal. But after the first one worked triumphantly, they made forty of each part at a time and turned out jungle-plow equipment enough for the subjugation of all Thetis' forests.

There were other enterprises on hand, of course. A mechanic who stuttered horribly had an idea. He could not explain it or diagram it.

So he made it. It was an electric motor very far ahead of those in the machines of Colin. Hoddan waked from a cat nap with a diagram in his head. He drew it, half-asleep, and later looked and found that his unconscious mind had designed a power-supply system which made Walden's look rather primitive--

During the first six days Hoddan did not sleep to speak of, and after that he merely cat-napped when he could. But he finally agreed with the emigrants' leader--now no longer fierce, but fiercely triumphant--that he thought they could go on. And he would ask a favor. He propped his eyelids open with his fingers and wrote the letter to his grandfather that he'd composed in his mind in the liner on Krim. He managed to make one copy, unaddressed, of the public-relations letter that he'd worked out at the same time. He put it through a facsimile machine and managed to address each of fifty copies. Then he yawned uncontrollably.

He still yawned when he went to take leave of the leader of the people of Colin. That person regarded him with warm eyes.

”I think everything's all right,” said Hoddan exhaustedly. ”You've got a dozen machine shops and they are multiplying themselves, and you have got some enthusiastic mechanics, now, who're drinking in the vision-tape stuff and finding out more than they guessed there was. And they're thinking, now and then, for themselves. I think you'll make out.”

The bearded man said humbly:

”I have waited until you said all was well. Will you come with us?”

”No-o-o,” said Hoddan. He yawned again. ”I've got my work here. There's an ... obligation I have to meet.”

”It must be very admirable work,” said the old man wistfully. ”I wish we had some young men like you among us.”

”You have,” said Hoddan. ”They will be giving you trouble presently.”

The old man shook his head, looking at Hoddan very affectionately indeed.

”We will deliver your letters,” he said warmly. ”First to Krim, and then to Walden. Then we will go on and let down your letter and gift to your grandfather on Zan. Then we will go on toward Thetis. Our mechanics will work at building machines while we are in overdrive. But also they will build new tool shops and train new mechanics, so that every so often we will need to come out of overdrive to transfer the tools and the men to new s.h.i.+ps.”

Hoddan nodded exhaustedly. This was right.

”So,” said the old man contentedly, ”we will simply make those transfers in orbit about the planets for which we have your letters. But you will pardon us if we only let down your letters, and do not visit those planets? We have prejudices--”

”Perfectly satisfactory,” said Hoddan. ”So I'll--”

”The mechanics you have trained,” said the old man proudly, ”have made a little s.h.i.+p ready for you. It is not much larger than your s.p.a.ceboat, but it is fit for travel between suns, which will be convenient for your work. I hope you will accept it. There is even a tiny tool shop on it!”

Hoddan would have been more touched if he hadn't known about it. But one of the men entrusted with the job had hara.s.sedly asked him for advice.