WINMX Assorted Textfiles/Ebooks.tar/Text - Compilations - The Library - Volume 02 - D to L - 350 fiction ebooks (PDF HTM(L) RTF TXT DOC).zip/Heinlein, Robert A - On The Slopes Of Vesuvius.txt

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FOREWORD

When the USSR refused our proposals for controlling the A-bomb, I swore off ôWorld-Saving.ö No more preaching. No more attempts to explain the mortal peril we were in. No, sir!
A year and a half later, late æ47, I backslid. If it could not be done by straightforward exposition, perhaps it could be dramatized as fiction.
    Again I fell flat on my face.
    Fifteen years later there was a tremendous flap over Soviet medium-range missiles in Cuba. Then they were removedùor so we were toldùand the flap died out. Why? Why both ways? For years we have had Soviet submarines on both coasts; are they armed with slingshots? Or powder puffs?
    This story is more timely today, over thirty years later, than it was when it was written; the danger is enormously greater.
    And again this warning will be ignored. But it wonÆt take much of your time; itÆs a short-short, a mere 2200 words.
ON THE SLOPES OF VESUVIUS


    ôPaddy, shake hands with the guy who built the atom bomb,ö Professor Warner said to the bartender. ôHe and Einstein rigged it up in their own kitchen one evening.ö
    ôWith the help of about four hundred other guys,ö amended the stranger, raising his voice slightly to cut through the rumble of the subway.
    ôDonÆt quibble over details. Paddy, this is Doctor Mansfield. Jerry, meet Paddyù Say, Paddy, what is your last name?ö
    ôFrancis X. Hughes,ö answered the barkeep as he wiped his hand and stuck it out. ôIÆm pleased to meet any friend of Professor Warner.ö
    ôIÆm pleased to meet you, Mr. Hughes.ö
    ôCall me Paddy, they all do. You really are one of the scientists who built the atom bomb?ö
    ôIÆm afraid so.ö
    ôMay the Lord forgive you. Are you at N.Y.U., too?ö
    ôNo, IÆm out at the new Brookhaven Laboratory.ö
    ôOh, yes.ö
    ôYouÆve been there?ö
    Hughes shook his head. ôAbout the only place I go is home to Brooklyn. But I read the papers.ö
    ôPaddyÆs in a well-padded rut,ö explained Warner. ôPaddy, what are you going to do when they blow up New York? ItÆll break up your routine.ö
    He set their drinks before them and poured himself
a short beer. ôIf thatÆs all IÆve got to worry about I guess IÆll die of old age and still in Thy rut, Professor.ö
    WarnerÆs face lost its cheerful expression for a moment; he stared at his drink as if it had suddenly become bitter. ôI wish I had your optimism, Paddy, but I havenÆt. Sooner or later, weÆre in for it.ö
    ôYou shouldnÆt joke about such things, Professor.ö
    ôIÆm not joking.ö
    ôYou canÆt be serious.ö
    ôI wish I werenÆt. Ask him. After all, he built the damned thing.ö
    Hughes raised his brows at Mansfield who replied, ôIÆm forced to agree with Professor Warner. They will be able to do itùatom-bomb New York I mean. I know that; itÆs not a guessùitÆs a certainty. Being able to do it, IÆm strongly of the opinion that they will do it.ö
    ôWho do you mean by ætheyÆ?ö demanded the bartender. ôThe Russians?ö
    ôNot necessarily. It might be anybody who first worked up the power to smash us.ö
    ôSure,ö said Warner. ôEverybody wants to kick the fat boy. WeÆre envied and hated. The only reason we havenÆt been smeared is that no one has had what it takes to do itùup to now, that is!ö
    ôJust a minute, gentlemenùö put in Hughes. ôI donÆt get it. YouÆre talking about somebodyùanybodyùatom-bombing New York. How can they do it? DidnÆt we decide to hang on to the secret? Do you think some dirty spy has gotten away with it while we werenÆt watching?ö
    Mansfield looked at Warner, then back at Hughes and said gently, ôI hate to disturb your peace of mind, Mr. HughesùPaddyùbut there is no secret. Any nation that is willing to go to the trouble and expense can build an atom bomb.ö
    ôAnd thatÆs official,ö added Warner, ôand itÆs a leadpipe cinch that, power politics being what it is, a dozen different nations are working on the problem right now.ö
    Hughes had been looking perturbed; his face cleared. ôOh, I see what you mean. In time, they can dig it out for themselves. In that case, gentlemen, letÆs have a round on the house and drink to their frustration. I canÆt be worrying about what might happen twenty years from now. We might none of us be spared that long what with taxicabs and the like.ö
    MansfieldÆs brows shot up. ôWhy do you say twenty years, Paddy?ö
    ôEh? Oh, I seem to remember reading it in the papers. That general, wasnÆt it? The one who was in charge of the atom-bomb business.ö
    Mansfield brushed the general aside. ôPoppycock! That estimate is based on entirely unwarranted national conceit. The time will be much shorter.ö
    ôHow much shorter?ö demanded Hughes. Mansfield shrugged.
    ôWhat would you do, Paddy,ö Warner asked curiously, ôif you thought some nationùletÆs say some nation that didnÆt like usùhad already managed to manufacture atom bombs?ö
    The saloon cat came strolling along the top of the bar. Hughes stopped to feed it a slice of cheese before replying. ôI do not have your learning, gentlemen, but Paddy Hughes is no fool. If someone is loose in the world with those devilÆs contraptions, New York is a doomed city. America is the champion and must be beaten before any new bully boy can hope to winùand New York is one of the spots he would shoot at first. Even Sad Sackùö He jerked a thumb at the cat. ôùis bright enough to flee from a burning building.ö
    ôWell, what do you think you would do?ö
    ôI donÆt æthinkÆ what IÆd do, I know what IÆd do; IÆve done it before. When I was a young man and the Blackand-Tans were breathing down the back oÆ my neck, I climbed on a ship with never a thought of looking backùand any man who wanted them could have my pigs and welcome to them.ö
    Warner chuckled. ôYou must have been quite the
lad, Paddy. But I donÆt believe you would do itùnot now. YouÆre firmly rooted in your rttt and you like itù like me and six million others in this town. ThatÆs why decentralization is a fantasy.ö
    Hughes nodded. ôIt would be hard.ö That it would be hard he understood. Like leaving home it would be to quit SchreiberÆs Bar-Grill after all these yearsù Schreiber couldnÆt run it without him; heÆd chase all the customers away. It would be hard to leave his friends in the parish, hard to leave his homeùwhat with MollyÆs grave being just around the corner and all. And if the cities were to be blown up a man would have to go back to farming. HeÆd promised himself when he hit the new country that heÆd never, never, never tackle the heartbreaking load of tilling the soil again. Well, perhaps there would be no landlords when the cities were gone. If a man must farm, at least he might be spared that. Still, it would be hardùand MollyÆs grave off somewhere in the rubble. ôBut IÆd do
it.
    ôYou think you would.ö
    ôI wouldnÆt even go back to Brooklyn to pick up my other shirt. IÆve my weekÆs pay envelope right here.ö He patted his vest. ôIÆd grab my hat and start walking.ö The bartender turned to Mansfield. ôTell me the truth, Doctorùif itÆs not twenty years, how long will it be?ö
    Mansfield took out an envelope and started figuring on the back of it. Warner started to speak, but Hughes cut him off. ôQuiet while heÆs working it out!ö he said sharply.
    ôDonÆt let him kid you, Paddy,ö Warner said wryly. ôHeÆs been lying awake nights working out this problem ever since Hiroshima.ö
    Mansfield looked up. ôThatÆs true. But I keep hoping IÆll come out with a different answer. I never do.ö
    ôWell, what is the answer?ö Hughes insisted.
    Mansfield hesitated. ôPaddy, you understand that there are a lot of factors involved, not all of them too
clear. Right? In the first place, it took us about four years. But we were lavish with money and lavish with men, more so maybe than any other nation could be, except possibly Russia. Figured on that alone it might take several times four years for another country to make a bomb. But thatÆs not the whole picture; itÆs not even the important part. There was a report the War Department put out, the Smyth ReportùyouÆve heard of it?ùwhich gives anyone who can read everything but the final answers. With that report, with competent people, uranium ore, and a good deal less money than it cost us, a nation ought to be able to develop a bomb in a good deal less time than it took us.ö
    Hughes shook his head. ôI donÆt expect you to explain, Doctor; I just want to know your answer. How long?ö
    ôI was just explaining that the answer had to be indefinite. I make it not less than two and not more than four years.ö
    The bartender whistled softly. ôTwo years. Two years to get away and start a new life.ö
    ôNo, no, no! Mr. Hughes,ö Mansfield objected, ôNot two years from nowùtwo years from the time the first bomb was dropped.ö
    HughesÆ face showed a struggle to comprehend. ôBut, gentlemen,ö he protested, ôitÆs been more than two years since the first bomb was dropped.ö
    ôThatÆs right.ö
    ôDonÆt blow your top, Paddy,ö Warner cautioned him. ôThe bomb isnÆt everything. It might be ten years before anybody develops the sort of robot carrier that can go over the north pole or the ocean and seek out a particular city with an atom bomb. In the meantime we donÆt have too much to fear from an ordinary airplane attack.ö
    Mansfield looked annoyed. ôYou started this, Dick. Why try to hand out soothing syrup now? With a country as wide open as this one you donÆt need anything as fancy as guided missiles to pull a Pearl Harbor on
it. The bombs would be assembled secretly and set off by remote control. Why, there might be a tramp steamer lying out there in the East River right nowù Warner let his shoulders slump. ôYouÆre right, of
course.
    Hughes threw down his bar towel. ôYouÆre telling me that New York is as likely to be blown up right now as at any other time.ö
    Mansfield nodded. ôThatÆs the size of it,ö he said soberly.
    Hughes looked from one to the other. The cat jumped down and commenced rubbing up against his ankle, purring. He pushed it away with his foot. ôItÆs not true! I know itÆs not true!ö
    ôWhy not?ö
    ôBecause! If it was true would you be sitting here, drinking quietly? YouÆve been having a bit of fun with me, pulling my leg. Oh, I canÆt pick the flaw in your argument, but you donÆt believe it yourselves.ö
    ôI wish I didnÆt believe it,ö said Mansfield. ôOh, we believe it, Paddy,ö Warner told him. ôTo tell you the truth, IÆm planning to get out. IÆve got letters out to half a dozen cow colleges; IÆm just waiting until my contract expires. As for Doc Mansfield, he canÆt leave. This is where his lab is located.ö
    Hughes considered this, then shook his head. ôNo, it wonÆt wash. No man in his right mind will hang on to a job when it means sitting on the hot squat, waiting for the Warden to throw the switch. YouÆre pulling my leg.ö
    Mansfield acted as if Hughes had not spoken. ôAnyhow,ö he said to Warner, ôthe political factors might delay the blow off indefinitely.ö
    Warner shook his head angrily. ôNow whoÆs handing out soothing syrup? The political factors speed up the event, not delay it. If a country intends to defeat us someday, itÆs imperative that she do it as quickly as possible, before we catch wind of her plans and strike
first. Or before we work out a real counter weaponùif thatÆs possible.ö
    Mansfield looked tired, as if he had been tired for a long time. ôOh, youÆre right. I was just whistling to keep my courage up. But we wonÆt develop a counter weapon, not a real one. The only possible defense against atomic explosion is not to be there when it goes off.ö He turned to the barman. ôLetÆs have another round, Paddy.ö
    ôMake mine a Manhattan,ö added Warner.
    ôJust a minute. Professor Warner. Doctor Mansfield. You were not fooling with me? Every word you had to say is GodÆs own truth?ö
    ôAs youÆre standing there, Paddy.ö
    ôAnd Doctor MansfieldùProfessor Warner, do you trust Doctor MansfieldÆs figuring?ö
    ôThereÆs no man in the United States better qualified to make such an estimate. ThatÆs the truth, Paddy.ö
    ôWell, thenùö Hughes turned toward where his employer sat nodding over the cash register on the restaurant side of the room and whistled loudly between his teeth. ôSchreiber! Come take the bar.ö He started stripping off his apron.
    ôHey!ö said Warner, ôwhere you going? I ordered a Manhattan.ö
    ôMix it yourself,ö said Hughes. ôIÆve quit.ö He reached for his hat with one hand, his coat with the other, and then he was out the door.
    Forty seconds later he was on an uptown express; he got off at 34th Street and three minutes thereafter he was buying a ticket, west. It was ten minutes later that he felt the train start to roll under him, headed out of the city.
    But it was less than an hour later when his misgivings set in. Had he been too hasty? Professor Warner was a fine man, to be sure, but given to his little jokes, now and again. Had he been taken in by a carefully contrived hoax? Had Warner said to his friend, weÆll
have some fun and scare the living daylights out of the old Irishman?
Nor had he made any arrangements for someone to feed Sad Sack. The cat had a weak stomach, he was certain, and no one else gave the matter any attention at all. And MollyÆs graveùWednesday was his day to do his gardening there. Of course Father Nelson would see that it was watered, just for kindnessÆ sake, but stillù When the train paused at Princeton Junction he
slipped off and sought out a telephone. He had in mind what he meant to say if he was able to reach Professor Warnerùa good chance, he thought, for considering the hour the gentlemen probably stayed on for a steak. Professor Warner, he would say, youÆve had your fun and a fine joke it was as I would be the first to say and to buy a drink on it, but tell meùman to manùwas there anything to what you and your friend was telling me? That would settle it, he thought.
    The call went through promptly and he heard SchreiberÆs irritated voice. ôHello,ö he said.
    The line went dead. He jiggled the hook. The operator answered, ôOne moment, pleaseùö then, ôThis is the Princeton operator. Is this the party with the call to New York?ö
    ôYes. Iùö
    ôThere has been a temporary interruption in service. Will you hang up and try again in a few minutes, please?ö
    ôBut I was just talkingùö
    ôWill you hang up and try again in a few minutes, puhlease?ö
    He heard the shouting as he left the booth. As he got outdoors he could see the great, gloriously beautiful, gold and purple mushroom still mounting over where had been the City of New York.