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Sam looked a little startled. “You mean you opened a Converter up?”

Larchmont nodded. “I presume you are referring to the fusing device. We X-rayed the thing thoroughly before we opened it. These days, many devices are rigged to be self-destroying, but that, in itself is a specialized field. Most of them are traps that are rather easy to get around if one is expecting them and knows how to handle them. But the Converter itself, if I may say so, is one of the most original and elegant devices I have seen in many a day.”

“Thanks,” said Bending, with a touch of bitterness in his voice. “I–“

The door opened at that moment, and Secretary Condley came in followed by a tall, round-faced man with dark wavy hair and clear brown eyes.

“Jim!” Sam said in surprise.

The man was James Luckman, Sam Bending’s business manager. “Hello, Sam. What’s this all about? The FBI men who picked me up said I wasn’t under arrest, but I had a hunch it was about as close as you can come without actual arrest.”

Sam nodded. “Funny–I had that impression, too.” He looked at Condley. “What’s the idea, Condley? Jim doesn’t know anything about this.”

The Secretary managed to look unoffended at Bending’s tone. “Possibly not. We can’t be sure, of course, but–frankly, I’d be willing to accept your word.” He paused. “But–you’re not a businessman, Mr. Bending?” He made it only half a question.

“No. I leave that sort of thing up to Jim. Oh, I don’t say I’m completely ignorant of the field; it’s just that I’m not particularly interested, that’s all. Why should I be?” He went on, half belligerently. “I’ve known and trusted Jim for years. He knows his business; I know my science. I know enough to be able to check the account books, and he knows enough to be able to understand a technical report. Right, Jim?”

Luckman looked bewildered. “Sure, Sam. But what’s all this leading up to? I don’t get it.” He frowned suddenly. “Has someone accused me of cheating you?”

“No, no, no,” Condley said rapidly. “Of course not. Nothing like that.” He looked sharply at Luckman. “Do you know anything about the Converter?”

Jim Luckman glanced at Bending before replying. Bending’s face remained expressionless. “Go ahead, Jim,” he said, “square with him.”

Luckman spread his hands. “I know that Sam was working on something he called a Converter. I don’t know anything more about it than that. Sam keeps his ideas secret until he gets them to a marketable stage, which is all right with me. I have enough work to do, handling the stuff he’s already patented, without worrying about anything that isn’t salable yet. So?”

Condley nodded, then gestured toward a chair. “Sit down, Mr. Luckman. Do you know these other gentlemen?” he asked rhetorically. He proceeded to introduce the others. Sam Bending noted with satisfaction that Luckman looked rather puzzled when the Russian was introduced.

Condley himself sat down again, and said: “Well, we’re all here. We’re not going to make this formal, gentlemen, but I hope it won’t develop into a heated argument, either. Let’s try to keep our tempers.”

* * * * *

“First, as to the Converter itself. We all know, with the possible exception of Mr. Luckman, what it does, but for his benefit, we’ll go over that. The Converter, by means of what Dr. Larchmont has been wont to call ‘a very elegant method’, produces electrical power directly from the fusion of hydrogen into helium. A pilot model, with a total volume of a little more than one and one-quarter cubic feet, is capable of turning out up to five hundred horsepower, either DC or AC in a wide range of frequencies. The voltage can be regulated from zero to one thousand volts by simply setting a dial.