ATOMIC BONANZA By George O. Smith A device which could decontaminate any bit of radioactive matter would be invaluable--only it was impossible. But Doctor Velikof was ready to demonstrate just such a machine! [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Science Fiction Quarterly May 1951. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] The visitor arriving at General Atomic Research climbed a broad flight of stairs and then encountered a sort of plaza presided over by a rare combination of brains and beauty. Here the visitor inspected the beauty while the brains inspected the visitor's credentials. After which mutual inspection the visitor stepped into the exact center of a long corridor and turned either to the right or to the left, depending upon which of the two main offices he was to visit. At one end was the office of Doctor Howard Mangler, Director of Research; at the other end of the corridor was the office of Phillip Newton, Director of Operations. Between the two was the corridor called "The Battlefield" by the clerks, stenographers, and office boys. Up and down the silent battle raged, its casualties mutely entombed in the filing cabinets, swathed in directives (with carbon copies) and counter-directives (with carbon copies). It was not a bloody battle. It was fought with words and words and words of argument, counter-thrust, statement, rebuttal and rejoinder; espionage and security. The objective was Control. For Howard Mangler objected most violently to having a "mere business man" running the delicate field of Operations, while Phillip Newton felt that physicists should stay in their white ivory tower and let business men run the details of business. Open battle did not join every day, sometimes it smouldered for weeks before breaking out in a welter of directives, memorandums, and hot words. But any long period of quiet brought a foreboding of imminent war to the office force; and when the first thrust was sent home, the force cleared its desk so that the passage of memorandums could flow untrammeled by the processes of work. The rumor of war preceded the opening of hostilities by long enough for preparation so that-- "Lillian, you'd better polish off that batch of invoices, quick-like." "In a hurry?" "We will be. Grant has just invaded Richmond." "Oh." Sometimes it was Shiloh, but when Grant invaded Richmond, it meant that Howard Mangler had stamped down the long corridor to blast his way through the defences of the outer office of Phillip Newton and into the inner sanctum itself--and was now firing his big guns in the enemy's face. "This has got to go through!" roared Mangler. "It is unnecessary." "How would you know?" demanded Mangler. "The inventory says we have twelve Tectroscopes now; what do we need with four more?"