A series of complicated equations indicated to Dr. King that if he enclosed six of the crystals in the business end of a pendulum, and started the pendulum oscillating, it would tick-tock for all eternity. This discovery began a five-year program that ended with a full scale press conference. The purpose was to unveil the building designed to protect this pendulum for all eternity, and of course to unveil the discovery of perpetual motion at the same time. This building was designed to be Dr. King's monument to his own genius. It was a large rambling structure in which the pendulum was displayed by viewing it through a large hole in a brick wall. All of Dr. King's considerable savings had gone into designing a computer, the heart of his protective system. The computer was programmed to protect the ticking of the pendulum under every conceivable circumstance. So thorough was this programming that special devices were installed to keep the building and its precious cargo moving in earth's projected orbit if, through some gigantic mishap, the earth was reduced to cosmic dust. The switch that would impart the initial pulse to the pendulum would also start the computer operating, rendering the entire structure totally inviolable. With a flourish, Dr. King pulled the switch. Nothing happened. * * * * * There was an embarrassed shuffling of feet by the reporters. Then, as Dr. King became more exasperated, the reporters became amused. The amusement turned to open laughter when Dr. King, frantic with fear, rushed to the door to check the wiring on the inside of the building. The door would not open. The computer was at work guarding a nonfunctioning machine. He rushed to the open hole in the wall, intending to provide the initial pulse necessary to start the pendulum swinging by pushing. He found that the computer had designed a force field to keep him from entering. Frustrated and at his wit's end, he flew into a rage which ended in a fatal heart attack when he heard one reporter laughingly say to him: "Don't let it get you down, Doctor. You've beat the jinx. In one step you've gone from 'Side-Effect-Charlie' to 'No-Effect-Charlie.'" It would be comforting to be able to assure everyone that the reporter in question was correct. Unfortunately Dr. King's monument did work, and probably will work for all eternity. The day after Dr. Charles King had his unfortunate heart attack a homesick astronomer on Sirius reported to his superior, and subsequently to the entire populated universe, that when he turned his telescope on the Solar System he discovered that it had acquired a new motion. The entire system swung back and forth like a pendulum. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Monument, by R.W. Major