"--And that's the situation," Morrow concluded. "If the mechanism isn't destroyed, it'll plunge the world into atomic war. If it is destroyed, it'll be lost to mankind for the next several hundred years--until somebody else stumbles across it." "In short," Smitty resumed, "if we got it now, we have atomic war. If we don't have it for the next few centuries, we _will_ have atomic war." "I'm afraid so," Morrow affirmed. "Unless they manage to develop a world civilization and government without it." Smitty shook his head. "They need something like this gravity machine to pull people closer together, to get them to know more about one another. Otherwise, any world government scheme is likely to be a fizz--unless it's established by force!" "That'd amount to world dictatorship." Smitty shrugged. "All right, so we've got this thing. If we keep it, we get atomic war. If we don't, maybe our grand-children get atomic war. That it?" Morrow nodded. "So you must have some plan up your sleeve!" Smitty grinned at him, shrewdly. "You wouldn't drag me all the way up here just to listen to a hard-luck story." Morrow's eyes narrowed. "Smitty, the only reason this would cause an atomic war now is because the world situation is so tense--" "True!" "--But the world situation isn't always going to be this way! Sooner or later, something will happen to change it. Something's bound to change it! This is a modern, fast-moving world--things happen fast!" "So?" Smitty raised his brows, querulously. "Well, it's bound to change within our lifetime! And when it does, we may have an opportunity to reveal this discovery. All we have to do is wait, keep it secret, test it and develop it, and turn it loose when the time is ripe!" "Un-huh," Smitty grunted. "And who's going to pay for it?" "I've got seven thousand in the bank--" "And I've got three!" Smitty frowned scornfully. "How far do you think we'd get on ten thousand bucks, chum?" "As far as we'll need to get," Morrow retorted. "We aren't trying to finance a mass-production scheme, remember. This is strictly experimental work." "What would the retail cost amount to on that mechanism you built?" he asked dubiously. Morrow scratched his jaw, reflectively. "Retail cost it'd run to around three hundred dollars." "So we make a bunch of those mechanisms. Now, what do we test 'em for?" "For their use as a means of air transportation," Morrow answered. "Primarily, that is--there are probably a good many other possibilities." "So how do we test 'em?" Smitty persisted. "How do you test any flight mechanism? You take it up in a plane, turn it on, and see how it works! So for thorough tests, including high-altitude performance, we'll need a plane with a pressurized cabin, big enough to hold our test equipment and the mechanisms. At the present market rates, you won't buy a plane like that for much less than fifteen thousand dollars!"