Sentiment Inc. Read online

  4

  He sat with his feet on the table, chair tilted back and teeteringdangerously, hands clasped behind his head, pipe filling the room withblue fog. It was his usual posture for attacking a problem.

  And damn it, he thought wearily, this was a question such as he made hisliving on. An industrial engineer comes into the office. We want thisand that--a machine for a very special purpose, let's say. What shouldwe do, Mr. Fraser? Fraser prowls around the plant, reads up on theindustry, and then sits down and thinks. The elements of the problem aresuch-and-such; how can they be combined to yield a solution?

  Normally, he uses the mathematical approach, especially in machinedesign. Most practicing-engineers have a pathetic math background--theyuse ten pages of elaborate algebra and rusty calculus to figure outsomething that three vector equations would solve. But you have to getthe logical basics straight first, before you can set up your equations.

  All right, what is the problem? To get Judy back. That means forcingKennedy to restore her normal emotional reactions--no, he didn't wanther thrust into love of him; he just wanted her as she had been.

  What are the elements of the problem? Kennedy acts outside the law, buthe has blocked all official channels. He even has connections extendingthrough the Iron Curtain.

  Hmmmm--appeal to the FBI? Kennedy couldn't have control overthem--_yet_. However, if Fraser tried to tip off the FBI, they'd actcautiously, if they investigated at all. They'd have to go slow. AndKennedy would find out in time to do something about it.

  Martinez could help no further. Sworsky had closer contact withWashington. He'd been so thoroughly cleared that they'd be inclined totrust whatever he said. But Sworsky doubted the whole story; like manymen who'd suffered through irresponsible Congressional charges, he wasalmost fanatic about having proof before accusing anyone of anything.Moreover, Kennedy knew that Sworsky was Fraser's friend; he'd probablybe keeping close tabs on the physicist and ready to block any attemptshe might make to help. With the backing of a man like Snyder, Kennedycould hire as many detectives as he wanted.

  In fact, whatever the counter-attack, it was necessary to go warily.Kennedy's threat to get rid of Fraser if the engineer kept workingagainst him was not idle mouthing. He could do it--and, being a fanatic,would.

  But Kennedy, like the demon of legend, would grant one wish--just tosalve his own conscience. Only what should the wish be? Another woman?Or merely to be reconciled, artificially, to an otherwise-intolerablesituation?

  _Judy, Judy, Judy!_

  Fraser swore at himself. Damn it to hell, this was a problem in logic.No room for emotion. Of course, it might be a problem without asolution. There are plenty of those.

  He squinted, trying to visualize the office. He thought of burglary,stealing evidence--silly thought. But let's see, now. What was thelayout, exactly? Four suites on one floor of the skyscraper, three ofthem unimportant offices of unimportant men. And--

  _Oh, Lord!_

  Fraser sat for a long while, hardly moving. Then he uncoiled himself andran, downstairs and into the street and to the nearest pay phone. Hisown line might be tapped--

  "Hello, hello, Juan?... Yes, I know I got you out of bed, and I'm notsorry. This is too bloody important.... Okay, okay.... Look, I want acomplete report on the Messenger Advertising Service.... When?Immediately, if not sooner. And I mean _complete_.... That's right,Messenger.... Okay, fine. I'll buy you a drink sometime."

  "Hello, Jim? Were you asleep too?... Sorry.... But look, would you makea list of all the important men you know fairly well? I need it bad....No, don't come over. I think I'd better not see you for a while. Justmail it to me.... All right, so I am paranoid...."

  * * * * *

  Jerome K. Ferris was a large man, with a sense of his own importancethat was even larger. He sat hunched in the chair, his head dwarfed bythe aluminum helmet, his breathing shallow. Around him danced andflickered a hundred meters, indicator lights, tubes. There was a lowhumming in the room, otherwise it was altogether silent, blocked andshielded against the outside world. The fluorescent lights were a mutedglow.

  Fraser sat watching the greenish trace on the huge oscilloscope screen.It was an intricate set of convolutions, looking more like a plate ofspaghetti than anything else. He wondered how many frequencies wereinvolved. Several thousand, at the very least.

  "Fraser," repeated Kennedy softly into the ear of the hypnotized man."Colin Fraser. Colin Fraser." He touched a dial with infinite care."Colin Fraser. Colin Fraser."

  The oscilloscope flickered as he readjusted, a new trace appeared.Kennedy waited for a while, then: "Robert Kennedy. Sentiment, Inc.Robert Kennedy. Sentiment, Inc. Robert Kennedy. Sentiment--"

  He turned off the machine, its murmur and glow died away. Facing Fraserwith a tight little smile, he said: "All right. Your job is done. Are weeven now?"

  "As even, as we'll ever get, I suppose," said Fraser.

  "I wish you'd trust me," said Kennedy with a hint of wistfulness. "I'dhave done the job honestly; you didn't have to watch."

  "Well, I was interested," said Fraser.

  "Frankly, I still don't see what you stand to gain by the doglikedevotion of this Ferris. He's rich, but he's too weak and short-sightedto be a leader. I'd never planned on conditioning him for my purposes."

  "I've explained that," said Fraser patiently. "Ferris is a largestockholder in a number of corporations. His influence can swing a lotof business my way."

  "Yes, I know. I didn't grant your wish blindly, you realize. I hadFerris studied; he's unable to harm me." Kennedy regarded Fraser withhard eyes. "And just in case you still have foolish notions, pleaseremember that I gave him the father-conditioning with respect to myself.He'll do a lot for you, but not if it's going to hurt me in any way."

  "I know when I'm licked," said Fraser bleakly; "I'm getting out of townas soon as I finish those courses I'm signed up for."

  Kennedy snapped his fingers. "All right, Ferris, wake up now."

  Ferris blinked. "What's been happening?" he asked.

  "Nothing much," said Kennedy, unbuckling the electrodes. "I've taken myreadings. Thank you very much for the help, sir. I'll see that you getdue credit when my research is published."

  "Ah--yes. Yes." Ferris puffed himself out. Then he put an arm aroundFraser's shoulder. "If you aren't busy," he said, "maybe we could gohave lunch."

  "Thanks," said Fraser. "I'd like to talk to you about a few things."

  He lingered for a moment after Ferris had left the room. "I imagine thisis goodbye for us," he said.

  "Well, so long, at least. We'll probably hear from each other again."Kennedy shook Fraser's hand. "No hard feelings? I did go to a lot oftrouble for you--wangling your introduction to Ferris when you'd namedhim, and having one of my men persuade him to come here. And right whenI'm so infernally busy, too."

  "Sure," said Fraser. "It's all right. I can't pretend to love you forwhat you've done, but you aren't a bad sort."

  "No worse than you," said Kennedy with a short laugh. "You've used themachine for your own ends, now."

  "Yeah," said Fraser. "I guess I have."

  * * * * *

  Sworsky asked, "Why do you insist on calling me from drugstores? And whyat my office? I've got a home phone, you know."

  "I'm not sure but that our own lines are tapped," said Fraser."Kennedy's a smart cookie, and don't you forget it. I think he's aboutready to dismiss me as a danger, but you're certainly being watched;you're on his list."

  "You're getting a persecution-complex. Honest, Colin, I'm worried."

  "Well, bear with me for a while. Now, have you had any information onKennedy since I called last?"

  "Hm, no. I did mention to Thomson, as you asked me to, that I'd heardrumors of some revolutionary encephalographic techniques and would beinterested in seeing the work. Why did you want me to do that?"

  "Thomson," said Fraser, "is one of Kennedy's men. Now look, Jim, beforelong you're g
oing to be invited to visit Kennedy. He'll give you a spielabout his research and ask to measure your brain waves. I want you tosay yes. Then I want to know the exact times of the three appointmentshe'll give you--the first two, at least."

  "Hmmm--if Kennedy's doing what you claim--"

  "Jim, it's a necessary risk, but _I'm_ the one who's taking it. You'llbe okay, I promise you; though perhaps later you'll read of me beingfound in the river. You see, I got Kennedy to influence a big stockownerfor me. One of the lesser companies in which he has a loud voice isMessenger. I don't suppose Kennedy knows that. I hope not!"

  * * * * *

  Sworsky looked as if he'd been sandbagged. He was white, and the handthat poured a drink shook.

  "Lord," he muttered. "Lord, Colin, you were right."

  Fraser's teeth drew back from his lips. "You went through with it, eh?"

  "Yes. I let the son hypnotize me, and afterward I walked off with adreamy expression, as you told me to. Just three hours ago, he droppedaround here in person. He gave me a long rigmarole about the stupidityof military secrecy, and how the Soviet Union stands for peace andjustice. I hope I acted impressed; I'm not much of an actor."

  "You don't have to be. Just so you didn't overdo it. To one of Kennedy'svictims, obeying his advice is so natural that it doesn't call for anyawe-struck wonderment."

  "And he wanted data from me! Bombardment cross-sections. Criticalvalues. Resonance levels. My Lord, if the Russians found that outthrough spies it'd save them three years of research. This is an FBIcase, all right."

  "No, not yet." Fraser laid an urgent hand on Sworsky's arm. "You'vestuck by me so far, Jim. Go along a little further."

  "What do you want me to do?"

  "Why--" Fraser's laugh jarred out. "Give him what he wants, of course."

  * * * * *

  Kennedy looked up from his desk, scowling. "All right, Fraser," he said."You've been a damned nuisance, and it's pretty patient of me to see youagain. But this is the last time. Wha'd'you want?"

  "It's the last time I'll need to see you, perhaps." Fraser didn't sitdown. He stood facing Kennedy. "You've had it, friend; straight up."

  "What do you mean?" Kennedy's hand moved toward his buzzer.

  "Listen before you do anything," said Fraser harshly. "I know you triedto bring Jim Sworsky under the influence. You asked him for top-secretdata. A few hours ago, you handed the file he brought you on to Bryce,who's no doubt at the Amtorg offices this minute. That's high treason,Kennedy; they execute people for doing that."

  The psychologist slumped back.

  "Don't try to have your bully boys get rid of me," said Fraser. "Sworskyis sitting by the phone, waiting to call the FBI. I'm the only guy whocan stop him."

  "But--" Kennedy's tongue ran around his lips. "But he committed treasonhimself. He gave me the papers!"

  Fraser grinned. "You don't think those were authentic, do you? I doubtif you'll be very popular in the Soviet Union either, once they've triedto build machines using your data."

  Kennedy looked down at the floor. "How did you do it?" he whispered.

  "Remember Ferris? The guy you fixed up for me? He owns a share of yournext-door neighbor, the Messenger Advertising Service. I fed him a songand dance about needing an office to do some important work, only myvery whereabouts had to be secret. The Messenger people were moved outwithout anybody's knowing. I installed myself there one night, also asimple little electric oscillator.

  "Encephalography is damn delicate work; it involves amplifications up toseveral million. The apparatus misbehaves if you give it a hard look.Naturally, your lab and the machine were heavily shielded, but even so,a radio emitter next door would be bound to throw you off. My maintrouble was in lousing you up just a little bit, not enough to make yoususpect anything.

  "I only worked at that during your calibrating sessions with Sworsky. Ididn't have to be there when you turned the beam on him, because itwould be calculated from false data and be so far from his pattern as tohave no effect. You told me yourself how precise an adjustment wasneeded. Sworsky played along, then. Now we've got proof--not that youmeddled with human lives, but that you are a spy."

  Kennedy sat without moving. His voice was a broken mumble. "I was goingto change the world. I had hopes for all humankind. And you, for thesake of one woman--"

  "I never trusted anybody with a messiah complex. The world is too big tochange single-handed; you'd just have bungled it up worse than italready is. A lot of dictators started out as reformers and ended up asmass-executioners; you'd have done the same."

  Fraser leaned over his desk. "I'm willing to make a deal, though," hewent on. "Your teeth are pulled; there's no point in turning you in.Sworsky and Martinez and I are willing just to report on Bryce, and letyou go, if you'll change back all your subjects. We're going to readyour files, and watch and see that you do it. Every one."

  Kennedy bit his lip. "And the machine--?"

  "I don't know. We'll settle that later. Okay, God, here's the phonenumber of Judy Harkness. Ask her to come over for a special treatment.At once."

  * * * * *

  A month later, the papers had a story about a plausible maniac who hadtalked his way into the Columbia University laboratories, whereGavotti's puzzling machine was being studied, and pulled out a hammerand smashed it into ruin before he could be stopped. Taken to jail, hecommitted suicide in his cell. The name was Kennedy.

  Fraser felt vague regret, but it didn't take him long to forget it; hewas too busy making plans for his wedding.

  THE END

  * * * * *

  Transcriber Notes:

  This etext was produced from Science Fiction Stories 1953. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.

  Obvious punctuation errors have been repaired.

  page 17 original: on the mantel: a midle-aged woman and two young men

  replacement: on the mantel: a middle-aged woman and two young men

  page 20 original: inpulses corresponding to your reactions of hate, fear, and disgust into

  replacement: impulses corresponding to your reactions of hate, fear, and disgust into

  page 25 original: Another woman? Or merely to be reconciled, artifically, to an otherwise-intolerable situation?

  replacement: Another woman? Or merely to be reconciled, artificially, to an otherwise-intolerable situation?

  page 26 original: "As even, as we'll ever get, I suppose," said Fraser.

  "Well, I was interested," said Fraser.

  "I wish you'd trust me," said Kennedy with a hint of wistfulness. "I'd have done the job honestly; you didn't have to watch."

  replacement: "As even, as we'll ever get, I suppose," said Fraser.

  "I wish you'd trust me," said Kennedy with a hint of wistfulness. "I'd have done the job honestly; you didn't have to watch."

  "Well, I was interested," said Fraser.

  page 29 original: "I don't know. We'll settle that later. Okay, God, here's the phone-number

  replacement: "I don't know. We'll settle that later. Okay, God, here's the phone number (no hyphen used on page 10)

 
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