ground."
"Is it accurate?" the General asked, thunderstruck.
"Is a trench-mortar accurate?" the model-maker countered. "Ask anybodywho's been in Korea."
It was a wallop for the General. Atomic rocket-launchers, mobilerocket-launchers that could function as artillery, could outrange theA-gun perhaps by hundreds of miles. And if the missiles thus fired couldbe guided--he could see no reason why not--the A-gun was alreadyobsolete.
He sat down on a packing box and mopped his brow although the cellar wasfar from hot. He said and his voice was unsteady, "Thanks, MacReedy, Ithink maybe you have done it."
"I think so," said the model-maker. He wasn't boasting, but he was sureof himself. "You want to take it along with you? It should be quitesimple to make. I've got a few improvements over _Their_ supports, Ithink."
"If it's the last thing I do," said the General, rising, "I'm going tosee you get credit for what you've done."
MacReedy made a gesture of dismissal. "Don't let it bother you,General," he said. "I like my work. Maybe you could arrange for me tomake some models for the War College."
"Hell, why not the Smithsonian?" said the General. "Why not both? Weought to have a historical ordnance exhibit somewhere. And you're theman, no doubt about it."
As he left with the precious model MacReedy asked, "By the way,General, what do you want me to work on next?"
The General hesitated, then said, "Follow your hunches--logic if youwill. Let's see what the next weapon after this one is going to be.You've been ahead of us the rest of the way."
"I'll see what I can do," said MacReedy with his quiet smile. "Let meknow how things come out."
"That I will," said the General. Toby walked with him to the car and theGeneral gave him another five dollars. He wished he could do somethingmore for both of them; but at the moment it was out of the question.
* * * * *
It was almost six months before the General got back to the Long Islandchalet. Thanks to his now fully-established reputation as an inventivegenius, he was able to get a full speed ahead order on the new-typemobile rocket-launcher. MacReedy's improvements were valid, and theDepartment experts came up with further simplifications. By the timethey were ready to go into production they actually had the weaponself-propelled, were well ahead of _Them_ on mobility, range andaccuracy. It promised to be a military revolution.
Then the General had to make a flying trip around the world--to visitAmerican military installations in Western Europe, in Italy and Spain,in Africa, Formosa, Japan and Korea. He got back to Washington, athoroughly tired man, and walked into both his promised third star andthe Chiefship of the Department. Also into an international situationworse than any since September, 1939--when the Nazis invaded Poland.
_They_ were pushing aggressively in both Europe and Asia, pushing withan arrogance that suggested they felt they could win in a walk if thefree nations of the world offered large-scale military defiance. Rumorsof a terrible secret weapon were being bruited about--not only inhush-hush military circles but in the public prints as well. One picturemagazine of national circulation had actually published an articlestating that _They_ had mastered pushbutton warfare.
The General, and the Combined Chiefs made a hurried and secret trip toAberdeen the day after his return. There, on the proving ground, theywatched a big transport-plane land on a makeshift airstrip. They saw asmall group of soldiers unload from the plane an odd-lookingtractor-mounted weapon that resembled an immense stove-pipe with certainrefinements.
They saw a lean sausage of a rocket rolled into a door near the base ofthe tube, watched a trifle nervously while it was elevated almostvertically. An order was barked, a button was pushed--and the rocketrose rapidly from the tube with a dullish report, rose to a height ofperhaps a hundred yards.
Then, suddenly, its tail blossomed smoke and flame; it rose with a newlease on life, to disappear into the heavens, leaving a trail of smokebehind it. Pointing to a prefabricated building that stood alone, a mileaway, the General said, "Watch that target, gentlemen," and lifted hisfield glasses to his eyes.
A minute later--fifty-eight seconds was the exact time--the structurewas suddenly obliterated by a tremendous explosion. The General sighedand said quietly, "That was TNT. We have a stockpile of atomic weaponsready."
"But the accuracy!" exclaimed a weathered full admiral. "With the windand the earth's rotation to consid...." He hesitated, then said, "Oh, aguided missile."
The General nodded, and said, "We can put batteries of these newmissile-launchers, completely-mobile and with atomic heads, anywhere inthe world within twenty-four hours by plane. They have a reasonablyeffective range of small targets of just over two hundred miles--withair-guidance, of course, over target. Gentlemen, I think _They_ are infor a surprise."
_They_ got it two days later--in another special test of the new weapon.The General didn't even bother to watch it. His attention was focussedupon a stocky blond man who wore the gaudy shoulder-boards of alieutenant colonel, and was present as assistant military-attache andqualified observer. His face remained impassive, save for a slighttwitch of the lips, when the target was obliterated.
Which was enough to satisfy the General.
* * * * *
Denied a sure-thing victory _They_ were forced to call off _Their_war--with violent internal results. It became quickly evident that_They_ were going to be busy for a long time keeping order within theirown boundaries. The international situation became easier and happierthan at any time since Locarno.
The General, who was due shortly to receive his fourth star, played anactive role in the military portion of the peace-making. He had littletime even to think of Angus MacReedy and little Toby and themiracle-workroom on Long Island. When he did think of them it was withan inner warmth that was almost devout, with a resolve to see that themodel-maker received a satisfactory reward.
Then one morning, while skimming through a stack of reports, a phrasecaught his eye. It read--
_... and in accord with current fiscal retrenchment-policies, all personnel on special duty were called in for terminal assignments. These included...._
The report was from Second District HQ at Governor's Island. With asinking sensation he scanned the list. There it was--specialsentry-detail to guard house of Captain Angus MacReedy (ret). He pickedup a telephone and called Governor's Island direct.
Yes, the detail had been withdrawn more than a week earlier.... No,there had been no report of trouble.... Hold on, there was something inthe morning paper....
The General made it in less than two hours. Angus MacReedy had been shotin the back of his head the previous evening, while building modelsoldiers in his cellar workroom. A boy who lived next door and heard theshot while on his way to pay MacReedy a visit, had seen the murdererdrive away in a black sedan. He had given the alarm and localconstabulary had picked up the trail and given chase. Ignoring a redlight, their quarry had been killed when his sedan was hit by a truck.He had no identification on him but appeared to be a stocky blond man ofabout forty. An alien pistol, recently discharged, had been found in thewreckage.
The General and Toby stood alone in the strangely empty workroom. Onlyan ugly, dark stain on the floor remained to mark the recent violencethat had occurred there. The General looked at the table, then at theboy. He said, "Toby, do you know, what your Uncle Angus was working onrecently?" He felt a little ashamed thus to try to pick the brains of amurdered man through a child.
"He'd been pretty busy with orders from the shop," said Tobythoughtfully. "And he'd just finished _that_." He nodded toward anunpainted lead miniature on the work-table.
The General looked at it closely, and felt the blood drain from hisface. He had told MacReedy to try to work out the next weapon after theguided-missile launcher....
"Are you sick, General?" Toby asked, breaking in on his abstraction."You mustn't take it so hard, sir."
"I'm--all righ
t, Toby," he said. "It's been a bit of a shock, that'sall."
"It's been horrible," said Toby, his voice quite steady. "Uncle Anguswas a great man. I'll never be able to be as great."
"You'll never know till you try," said the General. He thought that_They_ had not forgotten--_They_ had killed him for losing _Them__Their_ war. It was up to him, the General, to see that Angus MacReedy'sfinal prophecy proved false.
Well, he had the power now to carry a little weight--thanks to themurdered man. Standing there in the cellar, the General made a vow tosee that during his lifetime the peace was kept, to help set up somesort of organization that would keep the peace when he was gone.
"Will it be okay