hands. "My dear Baker! Your secretary said you had noobjection to my coming up immediately, so I took advantage of it. Ididn't hear about your terrible accident until yesterday. It's so goodto know that you were not more seriously hurt."
"Thanks," said Baker. "It wasn't very bad. Come and sit down."
Wily was a rather large, beetle-shaped man. He affected a small, grayingbeard that sometimes had tobacco ashes in it.
"Terrible loss to the cause of Science if your accident had been moreserious," Wily was saying. "I don't know of anyone who occupies a morecritical position in our nation's scientific advance than you do."
This was what had made him feel safe, secure, able to cope with theproblems of the world, Baker reflected. Wily represented Authority, thehighest possible Authority in the existing scientific culture.
But it had worked both ways, too. Baker had supplied a similarcounterpart for Wily. His degrees matched Wily's own. He representedboth Science and Government. The gift of a million dollars expressedconfidence on the part of the Government that Wily was on the righttrack, that his activity was approved.
A sort of mutual admiration society, Baker thought.
"I suppose you are interested in the progress on your application forrenewal of Great Eastern's grants," said Baker.
Wily waved the subject away with an emphatic gesture. "Not businesstoday! I simply dropped in for a friendly chat after learning of youraccident. Of course, if there is something to report, I wouldn't mindhearing it. I presume, however, the processing is following the usualroutine."
"Not quite," said Baker slowly. "An increasing flood of applications iscoming in, and I'm finding it necessary to adopt new processing methodsto cope with the problem."
"I can understand that," said Wily. "And one of the things I have alwaysadmired most about your office is your ability to prevent wastage offunds by nonqualified people. Qualifications in the scientific world arebecoming tighter every day. You have no idea how difficult it is to getpeople with adequate backgrounds today. Men of stature and authorityseem to be getting rarer all the time. At any rate, I'm sure we areagreed that only the intellectual elite must be given access to thesefunds of your Bureau, which are limited at best."
Baker continued to regard Wily across the desk for a long moment. Wilywas one of them, he thought. One of the most heavily infected of all.Surround yourself with Authority. Fold it about you like a shell. Neverstep beyond the boundaries set by Authority. This was George H. Wily,President of Great Eastern University. This was a man stricken by theGreat Gray Plague.
"I need a report," said Baker. "For our new program of screening I needa report of past performance under our grants. The last two years wouldbe sufficient, I think, from Great Eastern."
Wily was disturbed. He frowned and hesitated. "I'm sure we could supplysuch a report," he said finally. "There's never been any question--"
"No question at all," said Baker. "I just need to tally up theachievements made under recent grants. I shall also require some newinformation for the Index. I'll send forms as soon as they're ready."
"We'll be more than glad to co-operate," said Wily. "It's just thatconcrete achievement in a research program is sometimes hard to pinpoint, you know. So many intangibles."
"I know," said Baker.
When Wily was gone, Baker continued sitting at his desk for a long time.He wished fervently that he could talk with Sam Atkins for just fiveminutes now. And he hoped Sam hadn't gotten too blistered by his mentorswhen he returned home after fluffing the inquiry he was sent out on.
There was no chance, of course, that Baker would ever be able to talkwith Sam again. That one fortuitous encounter would have to do for alifetime. But Sam's great cryptic statement was slowly beginning to makesense: When you cease to be fearful of Authority, you become Authority.
Neither Baker or Wily, or any of the members of Wily's lock-step staffwere Authority. Rather, they all gave obeisance to the intangibleAuthority of Science, and stood together as self-appointed vicars ofthat Authority, demanding penance for the slightest blasphemy againstit. And each one stood in living terror of such censure.
The same ghost haunted the halls of Government. The smallest civilservant, in his meanest incivility, could invoke the same reverence forthat unseen mantle of Authority that rested, however falsely, on histhin shoulders.
The ghost existed in but one place, the minds of the victims of thePlague. William Baker had ceased to recognize or give obeisance to it.He was beginning to understand the meaning of Sam Atkins' words.
He was quite sure the grants to Great Eastern were going to diminishseverely.
* * * * *
Within six months, the output from Clearwater College was phenomenal.The only string that Baker had attached to his grants was the provisionthat the National Bureau of Scientific Development be granted theprivilege of announcing all new inventions, discoveries, and significantreports. This worked to the advantage of both parties. It gave thecollege the prestige of association in the press with the powerfulGovernment agency, and it gave Baker the association with a prominentscientific discovery.
During the first month of operation under the grant, Fenwick appointed ahalf dozen "uneducated" professors to his physical science staff. Thesewere located with Baker's help because they had previously applied toNBSD for assistance.
The announcement of the developments of the projects of these men was akind of unearned windfall for both Baker and Fenwick because most of thework had already been done in garages and basements. But no one objectedthat it gave both Clearwater and NBSD a substantial boost in the publicconsciousness.
During this period, Baker found three other small colleges of almostequal caliber with Clearwater. He made substantial grants to all of themand watched their staffs grow in number and quality of background thatwould have shocked George Wily into apoplexy. Baker's announcements ofsubstantial scientific gains became the subject of weekly pressconferences.
And also, during this time, he lowered the ax on Great Eastern and twoother giants whose applications were pending. He cut them to twenty percent of what they were asking. A dozen of the largest industrial firmswere accorded similar treatment.
Through all this, Pehrson moved like a man in a nightmare. His firstimpulse had been to resign. His second was to report the grossmismanagement of NBSD to some appropriate congressman. Before he dideither of these things the reports began to come in from Clearwater andother obscure points.
Pehrson was a man in whom allegiance was easily swayed. His loyalty wasonly for the top man of any hierarchy, and he suddenly began to regardBaker with an amazed incredulity. It seemed akin to witchcraft to beable to pull out works of near genius from the dross material Baker hadbeen supporting with his grants. Pehrson wasn't quite sure how it hadbeen done although he had been present throughout the whole process. Heonly knew that Baker had developed a kind of prescience that was nothingshort of miraculous, and from now on he was strictly a Baker man.
Baker was happy with this outcome. The problem of Pehrson had been abothersome one. Civil Service regulations forbade his displacement.Baker had been undecided how to deal with him. With Pehrson's acceptanceof the new methods, the entire staff swung behind Baker, and theprevious grumblings and complaints finally ceased. He stood on top inhis own office, at least, Baker reflected.
George H. Wily was not happy, however. He waited two full days afterreceiving the announcement of NBSD's grant for the coming year. Heconsulted with his Board of Regents and then took a night plane down toWashington to see Baker.
He was coldly formal as he entered Baker's office. Baker shook his handwarmly and invited him to sit down.
"I was hoping you'd drop in again when you came to town," said Baker. "Iwas sorry we had to ask you for so much new information, but Iappreciate your prompt response."
Wily's eyes were frosty. "Is that why you gave us only two hundredthousand?" he asked.
Baker spread his hands. "I explained when you w
ere here last that wewere getting a flood of applications. We have been forced to distributethe money much more broadly than in other years. There is only so muchto go around, you know."
"There is just as much as you've ever had," snapped Wily. "I've checkedon your overall appropriation. And there is no increase in qualifiedapplicants. There is a decrease, if anything.
"I've done a little checking on the grants you've made, Baker. I'd liketo see you defend your appropriation for that miserable little schoolcalled Clearwater College. I made a detailed study of their staff. Theyhaven't a single qualified man. Not one with a background any betterthan that of your elevator operator!"
Baker looked up at the ceiling. "I