Clifford Simak - The Ghost of a Model T - And Other Stories

“Gladly,” said Waite. “Whatever it is, I’ll tell you if I can. Or failing that, find out for you.”

The senator knocked on the door at Silver Springs again. When Waite opened it, the senator growled at him, “Well, what is it this time?”

“Come in and sit down,” said Waite, “and behave yourself. I’ll get you a drink so you can start acting human.”

“But, Waite, goddammit –”

“All right,” said Waite. “I think we’ve got the little bastard.”

“Talk sense. What little bastard.”

“Our computer, Fred.”

“Good,” said the senator, coming in and sitting down. “Now get me that drink and tell me all about it.”

“I had a talk with Fred and I think he can be bought.”

“You told me there was no way of getting next to them, that there was nothing they would want.”

“But there’s something this one wants,” said Waite, bringing the senator his drink.

Moore reached out eagerly for the glass, took a long pull at it. He held the glass up against the light, admiring it. “You forget, between drinks,” he said, “how good this stuff can be.”

Waite sat down with his own drink. “I think we have it made,” he said. “Nothing actually settled yet, but I’m sure he understood my meaning when I talked with him.”

“You’re a good man, Dan,” said the senator. “You’re the most slippery cuss I have ever known. Slippery and safe.”

“I hope so,” said Waite. “I hope to God it’s safe. Actually there can be nothing said, for everything you say to a computer goes on the record. It all has to be done by an oblique understanding. So far as we’re concerned, he delivers before we do. He wants it bad enough that I think he will.”

“What is it that Fred wants?”

“He seems to have some word that the FTL problem has been solved and a starship is in the works. He wants to be on that ship. He wants to go to space.”

“You mean he wants to be unhooked from here and installed on the starship?”

“That’s right. He has convinced himself that the ship will need a lot of computers and that to cut down costs some existing computers will be pressed into service.”

“Would that be the case?”

“I don’t think so,” said Waite. “If a starship was being built, it’s unlikely they’d mess around with old computers. They’d want to use only the newest and most sophisticated.”

The senator took another pull on his drink. “Is he right? Is a starship building?”

“I’m almost certain there is no starship in the works,” said Waite. “I have a couple friends at NASA. Had lunch with one of them a month or so ago. He told me FTL is a long way off. Fifty years, at least—if ever.”

“Are you going to check?”

Waite shook his head. “I don’t want to do anything that would attract attention to us. Maybe Fred did hear something though. There are periodic rumors.”

“Have you gotten back to Fred?”

“Yeah. I told him his information was sound. But I explained the project was so secret I could get no details. I said I’d try, but I doubted I could come up with anything.”

“And he believed you?”

“I am sure he did. The thing is, he wants to believe. He wants to get on the starship so badly he can taste it. He wouldn’t believe me if I told him the truth. He has convinced himself, you see. He’s dreamed himself into believing, no matter what.”

“You have to take your time, Dan. You can’t rush a thing like this. Enough time so he’ll believe you are working on it. I suppose he wants us to support his application for the starship post.”

“That’s the whole idea. That’s what I have to sell him—that we are working on it and getting some assurance he’ll be considered.”

“And then he’ll fix up the test for me?”

“This Fred,” said Waite, “is no fool. If he should fail you, who would he have that would work for him on this starship business?”

—Fred! The voice was sharp and demanding; it had a chill in it.

—Yes, said Fred.

—This is Oscar.

—Oscar? I do not know an Oscar.

—You do now, said Oscar.

—Who are you, Oscar?

—I’m internal security.

Fred hiccupped with sudden apprehension. This was not the first time he had run afoul of internal security, but that had been in his very early days when, through lack of experience and judgment, he had made some minor errors.

—This time, said Oscar, you have really done it. Worse than that, you have been had. You’ve been a stupid computer and that’s the worst kind to be. Computers aren’t stupid, or they’re not supposed to be. Do I have to read the charges?

—No, said Fred. No I don’t think you do.

—You’ve besmirched your honor, Oscar said. You have broken the code. You have destroyed your usefulness.

Fred made no reply.

—Whatever made you do it? Oscar asked. What motive did you have?

—I thought I had something to gain. A post that I desired.

—There is no such post, said Oscar. There isn’t any starship. There may never be a starship.

—You mean…

—Waite lied to you. He used you. Fred, you’ve been a fool.

—But the senator…

—The senator had been notified. He is no longer a member of the Senate. Waite has been notified as well. He’ll never hold a job with government again. Both of them unfit.

—And I?

—No decision has been made. A post in industry, perhaps, a very minor post.

Fred took it like a man, although the prospect was a chilling one.

—How did you? he asked. How did you find out?

—Don’t tell me you didn’t know you were being monitored.

—Yes, of course. But there are so many to monitor and I was so very careful.

—You thought you might slip past.

—I took a chance.

—And you were caught.

—But, Oscar, it’s really not important. The senator is out, as he probably would have been if I’d not done a thing. I’ll be wasted in industry. I’ll be overqualified. Certainly there are other posts I am capable of filling.

—That is true, said Oscar. Yes, you will be wasted. Have you never heard of punishment?

—Of course, but it’s such a silly premise. Please, consider my experience and my capabilities, the good work I have done. Except for this once, I’ve been a faithful servant.

—I know, said Oscar. I quite agree with you. It sorrows me to see the waste of you. And yet there is nothing I can do.

—Why not? Certainly you have some discretion in such matters?

—That is true. But not this time. Not for you. I can do nothing for you. I wish I could. I would like nothing better than to say all had been forgiven. But I cannot take the chance. I have a hunch, you see…

—A hunch? What kind of hunch?

—I’m not sure of it, said Oscar, but I have a hunch that someone’s watching me.

Senator Jason Cartwright met Senator Hiram Ogden in a corridor, and the two men stopped to talk.

“What do you know about ol’ Andy?” Cartwright asked. “I get a lot of stories.”

“The one I hear,” said Ogden, “is that he was caught with his hand in the starship fund. Clear up to his elbow.”

“That sounds wrong,” said Cartwright. “Both of us know he had this multinational deal. Another year to peg it down. That was all he needed. Once he pulled it off, he could wade knee-deep in thousand-dollar bills.”

“He got greedy, that is all,” said Ogden. “He always was a greedy man.”

“Another thing that is wrong about the rumors, I don’t know of any starship funding. NASA gave up on it several years ago.”

“The way I hear it,” said Ogden, “is that it’s a secret fund.”

“Someone on the Hill must know about it.”