Man Who Sold the Moon Part 17

Harriman stopped and unwrapped a cigar. Presently he said, "Those diamonds were where you found them because I put them there."

A flashlight went off behind Harriman; a voice said, "Hold the rock up higher, Jeff."

The reporter called Jeff obliged, then said, "That seems an odd thing to do, Mr. Harriman."

"I was interested in the effect of outer s.p.a.ce radiations on raw diamonds. On my orders Captain LeCroix placed that sack of diamonds in the s.h.i.+p."

Jeff whistled thoughtfully. "You know, Mr. Harriman, if you did not have that explanation, I'd think LeCroix had found the rocks on the Moon and was trying to hold out on you."

"Print that and you will be sued for libel. I have every confidence in Captain LeCroix. Now give me the diamonds."

Jeff's eyebrows went up. "But not confidence enough in him to let him keep them,.maybe?"

"Give me the stones. Then get out."

Harriman got LeCroix away from the reporters as quickly as possible and into Harriman's own s.h.i.+p. "That's all for now," he told the news and pictures people. "See us at Peterson Field."

Once the s.h.i.+p raised ground he turned to LeCroix. "You did a beautiful job, Les."

"That reporter named Jeff must be sort of confused."

"Eh? Oh, that. No, I mean the flight. You did it. You're head man on this planet."

LeCroix shrugged it off. "Bob built a good s.h.i.+p. It was a cinch. Now about those diamonds-"

"Forget the diamonds. You've done your part. We placed those rocks in the s.h.i.+p; now we tell everybody we did-truthful as can be. It's not our fault if they don't believe us."

"But Mr. Harriman-"

"What?"

LeCroix unzipped a pocket in his coveralls, hauled out a soiled handkerchief, knotted into a bag. He untied it-and spilled into Harriman's hands many more diamonds than had been displayed in the s.h.i.+p-larger, finer diamonds.

Harriman stared at them. He began to chuckle.

Presently he shoved them back at LeCroix. "Keep them."

"I figure they belong to all of us."

"Well, keep them for us, then. And keep your mouth shut about them. No, wait." He picked out two large stones. "I'll have rings made from these two, one for you, one for me. But keep your mouth shut, or they won't be worth anything, except as curiosities."

It was quite true, he thought. Long ago the diamond syndicate had realized that diamonds in plentiful supply were worth little more than gla.s.s, except for industrial uses. Earth had more than enough for that, more than enough for jewels. If Moon diamonds were literally "common as pebbles" then they were just that-pebbles.

Not worth the expense of bringing them to earth. But now take uranium. If that were plentiful- Harriman sat back and indulged in daydreaming. Presently LeCroix said softly, "You know, Boss, it's wonderful there."

"Eh? Where?"

"Why, on the Moon of course. I'm going back. I'm going back just as soon as I can. We've got to get busy on the new s.h.i.+p."

"Sure, sure! And this time we'll build one big enough for all of us. This time I go, too!"

"You bet."

"Les-" The older man spoke almost diffidently. "What does it look like when you look back and see the Earth?"

"Huh? It looks like- It looks-" LeCroix stopped. "h.e.l.l's bells, Boss, there isn't any way to tell you. It's wonderful, that's all. The sky is black and-well, wait until you see the pictures I took. Better .yet, wait and see it yourself."

Harriman nodded. "But it's hard to wait."

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

"FIELDS OF DIAMONDS ON THE MOONU!".

"BILLIONAIRE BACKER DENIES DIAMOND STORY Says Jewels Taken Into s.p.a.ce for Science Reasons"

"MOON DIAMONDS: HOAX OR FACT?".

"-but consider this, friends of the invisible audience: why would anyone take diamonds to the moon? Every ounce of that s.h.i.+p and its cargo was calculated; diamonds would not be taken along without reason. Many scientific authorities have p.r.o.nounced Mr. Harriman's professed reason an absurdity. It is easy to guess that diamonds might be taken along for the purpose of 'salting' the Moon, so to speak, with earthly jewels, with the intention of convincing us that diamonds exist on the Moon-but Mr. Harriman, his pilot Captain LeCroix, and everyone connected with the enterprise have sworn from the beginning that the diamonds did not come from the Moon. But it is an absolute certainty that the diamonds were in the s.p.a.ce s.h.i.+p when it landed. Cut it how you will; this reporter is going to try to buy some lunar diamond mining stock-"

Strong was, as usual, already in the office when Harriman came in. Before the partners could speak, the screen called out, "Mr. Harriman, Rotterdam calling."

"Tell them to go plant a tulip."

"Mr. van der Velde is waiting, Mr. Harriman."

"Okay."

Harriman let the Hollander talk, then said, "Mr. van der Velde, the statements attributed to me are absolutely correct. I put those diamonds the reporters saw into the s.h.i.+p before it took off. They were mined right here on Earth. In fact I bought them when I came over to see you; I can prove it."

"But Mr. Harriman-"

"Suit yourself. There may be more diamonds on the Moon than you can run and jump over. I don't guarantee it. But I do guarantee that those diamonds the newspapers are talking about came from Earth."

"Mr. Harriman, why would you send diamonds to the Moon? Perhaps you intended to fool us, no?"

"Have it your own way. But I've said all along that those diamonds came from Earth. Now see here: you took an option-an option on an option, so to speak. If you want to make the second payment on that option and keep it in force, the deadline is nine o'clock Thursday, New York time, as specified in the contract. Make up your mind."

He switched off and found his partner looking at him sourly. "What's eating you?"

"I wondered about those diamonds, too, Delos. So I've been looking through the weight schedule of the Pioneer."

"Didn't know you were interested in engineering."

"I can read figures."

"Well, you found it, didn't you? Schedule F-i 7-c, two ounces, allocated to me personally."

"I found it. It sticks out like a sore thumb. But I didn't find something else."

Harriman felt a 'cold chill in his stomach. "What?"

"I didn't find a schedule for the cancelled covers." Strong stared at him.

"It must be there. Let me see that weight schedule."

"It's not there, Delos. You know, I thought it was funny when you insisted on going to meet Captain LeCroix by yourself. What happened, Delos? Did you sneak them aboard?" He continued to stare while Harriman fidgeted. "We've put over some sharp business deals-but this will be the first time that anyone can say that the firm of Harriman and Strong has cheated."

"George-I would cheat, lie, steal, beg, bribe-do anything to accomplish what we have accomplished."

Harriman got up and paced the room. "We had to have that money, or the s.h.i.+p would never have taken off. We're cleaned out. You know that, don't you?"

Strong nodded. "But those covers should have gone to the Moon. That's what we contracted to do."

"I just forgot it. Then it was too late to figure the weight in. But it doesn't matter. I figured that if the trip was a failure, if LeCroix cracked up, n.o.body would know or care that the covers hadn't gone. And I knew if he made it, it wouldn't matter; we'd have plenty of money. And we will, George, we will!"

"We've got to pay the money back."

"Now? Give me time, George. Everybody concerned is 'happy the way it is. Wait until we recover our stake; then I'll buy every one of those covers back-out of my own pocket. That's a promise."

Strong continued to sit. Harriman stopped in front of him. "I ask you, George, is it worth while to wreck an enterprise of this size for a purely theoretical point?"

Strong sighed and said, "When the time comes, use the firm's money."

"That's the spirit! But I'll use my own, I promise you."

"No, the firm's money. If we're in it together, we're in it together."

"O.K., if that's the way you want it."

Harriman turned back to his desk. Neither of the two partners had anything to say for a long while. Presently Dixon and Entenza were announced.

"Well, Jack," said Harriman. "Feel better now?"

"No thanks to you. I had to fight for what I did put on the air-and some of it was pirated as it was. Delos, there should have been a television pick-up in the s.h.i.+p."

"Don't fret about it. As I told you, we couldn't spare the weight this time. But there will be the next trip, and the next. Your concession is going to be worth a pile of money."

Dixon cleared his throat. "That's what we came to see you about, Delos. What are your plans?"

"Plans? We go right ahead. Les and Coster and I make the next trip. We set up a permanent base. Maybe Coster stays behind. The third trip we send a real colony-nuclear engineers, miners, hydroponics experts, communications engineers. We'll found Luna City, first city on another planet."

Dixon looked thoughtful. "And when does this begin to pay off?"

"What do you mean by 'pay off'? Do you want your capital back, or do you want to begin to see some return on your investment? I can cut it either way."

Entenza was about to say that he wanted his investment back; Dixon cut in first, "Profits, naturally. The investment is already made."

"Fine!"

"But I don't see how you expect profits. Certainly, LeCroix made the trip and got back safely. There is honor for all of us. But where are the royalties?"

"Give the crop time to ripen, Dan. Do I look worried? What are our a.s.sets?" Harriman ticked them off on his fingers. "Royalties on pictures, television, radio-."

"Those things go to Jack."

"Take a look at the agreement. He has the concession, but he pays the firm-that's all of us-for them."

Dixon said, "Shut up, Jack!" before Entenza could speak, then added, "What else? That won't pull us out of the red."

"Endors.e.m.e.nts galore. Monty's boys are working on that. Royalties from the greatest best seller yet-I've got a ghost writer and a stenographer following LeCroix around this very minute. A franchise for the first and only s.p.a.ce line-"

"From whom?"

"We'll get it. Kamens and Montgomery are in Paris now, working on it. I'm joining them this afternoon. And we'll tie down that franchise with a franchise from the other end, just as soon as we can get a permanent colony there, no matter how small. It will be the autonomous state of Luna, under the protection of the United Nations-and no s.h.i.+p will land or take off in its territory without its permission. Besides that we'll have the right to franchise a dozen other companies for various purposes-and tax them, too-just as soon as we set up the Munic.i.p.al Corporation of the City of Luna under the laws of the State of Luna. We'll sell everything but vacuum- we'll even sell vacuum, for experimental purposes. And don't forgct-we'll still have a big chunk of real estate, sovereign t.i.tle in us-as a state-and not yet sold. The Moon is big."

"Your ideas are rather big, too, Delos," Dixon said dryly. "But what actually happens next?"

"First we get t.i.tle confirmed by the U.N. The Security Council is now in secret session; the a.s.sembly meets tonight. Things will be popping; that's why I've got to be there. When the United Nations decides-as it will!- that its own non-profit corporation has the only real claim to the Moon, then I get busy. The poor little weak non-profit corporation is going to grant a number of things to some real honest-to-G.o.d corporations with hair on their chests-in return for help in setting up a physics research lab, an astronomical observatory, a lunography inst.i.tute and some other perfectly proper nonprofit enterprises. That's our interim pitch until we get a permanent colony with its own laws. Then we-"

Dixon gestured impatiently. "Never mind the legal shenanigans, Delos. I've known you long enough to know that you can figure out such angles. What do we actually have to do next?"

"Huh? We've got to build another s.h.i.+p, a bigger one. Not actually bigger, but effectively bigger. Coster has started the design of a surface catapult- it will reach from Manitou Springs to the top of Pikes Peak. With it we can put a s.h.i.+p in free orbit around the Earth. Then we'll use such a s.h.i.+p to fuel more s.h.i.+ps-it amounts to a s.p.a.ce station, like the power station. It adds up to a way to get there on chemical power without having to throw away nine-tenths of your s.h.i.+p to do it."

"Sounds expensive."

"It will be. But don't worry; we've got a couple of dozen piddling little things to keep the money coming in while we get set up on a commercial basis, then we sell stock. We- sold stock before; now we'll sell a thousand dollars' worth where we sold ten before."

"And you think that will carry you through until the enterprise as a whole is on a paying basis? Face it, Delos, the thing as a whole doesn't pay off until you have s.h.i.+ps plying between here and the Moon on a paying basis, figured in freight and pa.s.senger charges. That means customers, with cash. What is there on the Moon to s.h.i.+p-and who pays for it?"

"Dan, don't you believe there will be? If not, why are you here?"

"I believe in it, Delos-or I believe in you. But what's your time schedule? What's your budget? What's your prospective commodity? And please don't mention diamonds; I think I understand that caper."

Harriman chewed his cigar for a few moments. "There's one valuable commodity we'll start s.h.i.+pping at once."

"What?"

"Knowledge."