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to the wood in that house. Smooth polished surfaces on both sides of the cut,
with absolutely no waste. That translates out to less expensive wood and fewer
trees cut."
"Hey, aren't some of those sawmills powered by burning sawdust?" I asked.
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"Let 'em buy coal. We can tunnel it out cheap. Or better still well, maybe I
don't believe this one myself, but think of a piston engine with one of these
gadgets where the spark plug used to be. If we could somehow work it so that the
circuit didn't destroy itself, and could make the air in the cylinder go away
without hurting the engine, atmospheric pressure would naturally force the
piston into the cylinder, and if we can make the air come back at the right
time, we push the piston back out. It sounds like nearly free power. I mean, the
circuit was powered by a transistor radio battery, and when you do the math
about how much stuff was removed . . ."
"Uh, huh. What about the Second Law of Thermodynamics?" I said.
"That's what bugs me about the idea. . . . Anyway, back to cutting techniques.
Do we have to make chips that are spheric segments, or can we shape this field,
or whatever it is, into other contours? Do you know what we have to do to make
an automotive quarter panel? You take an ingot of steel and run it through ten
million dollars worth of rolling mills to turn it into sheet metal. Then you
take the sheet metal and run it through typically six dies worth a half million
each. Dies you have to throw away to make next year's model. Maybe with a
properly shaped field, we could cut parts directly off the original ingot. Then
all we'd have to do is weld 'em together."
"Hey, maybe not even that," I said. "You saw that stick I put through the
stone?"
"Hey, yeah! Look, we clamp our support brackets right where the fender is going
to reemerge. Then "
CHAPTER SIX
The Partnership
"Gentlemen, I gather that you are both enthusiastic about the technical and
financial prospects of our venture. But the question before us is 'Do we have a
venture?' Is Ian going to leave tomorrow and return to Pontiac Motors? I have an
offer to start teaching in the fall. Am I going to be there? Is Tom going to go
and do whatever he had in mind before all this came up? Or are we going to take
our newfound capital and work together to develop this new technology?"
"Well, uh, of course!" I said, "I mean, this is a clean shot at a fifteen point
buck! We'd be dumbshits to pass it by! A man would be a fool "
"I quite agree. We have stumbled upon our chance at success. Wealth. Fame, if we
want it. Power to change the world into a better place. Most definitely I second
your motion."
"But it's . . . it's sowild !" Then Ian said softly, "I've got a place, now.
I've got security. I'm moving up in a good company. . . ."
"Ian, there is nothing as secure as money in the bank," Hasenpfeffer said. "You
now have seven years' pay in your third of our account. Why not spend those
years testing your mettle? General Motors knows that you are competent. They
will be happy to take you back, if we fail. Come with us! Screw your courage to
the hitching post!"
Ian stared at the table. "I've bought this condo, and I've got mortgage
payments. I've got car payments. And payments on the Harley. I owe on my credit
cards. . . ."
"Hmm . . . Tom, what would you say if the company were to take over all of Ian's
debts and assets whatever they are and bring him to exactly the same financial
status that you and I presently enjoy?"
"Hey, sure. No question. Bankers are all leeches, bastards, the lot of them. All
for one!"
"And one for all!" Ian suddenly shouted. "I'm with you! We'll do it!"
As things fell out, and with Hasenpfeffer selling the condo, our little company
cleared $2,954.26, and kept Ian's Corvette as group property. And Ian got his
Harley paid off, since Hasenpfeffer and I owned our BMW's clear. But I get ahead
of myself.
"Well then, we are agreed," Hasenpfeffer said. "The next question is 'Where are
we going to do it?' I would like to suggest Ann Arbor. It is a town that we all
know we went to school there. It has a major university, with all that that
implies. It is near a major airport. It has hundreds of high-tech companies, and
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it is within easy driving distance of the Detroit area, with its thousands of
diverse manufacturing facilities."
"Uh, sure. Why not?"
"Fine, Jim. It'd be nice to walk in Ann Arbor with some money in my pocket."
"Walk? There is, of course, the parking problem, but what I have in mind is some
ten miles outside the city limits. While you two were hospitalized, I took the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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