r had passed the
saturation point; Sam couldn't tell which. Olcott said: "Where do you
put the water?"

"Why put water in it?" Sam asked coolly. "That small whirring sound you
hear isn't the hydrogen-helium conversion; it's a fan blowing air
through a cooling coil. Even in the Sahara Desert there's enough
moisture in the air to run this baby."

"And the fan is powered--"

"... By the machine itself, naturally," said Bending. "It's a
self-contained unit. Of course, with a really big unit, you might have
to hire someone to hang out their laundry somewhere in the neighborhood,
but only in case of emergencies."

"May I sit down?" asked Olcott. And, without waiting for Sam Bending's
permission, he grabbed a nearby chair and sat. "Mr. Bending," he said,
"what is the cost of one of those units?"

"Well, that one cost several hundred thousand dollars. But the thing
could be mass produced for ... oh, around fifteen hundred dollars. Maybe
less."

Olcott absorbed that, blinked, and said: "Is it dangerous? I mean, could
it explode, or does it give out radiation?"

"Well, you have to treat it with respect, of course," Bending said. He
rubbed his big hands together in an unconscious gesture of triumph.
"Just like any power source. But it won't explode; that I can guarantee.
And there's no danger from radiation. All the power comes out as
electric current."

* * * * *

Sam Bending remained silent while Olcott stared at the little black box.
Finally, Olcott put his hands to his face and rubbed his eyes, as though
he'd been too long without sleep. When he removed his hands, his eyes
were focused on Bending.

"You realize," he said, "that we can't give you any sort of contract
until this has been thoroughly checked by our own engineers and research
men?"

"Obviously," said Sam Bending. "But--"

"Do you have a patent?" Olcott interrupted.

"It's pending," said Bending. "My lawyer thinks it will go through
pretty quickly."

Olcott stood up abruptly. "Mr. Bending, if this machine is actually what
you claim it to be--which, of course, we will have to determine for
ourselves--I think that we can make you a handsome--a _very_ handsome
settlement."

"How much?" Bending asked flatly.

"For full rights--millions," said Olcott without hesitation. "That would
be a ... shall we say, an advance ... an advance on the royalties."

"What, no bargaining?" Bending said, in a rather startled tone.