*

He sighed and lighted a cigarette. At the beginning of the project, he
had been as enthusiastic as the others. He remembered saying to
Macintyre, his chief engineer, "Mac, a new day is coming. Watchbird is
the Answer." And Macintyre had nodded very profoundly--another watchbird
convert.

How wonderful it had seemed then! A simple, reliable answer to one of
mankind's greatest problems, all wrapped and packaged in a pound of
incorruptible metal, crystal and plastics.

Perhaps that was the very reason he was doubting it now. Gelsen
suspected that you don't solve human problems so easily. There had to be
a catch somewhere.

After all, murder was an old problem, and watchbird too new a solution.

"Gentlemen--" They had been talking so heatedly that they hadn't noticed
the government representative entering. Now the room became quiet at
once.

"Gentlemen," the plump government man said, "the President, with the
consent of Congress, has acted to form a watchbird division for every
city and town in the country."

The men burst into a spontaneous shout of triumph. They were going to
have their chance to save the world after all, Gelsen thought, and
worriedly asked himself what was wrong with that.

He listened carefully as the government man outlined the distribution
scheme. The country was to be divided into seven areas, each to be
supplied and serviced by one manufacturer. This meant monopoly, of
course, but a necessary one. Like the telephone service, it was in the
public's best interests. You couldn't have competition in watchbird
service. Watchbird was for everyone.

"The President hopes," the representative continued, "that full
watchbird service will be installed in the shortest possible time. You
will have top priorities on strategic metals, manpower, and so forth."

"Speaking for myself," the president of Southern Consolidated said, "I
expect to have the first batch of watchbirds distributed within the
week. Production is all set up."

* * * * *

The rest of the men were equally ready. The factories had been prepared
to roll out the watchbirds for months now. The final standardized
equipment had been agreed upon, and only the Presidential go-ahead had
been lacking.

"Fine," the representative said. "If that is all, I think we can--is
there a question?"

"Yes, sir," Gelsen said. "I want to know if the present model is the one
we are going to manufacture."

"Of cou