ore. Baker smiled and glanced
through the window beyond Fenwick. "I suppose so," Baker admitted
finally, "but do you think Wily will be able to convince Landrus and his
committee of that no matter how big a dinner he buys him tonight?"

"No--I don't think he will."

"Then we've accomplished our purpose. Besides, there's a good deal of
truth buried in the Index. It's no lie that we can give them scientific
research at a cheaper price than ever before."

"But what was the purpose you were trying to accomplish?"

Baker hesitated. "To establish myself as an Authority," he said,
finally. "After today, I will be the recognized Authority on how to
manage the nation's greatest research and development program."

Fenwick stared, then gasped. "Authority--you? This is the thing you were
trying to fight. This is the great Plague Sam Atkins taught you--"

Baker was shaking his head and laughing. "No. Sam Atkins didn't tell me
that one man could become immune and fight the Plague head on all by
himself. He taught me something else that I didn't understand for a long
time. He told me that he who ceases to fear Authority becomes Authority.

"To become Authority was the last thing in the world I wanted. But
finally I recognized what Sam meant; it was the only way I could ever
accomplish anything in the face of this Plague. You can't tell men of
this culture that it is wrong to put themselves in total agreement with
Authority. If that's the program on which they've chosen to function,
the destruction of the program would destroy them, just as it did me.
There had to be another way.

"If men are afraid of lions, you don't teach them it's wrong for men to
be afraid of beasts; you teach them how to trap lions.

"If men are afraid of new knowledge-experiences, you don't teach them
that new knowledge is not to be feared. There was a time when men got
burned at the stake for such efforts. The response today is not entirely
different. No--when men are afraid of knowledge you teach them to trap
knowledge, just as you might teach them to trap lions.

"I can do this now because I have shown them that I am an Authority. I
can lead them and it will not fracture their basic program tapes, which
instruct them to be in accord with Authority. I can stop their battle
against those who are not possessed of the Plague. It may even be that I
can change the course of the Plague. Who knows?"

Fenwick was silent for a long time. Then he spoke again.