Wheels (59 page)

It required an effort
to be polite because Adam still resented bitterly the auto dealer's
blackmailing tactics. Reason told him, however, that without Smokey on
hand he might have fared worse.
Then Adam remembered his anger at Erica inside. Something else she had
done, he realized, had been to put him at the mercy of Smokey
Stephensen.
Smokey grinned and removed his cigar. "No need for thanks. So long as
you keep your side of the bargain
.”

"It will be kept
.”

"Just one thing, and maybe you'll tell me it's none of my business, but
don't be too hard on your wife
.”

"You're right," Adam said, "it is none of your business
.”

The auto dealer went on unperturbed, "People do funny things for funny
reasons. Worth a second
look sometimes to find out what
the reasons
really were
.”

"If I ever need some amateur psychology, I'll call you
.”

Adam turned
away. "Goodnight
.”

Thoughtfully, Smokey watched him go. They had driven half the way to Quarton Lake.
,'You haven't said anything," Erica said. "Aren't you going to
.”

She was
looking straight ahead, and though her voice sounded tired, it had an
edge of defiance.
"I can say what I have to in just one word: Why
.”

While driving, Adam
had been struggling to control his indignation and temper. Now, both
erupted. "In God
’
s name! Why
.”

"I've been asking myself that
.”

"Well, ask again and see if you can get some kind of sane answer. I'll
be damned if I can
.”

"You don't have to shout
.”

"You don't have to steal
.”

"If we're only going to fight," Erica said, "we won't
accom
plish
much
.”

"All I'm trying to ac
complish is the answer to a sim
ple question
.”

"The question being: Why
.”

"Exactly
.”

"If you must know," Erica said, "I rather enjoyed doing it. I suppose
that shocks you
.”

"Yes, it shocks me like hell
.”

She went on, musing aloud, as if explaining to herself. "Of course, I
didn't want to get caught, but there was a thrill in knowing I might be.
It made everything exciting and somehow sharper. In a way it was like
the feeling you get when you've had one drink too many. Of course, when
I was caught, it was awful. Much worse than anything I imagined
.”

"Well," Adam said, "at least we're making a start
.”

"If you don't mind, that's all I want to make tonight. I realize you
have a lot of questions, and I guess you're entitled to ask them. But
could we leave the rest until tomorrow
.”

Adam glanced sideways. He saw that Erica had put her head back and her
eyes were closed. She looked young and vulnerable and weary. He
answered, "Okay
.”

She said, so softly that he had to strain to hear, "And thank you for
coming. It's true what I said-I wasn't going to send for you, but I was
glad when you were there
.”

He reached out and let his hand cover hers.
"You said some
thing"-Erica still spoke dreamily, as if from a distance
-"about making a start. If only
we could make a whole new start!
"
"In what way
.”

"In every way
.”

She sighed. "I know we
can't
"
On impulse, Adam said, "Perhaps we can
.”

It was strange, he thought, that today of all days Perceval Stuyvesant
should have suggested one. Sir Perceval and Adam were breakfasting together at the Hilton Hotel
downtown, where Perce was staying.
Adam had not talked with Erica since their return home last night. She
had gone exhausted to bed, fallen asleep immediately and was still
sleeping soundly when he left the house early to drive into the city.
He had considered waking her, decided against it, then half way to the
breakfast appointment wished he had. He would have gone back, except
that Perce had a midmorning flight to New York-the reason they made the
arrangement by telephone last night; also, suddenly, Perce's proposition
seemed more relevant and important than it had the day before.
One thing Adam had noticed last night was that while Erica went to sleep
alone in the guest bedroom, as she had for the past month, she left the
door open, and it was still open when he tiptoed in this morning.
He decided now: He would telephone home in another hour. Then, if Erica
wanted to talk, he would rearrange his office schedule and go home for
part of the morning.
Over their meal, Perce made no reference to the interruption in their
talk the previous day; nor did Adam. Briefly Perce inquired about Adam's
sons, Greg and Kirk, then they talked about superconductors-the area in
which the small scientific company, now offering its presidency to Adam,
was hopeful of a breakthrough.
"One extraordinary thing about superconductors, old boy, is that the
public and the press know so little of them
.”

Perce sipped his brew of
mixed Ceylon and India teas which he carried with him in canisters and had
prepared specially wherever he happened to be.
"As you probably know, Adam, a superconductor is a metal or wire which
will carry a full load of electricity without any loss whatever
.”

Adam nodded. Like any eighth-g
rade physics student, he was aware that all
present wires and cables caused at least a fifteen percent loss of power,
called resistance.
"So a working superconductor with nil resistance," Perceval said, "would
revolutionize the entire world's electric power systems. Among other
things it would eliminate complex, expensive transmission equipment and
provide fantastic amounts of power at unbelievably low cost. What has held
back development until now has been the fact that superconductors would
only function at very low temperatures-about 450 degrees below zero
Fahrenheit
.”

Adam said, "That's pretty darned cold
.”

"Quite so. Which is why, in recent years, a scientific dream has been of
a superconductor which will function at room temperature
.”

"Is it likely to be more than a dream
.”

Perce thought before answering. "We've known each other a good many years,
old boy. Have you ever known me to exaggerate
.”

"No," Adam said. "Very much the reverse. You've always been conservative
.”

"I still am
.”

Perce smiled and drank more tea, then went on. "Our group
has not found a room temperature superconductor, but certain phenomena-the
result of experiments we've made-have us excited. We wonder, some days,
if we may not be very close
.”

"And if you are
.”

"If we are, if there is a breakthrough, there's not an area of modern
technology which won't be
affected and improved. Let me give you two examples
.”

Adam listened with increasing fascination.
"I won't go into all the magnetic field hypotheses, but there's
something called a superconducting ring. What it is is a wire which will
store electric current in large amounts and hold it intact, and if we
make the other breakthrough we'll be on top of this one, too, It'll make
feasible the transfer of portable electric power in huge amounts, from
place to place, by truck or boat or airplane. Think of its uses in the
desert or the jungle-flown there in a package without a generator in
sight, and more to follow when needed. And can you imagine another
superconducting ring, this time in an electric operated car, making the
battery as out of date as rushlight
.”

"Since you ask," Adam said, "I have trouble imagining some of that
.”

Perce reminded him, "Not long ago people had trouble imagining atomic
energy and space travel
.”

True, Adam thought, then pointed out, "You said two examples
.”

-Yes, I did. One of the interesting things about a superconductor is
that it's dia
-
magnetic
that's to say, when used in conjunction with more
common magnets, immensely large repulsive forces can occur. Do you see
the possibilities, old boy?-metals in any kind of machinery nestled
close together yet never actually touching. Obviously we'd have
frictionless bearings. And you could build a car without metal parts in
contact with one another-hence, no wear. Those are just beginning
possibilities. Others are endless
.”

It was impossible not to share some of Perce's conviction. From anyone
else, Adam would have taken most of what was being described either as
science fiction or a long-range possibility.
But not from Perce Stuyvesant who had a record of good judgment and
accomplishment in deeply scientific fields.
"Somewhat fortunately," Perce said, "in the areas I've mentioned, and
others, our group has been able to move along without attracting much
attention. But there'll be attention soon-lots of it. That's another
reason why we need you
.”

Adam was thinking hard. Perce's report and Ideas excited him, though he
wondered if the excitement would be as great or as sustained as he had
experienced with cars-the Orion and Farstar, for example. Even now, the
thought of not being a part of the auto industry was hard to accept. But
there had been something in what Perce said yesterday about carving new
pathways, breaking fresh ground.
Adam said, "If we do get down to this seriously, I'll want to come to
San Francisco and talk with the rest of your people
.”

'We'd be more than delighted, old man, and I urge you to make it soon
.”

Perce spread his hands in a deprecating gesture. "Of course, not everything I've described may work out the way we hope, nor is a breakthrough
ever a breakthrough until it's happened. But there will be some important, exciting things; that much we know for sure and that I promise
you. Remember that line?
T
here is a tide in the affairs of men, Which,
taken at the flood . . .'and so on
.”

"Yes," Adam said, "I remember
.”

He was wondering about timing, and a tide, for Erica and himself.

Chapter
twenty-five

The initial involvement of Rollie Knight in organized plant crime had
begun in February. It started the same week that he saw the foreman Frank
Parkland-whom Rollie had come close to admiring--take a bribe, prompting
Rollie's later observation to May Lou, "There ain't nuthin' in this whole
wide world but bullshit
.”

At first, to Rollie, his participation seemed slight enough. He began
by taking and recording numbers bets each day in the area of Assembly
where he worked. The money and yellow betting slips were passed by
Rollie to the stockroom delivery man, Daddy-o Lester, who got them
farther along their route toward a betting house downtown. From
overheard remarks Rollie guessed the delivery system tied in with truck
deliveries in and out of the plant.
Frank Parkland, still Rollie's foreman, gave him no trouble about
occasional absences from his work station which the number running en
tailed. As long as the absences were brief and not too many, Parkland
moved a relief man in without comment; otherwise, he cautioned Rollie
mildly. Obviously the foreman was continuing to be paid off.
That was in February. By May, Rollie was working for the loan sharks and
check cashers
two illegal plant enterprises which interlocked.
A reason for the new activity was that he had borrowed money himself and
was having difficulty paying off. Also, the money Rollie was earning
from his job, which at first had seemed a fortune, suddenly was no
longer enough to keep pace with his own and May Lou's spending. So now Rollie persuaded others to accept loans and helped with their
collection.
Such loans were made, and taken, casually
at extortionate rates of
interest. A plant worker might borrow twenty dollars early in one week and
owe twenty-five dollars by payday of the same week. Incredibly, the
demand-including requests for larger sums-was brisk.
On payday, the loan sharks-company employees like everyone else-would
become in-plant unofficial check cashers, cashing the paychecks of all who
wished, but seeking out those who owed them money.
A check casher's fee was the odd cents on any-check. If a check was made
out for $100.99, the check casher took the
990, though his minimum fee was
. Because of volume, and the fact that the check casher picked up his
loans, plus interest, the operation involved big money and it was not
unusual for a check casher-loan man to carry twenty thousand dollars in
cash. When he did, he hired other workers as bodyguards.
Once a loan was made, it was wise for the borrower not to default. Anyone
who did would find himself with a broken arm or leg, or worse
and would
still owe the money, with more punishment to follow if it remained unpaid.
A lucky few, like Rollie, were allowed to work off, in service, part of
the interest owed. The principal sum
even for these-had to be repaid.
Thus, Rollie Knight, on all work days and especially paydays, became an
intermediary for the flow of loan and check money back and forth.