Damned If You Don't
Damned If You Don't
We've all heard of the wonderful invention that the Big Corporation or the Utilities suppressed...? Usually, that Wonderful Invention won't work, actually. But there's another possibility, too....
Book Excerpt
"About so long--ten inches, I guess; maybe six inches wide and four deep. Thin sheet steel, with a gray crackle finish. There was a lock on it, but it wasn't much of one; since it was kept in the safe, there was no need for a strong lock."
Sergeant Ketzel nodded. "In other words, an ordinary office cash box. No distinguishing marks at all?"
"It had 'Bending Consultants' on the top. And underneath that, the word 'Lab'. In black paint. That 'Lab' was to distinguish it from the petty cash box in the main office."
"I see. Do you know anything about the denominations of the bills? Were they marked in any way?"
Bending frowned. "I don't know. You'd have to ask Luckman about that, too."
"Where is he now?"
"Home, I imagine. He isn't due to report for work until ten."
"O.K. Will you leave word that we want to talk to him when he comes in? It'll take us a while to get all the information we can from the lab, here." He looked back at the hole in the wall. "It still doesn'
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A brilliant engineer invents a cold fusion power plant the size of a suitcase and two of his prototypes are immediately stolen. He goes after the power company monopoly, but the conspiracy is bigger than he expects.
A nice apologetic for letting corporations run wild, but way outdated. "Our economy is based on an interlocking web of production"? Not anymore.
It is a story that age has made silly. The world simply didn't grow in that direction.
A nice apologetic for letting corporations run wild, but way outdated. "Our economy is based on an interlocking web of production"? Not anymore.
It is a story that age has made silly. The world simply didn't grow in that direction.
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Not much new or exciting in this short speculative SF story. The economic arguments given against too fast development wouldn't hold water today.
02/11/2008