XIII
General Deauville led the Guard in the final attack on the Central Power Station, came through it with nothing worse than a poisoned dart through the left arm, woke up in a field dressing station that same night, and was in conference with the President the next morning.
“It was close,” said Deauville. “Another twenty-five minutes, and they’d have had the cap off the regenerator, and smashed the leads to the helix. The experts don’t agree on what would have happened then. At best, the whole East Coast power net would have gone out, and maybe the Midcontinent net, too. —That’s the best that could have happened. At worse, we’d have had a hydrogen flare that might have vaporized up to thirty percent of the continent. When we got these birds, and put the facts to them, they laughed.”
“They didn’t believe it?”
“They knew it already, and it didn’t matter to them!”
The President nodded.
“I had a visit this morning from one of our greatest subnuclear physicists. Last night, trying to get some perspective on this, I was reading the memoirs of a predecessor of mine, who went through a similar convulsion. I’m meeting with the legislative leaders, and certain technical experts, this afternoon. I don’t know if we’ll get the answer, but, personally, I am prepared to try practically anything.”