Blaylock, James P - Langdon St Ives 02 Read Online Free PDF

gaiety, then scratched the end of his nose with it. "No less a personage than Lord Kelvin himself is at work on it, although the theoretical
basis of the thing was entirely a product of James Clerk Maxwell. Maxwell's
sixteen equations in tensor calculus demonstrated a good bit beyond the idea
that gravity is merely a form of electromagnetism. But his conclusions, taken
altogether, had such terrible and far-reaching side implications that they were
never published. Lord Kelvin, of course, has access to them. And I think that
we have little to fear that in such benevolent hands, Maxwell's discoveries
will lead to nothing but scientific advancement. To more, actually—to the
temporary reversal of the poles, as I said, and the switching off, as it were,
of any currents that would attract our comet. Trust us, sir. This threat, as
you call it, is a threat no more. You're entirely free to apply your manifold
talents to more pressing matters."
                   St. Ives sat silently for a moment, wondering
if any objections would penetrate Parsons's head past the crunching of
vegetation. Quite likely not, but St. Ives hadn't any choice but try. Two days
earlier, when he had assured his friends in Dover that they would easily thwart Ignacio
Narbondo, he hadn't bargained on this. Was it possible that the clever
contrivances of Lord Kelvin and the Royal Academy would constitute a graver threat than that
posed by the doctor? It wasn't to be thought of Yet here was Parsons, full of talk about reversing the polarity of the earth. St.
Ives was duty-bound to speak. He seemed to find himself continually at odds
with his peers.
                   "This . . . device," St. Ives said.
"This is something that's been cobbled together in the past few weeks, is
it?"
                   Parsons looked stupefied. "It's not
something that's been cobbled together at all. But since you
ask, no. I think I can safely tell you that it is the culmination of
Lord Kelvin's lifelong work. All the rest of his forays into electricity are
elementary, pranks, gewgaws. It's this engine, sir, on which his genius has
been expended."
                   "So he's had the lifelong ambition of
reversing the polarity of the earth? To what end? Or are you telling me that
he's anticipated the comet for the past forty years?"
                   "I'm not telling you either of those, am
I? If I chose to tell you the truth about the matter, which I clearly don't
choose to do, you wouldn't believe it anyway. It would
confound you. Suffice it to say that the man is willing to sacrifice ambition
for the good of humanity."
                   St. Ives nodded, giving his chicken a
desultory poke with the end of his finger. It might easily have been some sort
of pale tide-pool creature shifting in a saline broth on the plate. Ambition .
. . He had his own share of ambition. He had long suspected the nature of the
device that Lord Kelvin tinkered with in his barn in Harrogate . Parsons was telling him the truth, or at
least part of it. And what the truth meant was that St. Ives, somehow, must
possess himself of this fabulous machine.
                   Except that the idea of doing so was
contemptible. There were winds in this world that blew a man into uncharted
seas. But while they changed the course of his action, they ought not to change
the course of his soul. Take a lesson from Robinson Crusoe, he told himself. He
thought about Alice then, and of the brief time they had spent together. Suddenly he
determined to hack the weeds out of her vegetable garden, and the thought
buoyed him up. Then, just as suddenly, he was depressed beyond words, and he
found himself staring at the mess on his plate. Parsons was looking contentedly
out the window, picking at his teeth with a fingernail.
                   First things first, St. Ives said to himself.
Reverse the polarity of the earth! "Have you read the works of young