up and stood beside Jumbe.
"In association with Dr. Markey," he said, nodding in the direction of the crystallographer, "I've studied the bloodstones for several days, and run some tests. They're diamonds, absolutely authentic. Some of the stones are less than perfect, but those minor flaws only enhance their beauty. Any one of them, on today's market, is worth in the neighborhood of two and a half million dollars. Even if they were marketed in this quantity, they would be snapped up at extraordinary prices.'
"Don't the etchings detract from their value?" Morgan asked.
"Not in the slightest. By the way, it would take a skilled man working for several months to cut and polish a single stone."
"How long would it take to complete the etchings?"
"I can't imagine. I'm sure there's no way to accomplish the work mechanically. One thing you should bear in mind: Only a diamond can cut a diamond."
"What about a laser?"
"There's a possibility. But technically not within our means at this time."
"Has anyone deciphered the etchings?"
"Yes," Jumbe said. "The Chapman/Weller expedition spent nearly six months in the Catacombs, sustained in rooms of crystal that were as bright as a meadow beneath a full moon. With the aid of computers they were able to translate the language and interpret the mathematics of the vanished civilization, known as Zan. The stones we have assembled here are etched with hundreds of equations, some of which indicate that their physicists were successful in unifying the forces of electromagnetism and gravity. Dr. Zollner; Dr. Ambetti; their distinguished colleagues–all agree that the ancient people achieved a sophisticated technology, based on quantum mechanics, solid state, and high-energy physics. And their greatest feat, recorded on another cache of diamonds secure in the Catacombs, was FIREKILL."
A few moments of silence; Dr. Zollner looked up from the pipe he was stoking.
"FIREKILL, Jumbe? What is 'FIREKILL'?"
"Forgive me, Dr. Zollner. You and your colleagues were shown only selected bloodstones, for purposes of attribution and to compare certain models by the physicists of Zan with current research. Someday I hope you will have the opportunity to study the full range of achievements recorded on the bloodstones. For now, I would like to keep explanations as brief as possible. Let me say that the country of Zan included most of what today is East and Central Africa. Many great cities were built, of which only the ruins of Engaruka and Zimbabwe are extant; other ruins remain to be excavated in the dense forests of Zaire and Mozambique.
"Nearly one hundred centuries ago, the people of Zan were endangered by 'fires from space,' which might have been a periodic meteor shower of great intensity, or the explosion of the large planet that existed where the asteroids now circle the sun. To prevent certain devastation, they devised a shield called FIREKILL, a spatial distortion achieved by combining the forces of electromagnetism and gravity to create unusually strong gravitational fields. A force field, if you will. It was one-hundred-percent effective. This shield, if erected today over an area as large as, let us say, the city of Moscow, U.S.S.R., would serve as a foolproof antimissile, antinuclear device. No explosion that modern man can create will disturb it. The cost is moderate in terms of expenditures necessary to maintain present defensive postures, the technology available. The necessary knowledge–" Jumbe spread his hands like a conjurer over the array of bloodstones.
Zollner chuckled edgily. "Force field! Jumbe, the concept is a total absurdity. Mathematically, the major problem with gauge theory has always been one of infinities . . ."
Almost instantly the physicists were quarreling.
"Not according to the Zurhellen-Dzaluk models, which predict . . ."
"No, no, the interaction cannot be assumed to be manifestations of the same effect . . ."
"But my work in photon stability . . ."
". . .
"In association with Dr. Markey," he said, nodding in the direction of the crystallographer, "I've studied the bloodstones for several days, and run some tests. They're diamonds, absolutely authentic. Some of the stones are less than perfect, but those minor flaws only enhance their beauty. Any one of them, on today's market, is worth in the neighborhood of two and a half million dollars. Even if they were marketed in this quantity, they would be snapped up at extraordinary prices.'
"Don't the etchings detract from their value?" Morgan asked.
"Not in the slightest. By the way, it would take a skilled man working for several months to cut and polish a single stone."
"How long would it take to complete the etchings?"
"I can't imagine. I'm sure there's no way to accomplish the work mechanically. One thing you should bear in mind: Only a diamond can cut a diamond."
"What about a laser?"
"There's a possibility. But technically not within our means at this time."
"Has anyone deciphered the etchings?"
"Yes," Jumbe said. "The Chapman/Weller expedition spent nearly six months in the Catacombs, sustained in rooms of crystal that were as bright as a meadow beneath a full moon. With the aid of computers they were able to translate the language and interpret the mathematics of the vanished civilization, known as Zan. The stones we have assembled here are etched with hundreds of equations, some of which indicate that their physicists were successful in unifying the forces of electromagnetism and gravity. Dr. Zollner; Dr. Ambetti; their distinguished colleagues–all agree that the ancient people achieved a sophisticated technology, based on quantum mechanics, solid state, and high-energy physics. And their greatest feat, recorded on another cache of diamonds secure in the Catacombs, was FIREKILL."
A few moments of silence; Dr. Zollner looked up from the pipe he was stoking.
"FIREKILL, Jumbe? What is 'FIREKILL'?"
"Forgive me, Dr. Zollner. You and your colleagues were shown only selected bloodstones, for purposes of attribution and to compare certain models by the physicists of Zan with current research. Someday I hope you will have the opportunity to study the full range of achievements recorded on the bloodstones. For now, I would like to keep explanations as brief as possible. Let me say that the country of Zan included most of what today is East and Central Africa. Many great cities were built, of which only the ruins of Engaruka and Zimbabwe are extant; other ruins remain to be excavated in the dense forests of Zaire and Mozambique.
"Nearly one hundred centuries ago, the people of Zan were endangered by 'fires from space,' which might have been a periodic meteor shower of great intensity, or the explosion of the large planet that existed where the asteroids now circle the sun. To prevent certain devastation, they devised a shield called FIREKILL, a spatial distortion achieved by combining the forces of electromagnetism and gravity to create unusually strong gravitational fields. A force field, if you will. It was one-hundred-percent effective. This shield, if erected today over an area as large as, let us say, the city of Moscow, U.S.S.R., would serve as a foolproof antimissile, antinuclear device. No explosion that modern man can create will disturb it. The cost is moderate in terms of expenditures necessary to maintain present defensive postures, the technology available. The necessary knowledge–" Jumbe spread his hands like a conjurer over the array of bloodstones.
Zollner chuckled edgily. "Force field! Jumbe, the concept is a total absurdity. Mathematically, the major problem with gauge theory has always been one of infinities . . ."
Almost instantly the physicists were quarreling.
"Not according to the Zurhellen-Dzaluk models, which predict . . ."
"No, no, the interaction cannot be assumed to be manifestations of the same effect . . ."
"But my work in photon stability . . ."
". . .
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