‘As I was saying,’ continued Fawell, ‘today it is our urgent duty to put a stop to this situation. We do not have the right to let the world go to ruin. In this country all men of science will agree with this.’
‘In France as well,’ declared Yranne, ‘I can guarantee it.’
‘And in England also,’ said the British man, ‘but will they be of the same opinion in the Soviet Union?’
Zarratoff made no hesitation in replying: ‘Only about thirty years ago, one would have hesitated to reply to that question. As you know, the fact of being regarded with suspicion by a part of the world, caused us to maintain a dangerous spirit of nationalism, with which even our greatest scholars were infected. Today, now that this mistrust appears to belong to the past, after we have confirmed, as you have done, the incompetence of our leaders, I can guarantee that it does not exist anymore, and that all the men of science who are worthy of the name are supporters of a rational world organisation. I would add that there is nothing surprising about it. Weren’t we the pioneers of internationalism?’
Everyone applauded his words. Without prior consultation they came to a common conclusion: at the current stage of evolution, a scientific government of the world had become a vital necessity for humanity. But objections did occur to them, as was natural for minds trained to analyse objectively all the data relating to a problem.
‘All the world’s scholars desire it. That’s fine,’ said Yranne, ‘but what about the peoples of the world? What about young people?’
‘Ruth would agree,’ asserted Fawell, ‘and all her friends as well.’
‘So would Nicolas,’ said Zarratoff, ‘we have often discussed it.’
‘Ruth and Nicolas may have been influenced by the intellectual milieu in which they have lived… But can we really be sure about all the scholars? The Chinese, for example?’
‘Betty, you can answer that one.’
‘I think I can reassure you on this point,’ said the Chinese woman, screwing up her eyes, so that her eyelids were stretched. ‘I meet the most eminent of my compatriots fairly often, and I have had the opportunity to sound out their opinions cautiously on the appropriateness of such a revolution, for your plan outlined this evening is not new to me. I have anticipated for a long time that you would be inevitably forced to take action some day. The result of my enquiries is that they all think the same as you do, that is to say that an international organisation is indispensable. This is not new, and they also think that the only viable plan is yours. It is their opinion too that the only central government capable of establishing itself and worthy of running the earth is a scientific government. Believe me, they have had enough, like you, of the childishness of their leaders. Stupidity is, I’m afraid, also international.’
‘I am delighted to hear you say such things. But what about the peoples? As a psychologist, what is your opinion on the matter? Will they accept this revolution?’
Mrs Betty Han took her time before replying, and she screwed up her eyes even more, which in her was a sign of intense thought.
‘It’s possible,’ she said finally. ‘It will be difficult. I would like to know first what kind of action you envisage. Have you established a practical plan for taking over power?’
They looked at each other, somewhat at a loss. Not even the draft of a plan had seen the light, yet alone a practical plan. But neither Fawell nor the other physicists were particularly worried about it. They knew that they always ended up by finding an application for the right idea, or as they said in their jargon, an experiment always confirms a correct theory sooner or later. Well, their basic idea was irrefutable. The mathematician Yranne set it out once more, condensing it into the pure form of a syllogism, of which the premises were obvious: ‘That which is intolerable must not be tolerated. Well, the disintegration of the world into dust, caused by nations led by asses, is intolerable. Therefore it is necessary to put an end to this situation.’
‘But there are nevertheless practical difficulties,’ Betty insisted.
‘But don’t we usually manage to overcome all difficulties?’
‘Where are the difficulties?’ Zarratoff interrupted vehemently. We are faced with ignorant people and we have the power to give them knowledge. All you other physicists, haven’t you invented weapons against which there is no defence?’
‘We have created them, but unfortunately we are no longer in control of them,’ Fawell said with regret. Our discoveries are now in the hands of an army of industrialists, technicians and workers. We would need the total support of all of them to be in control and to impose ourselves by threats. But can we count on their loyal support? And do we want to? For my part I can foresee serious dangers in doing so.’
He was not the only one to nurture this fear. Nothing conflicted so much with the scholars’ way of thinking as industrial technology. After a short debate they all agreed that such an alliance would be dangerous and contrary to the ideal of their revolution, which was that of pure science.
‘If we suppose that we could succeed in that way,’ Yranne concluded, ‘then our enterprise would end up inevitably in the conquest of the world by a mafia of great industrialists, with basic goals and a mechanical administration which would be oriented towards the development of easing material concerns –’
‘Which we do not want at any price,’ Fawell interrupted dramatically, having seen examples of this on a reduced scale in his own country.
‘…or it would end up being a world dictatorship of the proletariat –’
‘A catastrophic prospect in this day and age!’ the Russian Zarratoff now exclaimed.
‘That is also my opinion,’ said Mrs Betty Han with approval.
Fawell expressed his conviction forcibly that technical experts and industrialists would doubtless be useful, but that science should retain absolute control and leadership of the action they envisaged. All were in agreement on this point.
‘But we would need the threat of a new unstoppable army, which would be kept secret by the scholars,’ continued Zarratoff. ‘Doesn’t such a thing exist? I am only an astronomical theorist and Yranne is only a mathematician. Neither of us are capable of realising practical things. But the rest of you, you physicists, haven’t you got some little unstoppable death-ray up your sleeve, the mere threat of which would place all those stupid idiots at our mercy?’
‘Impossible,’ replied Fawell. ‘I don’t say that such an invention is inconceivable if we devote ourselves to it seriously, but that’s another case in which the practical realisation would require the assistance of a technical and industrial army. That brings us back to the original problem.’
‘If even your physics is unable to bring about any material action, then it’s scarcely encouraging for our plans.’
‘Listen, Zarratoff,’ said Fawell, ‘I’ll tell you a story which will make you consider the possibilities available to us. It happened a few years ago in the laboratory of O’Kearn, the greatest living physicist, where I am still working. He had already received the Nobel Prize. I was the oldest of his assistants and functioned as the head of the laboratory, with O’Kearn its real spirit.
‘I had been there two years, with a dozen researchers younger than me, but all of them qualified (the boss asked me to fire mercilessly anyone incompetent and even those he suspected of lacking imagination). All of them possessed enviable university degrees and had several years’ practical experience in physics. Important discoveries have emerged from this laboratory.’
‘We know all this.’
‘Fine. In addition to very delicate apparatus, we also had electric motors, some of them ordinary ones, and one in particular which was the most up-to-date model of a synchronous motor, of quite low power, like the ones you find in all workshops. A mechanic took care of these machines.
‘One evening I left the laboratory, leaving two of my best researchers there, as they wanted to continue an experiment for a few more hours. I was at home, ready to go to bed, when one of the two knocked at my door. He had a crestfallen look about him.
‘“What’s wrong,” I asked, “has there been an accident?”
‘I was worried because the ongoing experiment involved considerable energy, and there was a risk, if it was poorly conducted, of reducing the laboratory, and with it part of the town, to ashes. But I had confidence in my two assistants. I was right. He reassured me quickly.
‘“No. It’s just a little problem, but it needs to be put right as quickly as possible. I preferred to come and ask your advice.”
‘“You did the right thing. What is it?”
‘“Well… it’s the synchronous motor.”
‘“What’s wrong with the synchronous motor, has it broken down?”
‘“On the contrary.”
‘“What do you mean, on the contrary?”
‘He was looking more and more sheepish.
‘“It’s running,” he said without daring to look at me.
‘“What do you mean? It isn’t running smoothly? Tell me!” I said impatiently.
‘He ended up by confessing to me, blushing with embarrassment:
‘“It’s running and I don’t know how to stop it. When Joë left he forgot to do it. I don’t know anything about the control board, and doing something wrong might cause damage.”
‘Joë was our mechanic. I’ve forgotten his second name, but I can still see him: a serene black man, uneducated, but very conscientious in his work. It was the first time that he had been negligent.
‘I gave a little mocking whistle. “What a nuisance! Is it such a serious problem, that you have to disturb the head of the laboratory, just to turn a lever and press a button? And are you alone over there?”
‘“No, there’s the other assistant. Only…”
‘“Only what?”
‘“He’s as embarrassed as me. He has no idea how to stop the motor either. But nevertheless we can’t let it run all night.”
‘He was quite right about that. In spite of being in a rotten mood, I realised that I ought to go over there. I slipped my clothes on over my pyjamas and, grumbling as I did so, I got ready to follow him.
‘I had done all these things without thinking about it, only cursing the fact that it was my responsibility. We made our way to the laboratory, which was fortunately not very far away. A thought suddenly struck me and I slowed down.
‘“All the same,” I said to him, “don’t you think it would have been simpler to go and wake Joë?”
‘He looked up at the sky and replied that he had spent two hours searching for Joë, but that Joë could not be found. That only deepened my bad mood and embarrassment for I must confess to you that, although I had been working there for two years, I had just realised that I had no idea how to go about stopping the motor.’
‘I thought that would be the case,’ said Betty.
‘Yet by then I could not go back, and so we went into the lab. It seemed to me that the motor was running smoothly, under the worried eye of the other assistant, who let out a sigh of relief on seeing me. I had a rather painful moment of indecision in front of the control board, not daring to touch a button for fear of causing an accident. I hesitated, and then decided to confess my embarrassment to the two young men and laugh it off with them.
‘“All the same, we must deal with it,” I said finally. There must be an assembly diagram somewhere that will put us on the right track.”
‘We started to rummage around in all the cupboards, and all the drawers. It was a waste of effort. There was not the slightest sign of anything relating to the board whose brass fittings Joë shined every day. The motor continued to run and its purring sounded like a sarcastic comment, only infuriating us.
‘There we were, the three of us trying to trace the cables that disappeared under ebonite, when the door was pushed open, and we were surprised to see O’Kearn himself appear. The boss was returning on foot from the cinema, had seen the light and had come to see what was happening. The humiliation of having to confess to him our incompetence was moderated by our relief at realising that our problems were over. Without further delay I put him in the picture about the situation.
‘He had the same sequence of reactions as I had had. First his eyes lit up with a mocking smile, then he showed signs of being in a bad mood, and then, suddenly, his face darkened. I understood at once. He, the greatest scholar of his time, who had created this research centre, was himself incapable of stopping this ordinary motor. We looked each other in the eye. He had a sense of humour and he burst out laughing.
‘The rest of the story is of no interest. I set up a supervision rota for the two young assistants, who spent the rest of the night taking it in turns by the motor. I don’t know exactly why we did this however, as, if on a whim it had decided not to run smoothly, no one would have known how to fix it. At the very most we could have poured a few drops of oil in a bearing from time to time, as I recalled seeing Joë do. In the end everything went well, and when Joë arrived the next morning, the apparatus stopped quietly as soon as he pressed a button. I have no need to repeat the insults we showered the poor man with… There you are, Zarratoff.’
‘I understand,’ said Yranne, ‘for I have an interesting suggestion to make. You scholars of atomic theory, masters of energy. Haven’t you imagined some procedure to modify the earth’s axis of rotation, wreaking havoc with the climate everywhere? No one would have any resistance against the threat of such a cataclysm. You will tell me that it would be an easy task for you, but that you would need an army of Joës.’
‘Probably, but you know very well that it cannot be realised with our current level of knowledge.’
‘I am very much aware of that,’ Yranne insisted, defending his idea. ‘We all know that, but those louts who govern us don’t. Spread the rumour that you have made a discovery of this kind. Spread a little publicity around, and you will stir up a threat. They accepted the miracle of the atomic bomb. They’re perfectly ready to accept the idea of another such feat on your part. They will swallow this mistake like a lozenge and be really scared. I am saying this in all seriousness.’
‘Good God,’ said Zarratoff, interrupting, ‘Just once in my life, I had a conversation with a minister. I noticed after ten minutes that he was very proud of knowing that the earth moved around the sun. His knowledge of the world did not extend much beyond this. He had no idea that the sun is also a star, and as for the idea of a galaxy, that was just a poetic word to him, with no real meaning.’
‘And what do psychologists think about that?’ asked Fawell.
‘I think, actually, that we could make them swallow any kind of nonsense with a bit of skill, but I don’t think it would be good politics. A threat of this kind would discredit us in the eyes of the world, or rather of the people, and we need their support, or at least their benevolent neutrality. They would accuse us of wanting to install a dictatorship. This is not the way we should proceed.’
‘So how then?’
The Chinese woman kept silent, screwing up her beautiful slanting eyes a little.
‘Our strength lies in our reputation for wisdom. We must preserve and reinforce this reputation at all costs… What we need is a revolution supported by everyone. No, don’t protest. I believe that it is extremely easy to achieve, much easier than your ultimatum accompanied by threats. It’s sufficient to persuade all the leaders of government to give up their power.’
‘Sufficient! They’ll never agree to it.’
‘They will agree to it,’ Betty asserted, ‘and the people of the world will be on our side if our plan is presented with skill and supported by irreproachable authorities. After the initial surprise and the first bad-tempered reactions, I am convinced that not only will they accept our plan but that they will be grateful to us for freeing them of an unbearable burden, and of duties which have become disproportionate, and only overwhelm them.’
‘It is certainly clear,’ commented Fawell, ‘that a change seems to have taken place during recent years within some political factions. A certain apprehension about power has become apparent and at the same time leaders have become vaguely conscious of their mediocrity and incompetence when faced with the problems of our times. I can recall two cases in different parts of the world where there were difficulties in electing a head of state. Candidates hesitated to put themselves forward, and those who finally did so lacked enthusiasm.’
‘So you see: if we offer them the chance to disappear with dignity, they won’t pass it up. And we will have public opinion on our side. As a result of a long, sad series of experiences, which now appear to them in their true light, as catastrophes, the people of the world are also starting to realise that they have always been governed by incompetent people. However, I repeat that we have to act skilfully and leave nothing to chance.’
‘What do you mean by that?’
‘I consider there to be at least two conditions essential for our success. The first is that the project should be under the patronage of and presented by undisputedly important scientists. Please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying…’ At this point Mrs Betty Han made a pause, and then continued, lowering her voice a little. ‘By this I mean people who are not only scholars but celebrities. Men whose value the world no longer needs to affirm, because both for the peoples of the world and for their leaders, their status is synonymous with knowledge and wisdom… I have no wish to offend you, Fawell, nor you Yranne. I know that you are as bright as those persons I am alluding to, and more so than many of them, but you have no chance of gaining general support if you present the project for a world government as being your own. Only they are capable of succeeding.’
Her words were received with a long reflective silence.
‘I understand,’ Zarratoff murmured finally.
‘Me too,’ said Fawell. ‘You are referring to the Nobels.’
‘Precisely. We must have them on our side and even persuade them to take the initiative on the project. Without them we can achieve nothing; with them we can achieve everything.’
‘Yes, the Nobels are a condition for its success,’ murmured Fawell pensively. ‘Psychology has its good points.’
After a further period of reflection all were of the same opinion. Mrs Betty Han continued, ‘So our course of action is clear. Fawell, you have kept in contact with the most famous and most influential of them. It’s O’Kearn that you must contact and convince first.’
The physicist did not hesitate and got up.
‘I’ll take a plane to New York tonight,’ he said. ‘I’ll see O’Kearn tomorrow morning. But he mustn’t think this is the whim of one isolated individual. You must come with me.’
After some further discussion it was decided that a delegation would present itself to the senior Nobel: Fawell, Yranne, Mrs Betty Han and Zarratoff. These four carried enough weight and represented a sufficiently wide and varied range of the sciences, to be able to speak on behalf of all of them. Having decided this, Fawell asked Betty another question: ‘You spoke to us of two conditions which are essential for success, Betty. What, in your opinion, is the second?’
‘Enthusiasm. It will be necessary to create a surge of passion about our plan…’
They all looked at her with curiosity. The reason was that Mrs Betty Han had a rather unique way of speaking about enthusiasm and passion. She did it with the calm of a mathematician demonstrating a geometric theorem. She continued, ‘The competition organised by the Nobels has made a move in the right direction. But I doubt if that will be enough.’
‘So?’
‘So later we’ll seek means of provoking it. They are available.’
As they separated to go about their preparations, Fawell noticed the absent-minded expression on the face of the mathematician Yranne, which was in contrast to the animation of his colleagues.
‘Something not right?’ he asked him. ‘Don’t you agree that we should make an appeal to O’Kearn and the Nobels?’
The other shook his head.
‘It’s just a simple, bizarre idea. I can make neither head nor tail of it. It’s hardly worth dwelling on.’
‘But?’
‘After listening to your story, I suddenly found myself asking if it wouldn’t be preferable to make an appeal to Joë.’