Mr. Adam by Pat Frank Read Free Book Online

Adam’s house?” he asked.
    For a moment Phelps-Smythe was repulsed by this unexpected show of resistance, but he quickly recovered.
    â€œIn the first place,” he said, “perhaps you do not know it, but the Joint Chiefs of Staff have decided, in the national interest, that Mr. Adam is vital, strategic government property. The Joint Chiefs felt themselves authorized in making this decision on the basis of future national defense.”
    â€œCongress,” logically concluded Dr. Blandy, “has been demanding that the Administration do something about poor Homer, here, and that was the only thing they could think up to do.”
    Homer sat down, his mild blue eyes blinking. “But I don’t wish to be taken over,” he protested. “I just want to be left alone with Mary Ellen and the baby. Is it my fault that all the rest of you are sterile?”
    Phelps-Smythe put his hand on Homer’s drooping shoulder. “Now, my boy,” he said, “remember this is in the national interest. Consider—you are just as much a military secret as the atomic bomb.”
    â€œPlease don’t mention atomic bombs,” I said, remembering what Mississippi had done to our future, “I’m allergic to them.”
    â€œBesides,” the colonel went on, ignoring me, “your wife and child will be taken care of until the present emergency is over. Funds have already been provided.”
    â€œI’m not going to leave Mary Ellen and the baby!” said Homer with some determination. “That, I simply won’t do!”
    â€œYou won’t have to leave immediately. You don’t have to go to Washington until the hearings.”
    â€œWhat hearings?”
    â€œThe Congressional hearings on what to do with you. You see, the Joint Chiefs have simply declared you are vital and strategic. The War Department was entrusted with your safety, and my commanding general was given the job. But your final disposition will not be decided until after the Congressional hearings.”
    Homer looked dazed and helpless. “I see,” he murmured.
    â€œYou’re pretty lucky at that,” said the colonel. “At first, we were going to put you down with the gold in Fort Knox. But the Surgeon General decided it might be bad for your health. Now that I’ve seen you in person, I think he was probably right. You weren’t in the Army, were you?”
    â€œNo,” said Homer. “I wasn’t in the Army. The FEA sent me to Australia to locate quartz crystals. They were needed for radar.”
    â€œWell,” said the colonel, “it’s too bad you weren’t in the Army, but I guess that radar tieup will show you’re okay. I mean you weren’t a conscientious objector, anyway.”
    â€œNo, I wasn’t a conscientious objector. Please, can I go upstairs and see Mary Ellen?”
    â€œWell, make it snappy,” the colonel ordered. “I’ve got a lot of papers for you to fill out. Incidentally, I’m taking you out to dinner tonight. My commanding general wants to meet you.”
    I caught the next train back to the city. I found J.C. in his office and told him that the Army had taken over, and my extra-curricular activities in Tarrytown had come to an end. I also told him I felt pretty sorry for Homer Adam.
    â€œYou’ll feel sorrier,” observed J.C., “when you see what happens to him in Washington!”
    â€œHow’s that?” I asked.
    â€œYou’ve been too close to things in Tarrytown,” J.C. surmised, “to keep up on what’s been happening. First of all, there’s a tug-of-war going on between the National Research Council and the National Re-fertilization Project as to who will get Adam.”
    â€œWhat do you mean, get him?”
    â€œWell, both outfits think they can use Adam to start our birth rate going again. They’ve hinted at all sorts of schemes. Some of them