Special Delivery
By GEORGE O. SMITH
Illustrated by Kramer
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Astounding Science-Fiction, March 1945.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Don Channing grinned at his wife knowingly. Arden caught his glance andthen laughed. Walt Franks leaned back and looked highly superior. "Goahead and laugh, darn you. I tell you it can be done."
"Walt, ever since you tried that stunt of aerating soap with hydrogento make a floating soap for shower baths, I've been wondering aboutyour kind of genius."
"Oh no," objected Arden.
"Well, he wondered about it after nearly breaking his neck onemorning."
"That I did," grinned Walt. "It's still a good idea."
"But the idea of transmitting matter is fantastic."
"Agreed," admitted Walt. "But so is the idea of transmitting power."
"It would come in handy if possible," remarked Don. "At slightly under2-G, it takes only four hours to make Luna from Terra. On the otherhand, shipping stuff from Melbourne, Australia, to New York City, orto the Mojave Spaceport takes considerably longer. With spacecraft assuper stratosphere carriers it isn't too good, because you've got torun in a circle. In space you run at constant acceleration to mid-pointand then decelerate the rest of the way. Fine for mile-eating, but nottoo hot for cutting circles."
"Well, having established the need of a matter transmitter, now what?"
"Go on, Walt. You're telling us."
"Well," said Walt, penciling some notes on the tablecloth, "it's likethis. The Carroll-Baler power-transmission tube will carry energy.According to their initial experiments, they had some trouble."
"They had one large amount, if I recall."
"Specifically, I recall the incident of the hammer. Remember?"
"Barney Carroll got mad and swung a hammer at the tube, didn't he?"
"It was one of them, I don't recall which."
"No matter of importance," said Don. "I think I know what you mean.He hit the intake end—or tried to. The hammer was cut neatly andprecisely off, and the energy of the blow was transmitted, somehow, tothe wall."
"Through the wall," corrected Walt. "It cracked the plaster, but itwent through so fast that it merely cracked it. The main blow succeededin breaking the marble facade of the city hall."
"Um. Now bring us up to date. What have you in mind?"
"A tube which scans matter atom by atom, line by line, and plane byplane. The matter is removed, atom by atom, and transmitted to a sortof matter bank in the instrument."
"A what?"
"Matter bank," said Walt. "We can't transmit the stuff itself. That'sout. We can't dissipate the atomic energy or whatever effect we mightget. We can establish a balance locally by using the energy release todrive the restorer. According to some initial experiments, it can bedone. We take something fairly complex and break it down. We use theenergy of destruction to re-create the matter in a bank, or solid blockof local stuff. Let it be a mass of stuff if it wants to, at any rate,the signal impulses from the breakdown will be transmitted, scanned, ifyou will, and transmitted to a receiver which reverses the process. Itscans, and the matter bank is broken down and the object is rebuilt.
"I hope we can get free and unrestricted transmutation," offered Don."You can't send a steel spring out and get one back made of copper."
"I get your point."
"The space