V.
With a speed that astonished Mart, this effort produced results. In less than two weeks a formal notification to appear came from a Congressional Committee for Investigation of the Intellectual Resources of the United States.
At Keyes’ invitation they stopped in at ONR upon their arrival in Washington. It was a dull, rainy day, and the first that Mart had spent in the city since his last visit to Keyes.
The director’s greeting was warmer than his last parting had been, but his face still held a frustrated expression, as if he would like to believe in them, but could not because of a lifetime of believing otherwise.
“They’re calling me to testify,” he said. “I wish you could tell me more of what you are trying to do. I want to be fair but it goes against the grain of all we’ve been taught since the beginnings of our scientific careers.”
They spent the remainder of the afternoon in Keyes' office. While the rain dripped steadily outside the window, Mart tried to make the older man understand their divergent point of view. He was not sure whether he had made it or not. Keyes remained noncommittal, but the uncertainty seemed to have been replaced by deep reflection. Mart hoped he would understand, because his testimony would mean a great deal to their case, one way or the other.
The first session of the hearing was scheduled for the following morning. It was called to order in a committee room filled with an impressive gathering which included more than fifty top-drawer scientists and research engineers. Mart recognized many as signers of the Jennings telegram.
Jennings himself was there, evidently having arrived that very morning, since he had not contacted them. Mart recognized other men from the AEC, from the Bureau of Standards, and top universities. There were a number of his former students who filled top scientific posts.
Don Wolfe was there, as was Joe Baird, the TV reporter. And then Mart saw, with a somewhat sinking sensation, the portly figure of his former colleague on Project Levitation, Professor Dykstra from MIT. Mart groaned, and nudged Berk as Dykstra took a seat at the rear of the room. “Nemesis is here,” said Mart.
There were five congressmen on the Committee in charge of the hearing. Berk and Mart studied them intently as they came in and took seats at the long table. There was nothing obviously outstanding about any of them — but neither was there about the group of scientists, Mart thought. He reflected on the situation wherein the decision of these five could affect the lives and work of all these others in the room. What made these five and their colleagues in the Congress competent to judge the limitations to be placed upon the men of science and channel their thinking?