"No? Jim, we can't just let him die like that!"
"Barchet was a troublemaker, Mart. He was the weak link in the organization. Now we're rid of him; let him stay dead. It's one less witness to the thing that happened today."
In a shocked whisper Raymond said, "You can't mean what you're saying, Jim."
"I mean exactly what you're hearing. Barchet was unstable, Mart. He pressured you into doing all sorts of cockeyed things. If he lived, he'd end up revealing the Thurman business before long. Let him stay dead. That's an order, Mart."
Raymond seemed to shrink back from the screen. "It's—almost like committing murder, Jim! That man could be saved if we—"
"No," Harker said, with a firmness he did not feel. "There'll be trouble if you cross me, Mart. Good night."
He broke the contact with a shaky hand.
Lois gasped when she saw him. "Jim! It must be bad news. You're utterly white."
He sat down heavily. "One of the Beller executives just had a heart attack. A man named Barchet—a runty little fellow who enjoyed sticking lead pipes between the spokes of smoothly running machines. I just ordered Mart Raymond not to attempt reanimation."
His hands were quivering. Lois took them between hers. Harker said, "It's like murder, isn't it? To refuse to reanimate a man, when it's possible to do so. But it's better for everyone if Barchet stays dead. Nobody will miss him. God, I feel awful."