The Maxwell Equations

I secreted the pencil in an i

I remembered the table lamp in the ward where I lived with the other calculators. It had a flex which, being about five feet long, could be unwound into a forty-foot length of thin wire, which would be more than enough for the job.

I had just finished my calculations when the relayed voice a

I left my solitary cell in high spirits and made for the ward. Glancing back in the corridor, I saw the doctor look with obvious displeasure at the solutions of the problems I'd been given. Apparently the fact that there was no way of intercepting an ICBM or setting off the enemy's atomic bombs by a-neutron ca

The table lamp I had in mind had not apparently been in use for a long time. It stood in a corner on a high stool, dusty, fly-specked, its flex coiled tight round the upright.

Early in the morning when the inmates filed out to wash, I cut off the flex with a table knife and put it in my pocket. At breakfast I pocketed a knife and when everybody went out for the prayer I locked myself in the toilet. In a matter of seconds I had ski

That I could do during my work.

The calculators had an eight-hour working day with ten-minute breaks after each hour. After the lunch break, at 1 p.m., the hall where they worked was as a rule visited by the Kraftstudt and Co. executives. The head of the firm used to linger in the hall for some time, obviously enjoying the sight of twelve men writhing in mathematical throes. I decided it was the best time to change the frequency.

I went to my place of work that morning with the resister all ready in my pocket. I was walking on air. At the door I met the doctor. He had brought my problems for the day.

"Hey, sawbones, wait a minute," I called out to him.

He stopped in his tracks and looked me over, astonished.

"I'd like a word with you."

"Well, what is it?" he grunted.

"It's like this," I began. "It occurred to me while I was working yesterday to return to a conversation I had with Herr Boltz. I think I was rather rash. I wonder if you would let Herr Boltz know that I agree to teach maths to the firm's new draft."

"Good for you," he said with sincerity. "I told them that your spectre being what it is you should be set up as an overseer over that mathematical manure. We badly need an efficient overseer. Your working frequencies are all different. You could just walk among them and drive the lazy or those who have slipped out of resonance."

"Why, of course, doctor. But I think I'd better stick to teaching. God witness I don't feel like; bashing my head against a table-top like I saw a chap do the other day."

"Very sensible," he agreed. "I'll be speaking to Kraftstudt. I think he will agree."

"When will I know his decision?"

"By one o'clock, I expect, when we make our round of the premises."

"Good. With your permission I'll approach you then."

He nodded and walked off. On my desk I found a sheet of paper which gave me conditions for the calculation of a new pulse generator four times more powerful than the existing one. So Kraftstudt thinks of expanding his business, I thought. Yoking to it fifty-two calculators instead of the thirteen he has now. Almost lovingly I touched the pencil graphite with bits of wire in my pocket to make sure it hadn't broken.

The conditions of the problem showed me that my calculations in co

The last minutes dragged painfully. At last the minute hand touched twelve. I quickly co

Pfaff and Kraftstudt were in front and I couldn't see what was going on inside.

"That was a wise move," Boltz whispered to' me. "Herr Kraftstudt has accepted your offer. You won't regret it-"

"What's the matter?" Kraftstudt asked suddenly, turning on his retinue. Engineer Pfaff cowered; looking through the door with an odd expression on his face. My heart missed a, beat.

"They're not working! They're staring about, damn 'em!" Pfaff growled.

I pressed forward and looked through the glass panel. What I saw surpassed my wildest hopes. The men who before had bent so obediently over their desks were sitting upright now, looking about them boldly and speaking to one another in loud, resolute voices.

"It's time we put an end to it, boys. D'you realise what they're doing to us?" Deinis was saying aggressively.

"Of course we do. They've been drumming into us that we achieve happiness through their pulse generator, the bastards. I've a mind to help 'em achieve theirs!"

"What's happening there?" Kraftstudt queried threateningly.

"I've no idea," Pfaff mumbled, rolling his faded eyes. "They act as if they were normal! Why don't they go on with their work?" Kraftstudt was livid by now. "We won't be on time with at least five defence orders," he said through clenched teeth. "See that they-immediately-start working!".

Boltz snapped the lock open and our party trooped in.

"Stand up to greet your teacher and saviour," Boltz said loudly.

A pregnant silence was the answer. Twelve pairs of eyes full of anger and hatred blazed in our direction. A spark was enough now to set it off. My heart sang with joy. Kraftstudt Co. was about to bust! I stepped forward.

"What are you waiting for? The hour of delivery has come. Your happiness is in your own hands. Go on, smash this criminal gang who wanted to see you all in the madhouse!"

No sooner had I finished than the calculators rushed from their places and fell on the petrified Kraftstudt and his party. They bore Boltz and the doctor down and started throttling them. They cornered Kraftstudt, punching and kicking him. Deinis straddled over the prone Pfaff and seizing his bald head by its ears drummed it against the floor. Some tore the aluminium awnings down, others smashed window-panes. The loudspeaker torn down by a calculator crashed to the floor, followed by the desks. The floor was strewn with sheets of calculations torn to bits.

I stood in the centre of that battle-field, issuing commands:

"Now don't let Kraftstudt get away! He's a war criminal! He's the kingpin of this hell on earth where you've been worked to madness! Hold tight that scoundrel Pfaff! He designed that pulse generator! Give Boltz what he deserves! He recruited you and pla

And the men, splendid in their righteous wrath, punched, kicked and throttled their enemies..