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the Society; or advisedly, maliciously, or dishonestly do anything to the damage, detriment,
or dishonour thereof, he shall be ejected out of the Society.'
'It appears to me that Professor Worthing has put her finger precisely on the point,' nodded
O'Donovan vigorously. 'I trust it will not be regarded as improper if the Academy I represent
should express itself in a very similar manner.'
There was now a long speech from Ardmovich, the Soviet member of ICSU. Although Isaac
Newton did not understand the details of the Russian words, it was easy to tell from
Artimovich's face and gestures that nothing favourable to himself was being said. And so it
proved when a translation was eventually provided. Like Wendy Worthing, Artimovich was
rule-minded, with much being said about the treaty undertakings of members of ICSU. It was
while Artimovich's speech was being translated that the meeting became conscious that
Isaac Newton was tapping lightly on the table with a pencil.
'Would you like to respond, Professor Newton?' the President asked when the translation
was finished. The tension heightened as a silence followed, a silence broken only by the
steady tapping of Isaac Newton's pencil.
'Yes, I would like to respond, sir,' Isaac Newton eventually said. 'First, I would like to respond
to Professor Worthing. I would like to respond by doubting the truth of her statement that she
came to this meeting with quite an open mind. As a mathematician, she will appreciate that
it would be more accurate to say that she came here with not quite a closed mind.
'Next, let me say, Sir Alistair, how much I appreciated your attempt to prevent Professor
Worthing from reading statute twenty-seven to the meeting. By doing so, Professor Worthing
gave the impression that all our actions and responsibilities fall within the purview of this
Society, or, in Dr O'Donovan's case, the purview of the Academy he represents, and
similarly in Dr Artimovich's case. Unforrunately, life isn't as simple as that, as the treasurers
of all societies and academies are well aware. I would think it unnecessary to remind this
meeting that front-ranking scientific societies the world over depend very considerably on
the patronage of their respective Governments. Consequently, no such society is an island
in itself. Not even the whole of science is an island in itself. Attention in some degree must
be paid to what is of interest and importance to the respective Governments and to people
generally. Since I myself have lived in this atmosphere for most of my academic career, it is
perhaps clearer to me than it may be to some others.
'Before I withdraw I should finally like to leave the meeting with what I believe to be a helpful
statement. Nothing that has so far occurred is more than a temporary inconvenience. But if
the situation should become public knowledge, due to leaks from this meeting, people up
and down the world are going to seize on other reserved wavebands, and the impulse to
transmit and to receive a reply from Comet Halley in those bands will be irresistible. So it
might happen that radioastronomers will lose all their reserved bands.'
'And whose fault would that be?' Trugood almost shouted.
'Not mine,' answered Isaac Newton as he stood up to leave. 'So far as I was concerned,
nobody would ever have known. The situation was completely safe until it was stirred up by
this Committee. The fault will lie in your own sense of self-righteousness, and in your attempt
to exercise a little power.'
Frances Haroldsen was waiting downstairs. She came forward, her heels clicking as
before.
f
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230
COMETHALLEY
'I finished my shopping early. How did it go.''
'Badly. I lost my temper and said terrible things,' Isaac Newton grinned wryly.
'Good!' grinned Frances Margaret in return, linking her arm into his.
'An interesting meeting, sir?' the hall porter asked with his eyebrows raised quizzically.
Remembering his promise to say nothing, Isaac Newton answered by raising his own
eyebrows. Then he and Frances Margaret walked arm in arm out into Carlton House
Terrace.
Chapter 41
Over breakfast the following morning, Frances Margaret handed Isaac Newton a
newspaper.
'Take a look at this.'
The paper was open at a page which carried the headline: ICSU IN CALL-GIRL DEBACLE.
The piece read:
Members of the prestigious International Council of Scientific Unions foregathered
yesterday in London. During daylight hours they occupied themselves with what one
scientist has called 'The Row of the Century'. But once darkness had fallen other ideas
appear to have entered the heads of the learned men. .
Printed there were pictures of Trugood and of the Russian Artimovich, each in close
proximity to a girl who was, to the evident delight of the paper, deshabillee in the extreme.
'What the devil's been going on?' exclaimed Isaac Newton in astonishment.
'Maisie has been going on. That's the sort of thing she's particularly good at. Getting into
hotel rooms and fixing the photography. It's going to cost you five hundred pounds.' Frances
Margaret smiled.
'I beg your pardon. Did you say five hundred pounds?'
'I did indeed.'
'The situation is appalling.'
'On the contrary. It's just the way they do it in Russia, which must
have made this Artimovich man feel quite at home. Actually it's very decent of Maisie to turn
over the pictures at cost, because I'm sure she could have got much more for them
otherwise. Very decent.'
'Decent or not, I'm not paying for them,' Isaac Newton stated brusquely.
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