"Mack Reynolds - Pacifist" - читать интересную книгу автора (Reynolds Mack)

removed the back. “See this little device? It’s a small, spring-powered gun which projects a tiny, tiny
hypodermic needle through the supposed lens of this dummy camera. So tiny is the dart that when it imbeds
itself in your neck, hand, or belly, you feel no more than a mosquito bite.”


The professor was motivated more by curiosity than fear. He bent forward to look at the device. “Amazing,”
he said. “And you have successfully used it?”


“Other operatives of our organization have. There are few, politicians in particular, who can escape the news
photographer. This camera is but one of our items of equipment, and with it an assassin has little trouble
getting near his victim.”
The professor shook his head in all but admiration. “Amazing,” he repeated. “I shall never feel safe with a
photographer again.”


Warren Casey said, “You have no need for fear, Professor, if you abandon your current research.”


Leonard LaVaux said, “And I have a week to decide? Very well, in a week’s time I shall issue notice to the
Press either that I have given up my research, or that I have been threatened by the Pacifists and demand
protection.”


Casey began to stand, but the professor raised a hand. “Wait a moment,” he said. “I’d like to ask you a few
questions.”


The Pacifist looked at the other warily.


LaVaux said, “You’re the first member of your organisation to whom I’ve ever spoken.”


“I doubt it,” Casey said.


“Ah? Very secret, eh? Members are everywhere, but undetected. Then how do you recruit new membership?
Being as illegal as you are, of course, the initial approach must be delicate indeed.”


“That’s right,” Casey nodded. “We take every precaution. A prospect isn’t approached until it is obvious he is
actually seeking an answer to the problem of outlawing war. Many persons, Professor, come to our point of
view on their own. They begin discussing the subject, seeking answers, seeking fellows who think along the
same line.”


The professor was fascinated. “But even then, of course, mistakes must be made and some of your
membership unmasked to the authorities.”