The helicopter landed. Everyone shook hands and then the four men took off across the fields in the super golf cart. Pasarian was at the wheel, with Thorn next to him and the other two in back. Buher started making his pitch to Thorn immediately, making sure to denigrate Atherton's opinion right from the start.

'Bill is simply wrong in this area,' he said, leaning forward and shouting into Richard's ear over the noise of the cart's engine. 'My report points to the indisputable fact that Thorn Industries' main interest, at this point in time, is in energy and electronics. What I'm maintaining is that, because of the bias, we tend to ignore the kind of thing that's going on at this plant, for example. And we ignore it at our own risk. Our profitable future, energy aside,' he said, pausing to catch his breath, 'lies in just one thing... famine!'

Atherton snorted with disgust. That statement is typical of you, Paul,' he said, shaking his head. 'It's heartless and-‘

'True!' Buher broke in. 'Not heartless. Realistic.'

Atherton leaned in front of Buher, effectively cutting him off, and spoke directly to Thorn. 'Richard,' he said, with great urgency in his voice, 'by 1980, Middle Eastern oil will cost this country twenty billion dollars a year. Prosperity isn't around the corner to begin with, and dollar-a-gallon gas sure isn't going to help. If our responsibility to this nation and to the world at large is energy, then we must continue to spend our time and our money on all the alternative forms of it. What about our commitment to the programs we've already begun, in solar energy, gravitational energy, nuclear energy? Are we supposed to turn our backs on the progress we've made so far in those areas and write them off as a well-intentioned waste of our time?'

'Speaking of time, Bill,' said Buher, looking at his watch, 'while you were lamenting our glorious commitment to, and future in, the energy business, eight people starved to death. One person dies of starvation somewhere in the world every eight point six seconds. Seven every minute. Four hundred and twenty every hour. Ten thousand every day.'

Atherton didn't even bother to disguise his contempt or outrage. ‘What is your point, Paul?’

'My point, Bill,' said Buher, with exaggerated impatience, as though he were explaining things to a child, 'is that it doesn't make much sense to create new sources of energy if no one's going to be alive to use them.'

Thorn decided it was time to step in. 'Isn't that a little bleak?' he asked.

‘The day is coming, Richard,' Buher said with total conviction. 'Sooner than you think.'

'Go on,' said Thorn. He realized that Buher often exaggerated his case, but the fact was that the man's instincts were uncannily sound. And anyway, it was always best to hear all sides, no matter how extreme.