THE COSMIC COMPUTER

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Merlin was now a political issue. A bill had been introduced in
Parliament to amend the Abandoned Property Act of 867 and nationalize
Merlin, when and if discovered and regardless by whom. The support
seemed to come from an extremist minority; everybody else, including the
Administration, was opposed to it. There was considerable acrimony,
however, on the propositions: 1) that Merlin was too important to the
prosperity of Poictesme to become a private monopoly; and 2) that Merlin
was too important, etc., to become a political football and patronage plum.

It was discovered, after they were half assembled, that the controls for
the /Harriet Barne/ would only work while she was in a horizontal
position. The whole thing had to be torn out and rebuilt. There was also
trouble with the air-and-water recycling system. The /City of Nefertiti/
came in from Aton for Odin; Rodney Maxwell was almost frantic because
they hadn't gotten together a cargo of medical stores from the first
hospital to be opened.