THE COSMIC COMPUTER

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I never saw anybody doing that outside a soap opera. Half the time she
thinks you and Father are a pair of unprincipled scoundrels, and the
other half she thinks you're going to let Merlin destroy the world."

"I'm beginning to be afraid of something like that myself."

"Huh? But Merlin's just a big fake, isn't it? You're using it to make
these people do something they wouldn't do for themselves, aren't you?"

"It started that way. What do you think all this is about?" he asked,
gesturing toward the excavation and the two giant mining machines
digging and blasting and pounding away at the rock.

"Well, to keep Kurt Fawzi and that crowd happy, I suppose. It seems like
an awful waste of time, though."

"I'm afraid it isn't. I'm afraid Merlin, or something just[Pg 162] as