Authors: Arthur Hailey
Tags: #Fiction, #Thrillers, #Suspense, #Action & Adventure, #General
"I remember," Elroy Braithwaite said. Unlike the other men, he did not
remove his gaze from
the junction of skirt and thighs, bu
t held it there
deliberatel
y
,. There were several seconds of silence in which most women
would have fidgeted or been intimidated. The brunette, self-assured,
entirely in control, made clear that she was not. Still not looking up,
the Silver Fox said slowly, "What was the question again, Monica
.”
"I think you know
.”
Only then did Braithwaite, out
maneuvered, lift his
head.
He sighed. "Oh, yes-the moon. You know, there are (lays I wish we'd never
got there. It's produced a new clich
e
. Nowadays, the moment there's any
kind of engineering hangup, anywhere, you can count on somebody saying:
We got to the moon, didn't we? Why can't we solve this
.”
"If she hadn't asked," The Wall Street journal said, "I would. So why
can't we
.”
"I'll tell you," the vice-president snapped. "Quite apart from the space
gang having unlimited public money-which we haven't-they had an objective:
Get to the moon. You people are asking us, on the vague basis of things
you've read or heard, to give development of a steam or electric engine
for cars that kind of all-or-nothing, billions-in-the-kitty priority.
Well, it so happens that some of the best engineering brains in this
business think it isn't a practical objective, or even a worthwhile one.
We have better ideas and other objectives
.”
Braithwaite passed a hand over his silver
mane, then nodded to Adam. He gave the impression of having had enough.
"W
h
at we believe," Adam said, "is that clean air-at least air not
polluted by motor vehicles
can be achieved best, fastest, and most
cheaply through refinements of the present gasoline internal combustion
engine, along with more improvements in emission control and fuels. That
includes the Wankel engine which is also an internal combustion type
.”
He had deliberately kept his voice low key. Now he added, "Maybe that's
not as spectacular as the idea of steam or electric power but there's
a lot of sound science behind it
.”
Bob Irvin of the Detroit News spoke for the first time. "Quite apart
from electric and steam engines, you'd admit, wouldn't you, that before
Nader, Emerson Vale, and their kind, the industry wasn't nearly as
concerned as it is now about controlling air pollution
.”
The question was asked with apparent casualness, Irvin looking blandly
through his glasses, but Adam knew it was loaded with explosive. He
hesitated only momentarily, then answered, "Yes, I would
.”
The three other reporters looked at him, surprised.
"As I understand it," Irvin said, still with the same casual manner,
"we're here because of Emerson Vale, or in other words, because of an
auto critic. Right
.”
Jake Earlham intervened from his window seat. "We're here because your
editors-and in your case, Bob, you person ally
asked if we would
respond to some questions today, and we agreed to. It was our
understanding that some of the questions would relate to statements
which Mr. Vale had made, but we did not schedule a press conference
specifically because of Vale
.”
Bob Irvin grinned. "A bit hair-splitty, aren't you
J
ake
.”
The Vice-President Public Relations shrugged. 1 guess
.”
From Jake Earlham's doubtful expression now and earlier, Adam suspected
he was wondering if the informal press meeting had been such a good
idea.
"In that case," Irvin said, "I guess this question wouldn't be out of
order, Adam
.”
The columnist seemed to ruminate, shambling verbally as
he spoke, but those who knew him were aware bow deceptive this
appearance was. "In your opinion have the auto critics-let's take Nader
and safety-fulfilled a useful function
.”
The question was simple, but framed so it could not be ducked, Adam felt
like protesting to Irvin: Why pick me? Then he remembered Elroy
Braithwaite's instructions earlier: 'We'll call things the way we see
them
.”
Adam said quietly, "Yes, they have fulfilled a function. In terms of
safety, Nader booted this industry, screaming, into the second half of
the twentieth century
.”
All four reporters wrote that down.
While they did, Adam's thoughts ranged swiftly over what he had said and
what came next. Within the auto industry, he was well aware, plenty of
others would agree with him. A strong contingent of younger executives
and a surprising sprinkling at topmost echelons conceded that basically
-despite excesses and inaccuracies-the arguments of Vale and Nader over
the past few years made sense. The industry had relegated safety to a
minor role in car design, it had focused attention on sales to the
exclusion of most else, it had resisted change until forced to change
through government regulation or the threat of it. It seemed, looking
back, as if auto makers had become drunken on their own immensity and
power, and had behaved like Goliaths, until in the end
they were humbled by a David-Ralph Nader and, later, Emerson Vale.
The David-Goliath equation, Adam thought, was apt. Nader particularly
alone, unaided, and with remarkable moral courage-took on the entire
U.S. auto industry with its unlimited resources and strong Washington
lobby, and, where others had failed, succeeded in having safety
standards raised and new consumer-oriented legislation passed into law.
The fact that Nader was a polemicist who, like all polemicists, took
rigid poses, was often excessive, ruthless, and sometimes inaccurate,
did not lessen his achievement. Only a bigot would deny that he had
performed a valuable public service. Equally to the point: to achieve
such a service, against such odds, a Nadertype was necessary.
The Wall Street Journal observed, "So far as I know, Mr. Trenton, no
auto executive has made that admission publicly before
.”
"If no one has," Adam said, "maybe it's time someone did
.”
Was it imagination, or had Jake Earlham
apparently busy with his
pipe-gone pale? Adam detected a frown on the face of the Silver Fox, but
what the hell; if necessary, he would argue with Elroy later. Adam had
never been a "yes man
.”
Few who rose high in the auto industry were, and
those who held back their honest opinions, fearing disapproval from
seniors, or because of insecurity about their jobs, seldom made it
higher than middle management, at best. Adam had not held back,
believing that directness and honesty were useful contributions he could
make to his employers. The important thing, he had learned, was to stay
an individual. A misguided notion which outsiders had of auto executives
was that they conformed to a standard pattern, as if stamped out by
cookie cutters. No concept could be
more wrong. True, such men had certain traits in common--ambition, drive, a
sense of organization, a capacity for work. But, apart from that, they were
highly individual, with a better-than
average sprinkling of eccentrics,
geniuses, and mavericks.
Anyway, it had been said; nothing would undo it now. But there were
postscripts.
"If you're going to quote that"-Adam surveyed the quartet of reporters
-"some other things should be said as well
.”
Which are
.”
It was the Newsweek girl's query. She seemed less hostile
than before, had stubbed out her cigarette and was making notes. Adam
stole a glance: her skirt was as high as ever, her thighs and legs
increasingly attractive in filmy gray nylon. He felt his interest
sharpen, then tore his thoughts away.
"First," Adam said, "the critics have done their job. The industry is
working harder on safety than it ever did; what's more, the pressure's
staying on. Also, we're consumer oriented. For a while, we weren't.
Looking back, it seems as if we got careless and indifferent to consumers
without realizing it. Right now, though, we're neither, which is why the
Emerson Vales have become shrill and sometimes silly. If you accept their
view, nothing an automobile maker does is ever right. Maybe that's why
Vale and his kind haven't recognized yet-which is my second point-that the
auto industry is in a whole new era
.”
AP queried, "If that's true, wouldn't you say the auto critics forced you
there
.”
Adam controlled his irritation. Sometimes auto criticism became a fetish,
an unreasoning cult, and not just with professionals like Vale. "They
helped," he admitted, "by establishing directions and goals, particularly
about safety and pollution. But they had nothing to do with the
technologica
l
revolution which was coming anyway. It's that that's going to
make the next ten years more excitin
g
for
everybody
in this business than
the entire half century just gone
.”
"Just how
.”
AP sa
id, Gl
anci
ng
at his watch.
"Someone mentioned breakthroughs," Adam answered. "The most important
ones, which we can see coming, are in materials which will let us design
a whole new breed of vehicles by the mid
or late '70s. Take metals. Instead
of solid steel which we're using now, honeycomb steel is coming; it'll be
strong, rigid, yet incredibly lighter
meaning fuel economy; also it'll
absorb an impact better than conventional steel-a safety plus. Then there
are new metal alloys for engines and components. We anticipate one which
will allow temperature changes from a hundred degrees to more than two
thousand degree Fahrenheit, in seconds, with minor expansion only. Using
that, we can incinerate the remainder of unburned fuel causing air
pollution. Another metal being worked on is one with a retention technique
to 'remember' its original shape. If you crumple a fender or a door,
you'll apply heat or pressure and the metal will spring back the way it
was before. Another alloy we expect will allow cheap production of
reliable, high-quality wheels for gas turbine engines
.”
Elroy Braithwaite added, "That last is one to watch. If the internal
combustion engine goes eventually, the gas turbine's most likely to move
in. There are plenty of problems with a turbine for cars-it's efficient
only at high power output, and you need a costly heat exchanger if you aim
not to burn pedestrians. But they're solvable problems, and being worked
on
.”
"Okay," The Wall Street Journal said. "So that's metals. What else is
new
.”
"Something sign
i
ficant, and coming soon for
every car, is an on-board computer
.”
Adam glanced at AP. "It will be small,
about the size of a glove compartment
.”
"A computer to do what
.”
"Just about anything; you name it. It will monitor engine components
-plugs, fuel injection, all the others. It will control emissions and warn
if the engine is polluting. And in other ways it will be revolutionary
.”
"Name some," Newsweek said.
"Part of the time the computer will think for drivers and correct
mistakes,
often
before they realize they're made. One thing it will
mastermind is sensory braking-brakes applied individually on every wheel
so a driver can never lose control by skidding. A radar auxiliary will
warn if a car ahead is slowing or you're following too close. In an
emergency the computer could decelerate and apply brakes automatically,
and because a computer's reactions are faster than human there should be
a lot less rear-end collisions. There'll be the means to lock on to
automatic radar control lanes on freeways, which are on the way, with
space satellite control of traffic flow not far behind
.”