CHAPTER V
The Bee Hive
When I metthe Lieutenant the following day, he smiled somberly.
"My emotional outburst yesterday was a relief to me," he said, "but I would have preferred having it in privacy. Since I am now calm I have here a typewritten copy of the narrative of what happened to me at Amboria, the city on Mars.
"I don't want to take up your time in giving you a detailed description of my room. I will leave it to your own imagination that it was more beautifully decorated and comfortable than any we Earth people can conceive.
"I was in a daze, pleasantly exhilarated by my strong feeling for Xora, and utterly bewildered by the wonderful experiences and new ways of living."
Several sheets of paper on a small table attracted my attention. It was a message in English from Sun-Rank Banard, saying that my crew members and I could present ourselves any day that week to the airport for instruction in flying and traffic rules. There was also on the table what seemed to be a large Ingersoll pocket watch lying on a couple of sheets of paper. Picking the watch up, I saw another message, which stated that the instrument wasmade especially for our use on Mars, but that, like their radios, it could not penetrate the Earth's atmosphere. The front dial had about a hundred consecutively numbered lines, with a needle attached to the center. After tuning in, by pointing the needle at the number I had looked up in a directory lying there, I could contact and speak to any person I chose. Listed in the directory were not only the names of my new acquaintances on Mars, but those of my fellow crew members, my Earth friends as well. In the center of the dial was a very much smaller dial which gave the exact time. By tuning in to the weather bureau, I could learn of the weather conditions twenty-four hours in advance. The message also informed me that as I increased the number of my acquaintances, I could remove the present dial and put on one of the few additional dials lying on the table. After tuning in and dialing the number, by unscrewing the back cover and placing it to my ear, and talking into the back of the instrument, I could hear and speak to the person, no matter where he might be, unless a red light on the instrument indicated that he was busy talking to someone else. While talking, I could look at the instrument and see clearly, not only the person, but even all his facial expressions.
I could keep the instrument in my pocket when I was awake; and if someone wished to speak to me, the instrument would inflate and deflate with a throbbing movement, which I could feel immediately.
Upon retiring, I could hang it on a convenient hanger attached to the headboard over my bed; if someone wished to call me, then it would awaken me by flashing a bright red light. If I set it at a certain time, it would ring like an alarm clock.
Taking advantage of this inter-communicating pocket radio-telephone, or what we here might call a walkie-talkie, I talked for quite a while with my fellow crew members. I learned that they, like myself, were having strange and satisfying experiences. They were so enthusiastic, that they all desired to remain permanently on Mars. As soon as possible, they wished to go to school to learn the Martian language and calligraphy. They voiced a strong desire to introduce similar living conditions on Earth.We agreed that we should at the earliest opportunity consult with Sun-Rank Banard.
After my lengthy conversations with my friends, I sat down on the chaise longue to meditate upon the significant happenings. Reclining abstractedly for some time, I then fell asleep.
The bright morning sunlight and the light blinking in the instrument woke me. Placing it to my ear, I was greeted by the pleasant voice and face of Sun-Rank Banard.
"Last night when you spoke to your friends, you all expressed a strong wish to consult me. That wish registered on my mind so definitely that I could not help at the time from reading your thoughts, which greatly pleased me. I will communicate with your friends and arrange to have a plane fly all of you over here to my home today. After dinner we can take counsel together as to the best means for attaining our objective."
That night after dinner we gathered in Sun-Rank Banard's library, and addressing our radio operator, he said, "Mr. Galoway, I understand you are anxious to make some suggestions. I am very much interested in hearing them."
"Sun-Rank Banard, may I have the privilege to present some of my ideas, with many of which we Earth men are in accord? If you agree with them, we would like your advice, and help. Contrary to what Field Marshal Allenby said, 'We earth dwellers are prisoners on our planet; there is no way out,' destiny, through you, has given us a way out. Against our will you took us away from there; we want to assure you now of our gratitude. We thank you Martians for the privilege granted us to remain among you. During the short time we have been here, we have found your living conditions unparalleled. We all intend to take advantage of our good fortune and become citizens of Mars. We wish to make our lifelong home here and to form close family unions. If you take us back to earth, we would not want to remain there; for we do not want to bring forth our children in the cauldron of the Earth's inferno. However, we have blood ties there, people who are very dear to us. For the sake of our relatives and their future generations, and the sake of Earth's humanity as a whole, we shall devote ourselves to creating, if we can, a better future world for them. But we need your help.
"Since we speak fluently, between us here, in ten different languages, we can be of great help to proselytize from here the people who form the majority of Earth's population. Or, if you can arrange to let each one of us separately parachute down to Earth, into the country where our language is spoken, we can start our work of acquainting them with your system of life. But, after a reasonable period, after sowing the seeds, we hope that you will arrange to take us back. That is, providing we are in good health. If, God forbid, any one of us become contaminated with an incurable Earth disease, then he should be left on Earth.
"Since childhood I have always had radio transmitters. I have always tinkered with them, and made them myself. I have worked at them in all phases of the industry. I cannot only make them, but also operate them. I can instruct my fellow Earth men here and also you Martians, if you will give me the chance in one of your radio factories. Perhaps I can succeed in making a radio that will penetrate through the atmosphere of Earth and reach its inhabitants. We then can start a campaign of broadcasting messages to our fellow men on Earth."
Sun-Rank Banard responded with enthusiasm, "Mr. Galoway, I am most happy to know your plans and intentions. I shall have you flown tomorrow to our radio factory and laboratory, where you can conduct researches with our scientists. You will be provided with all our materials and facilities. I sincerely hope you prove more successful than we have been.
"A week from today we can have another conference. I hope by that time you will have succeeded in your endeavors. Now, gentlemen, it is getting late. The airplane will fly you all back to your homes. Good night."
Next morning after breakfast Xora came in and reminded me that she was ready to take me along to their general stores and show me their method of distribution. I asked her, "Are you going to do your shopping, while we are there?"
"No," she said, "We don't shop, buy, or sell on Mars. We are given supplies; we obtain them. We do not go shopping, as you Earth people do, merely to look at displays. We go only when we need and are entitled to obtain an article.
"My tandem plane is all ready," she continued.
We then got into it and took to the air. I sat close to her, my body alive with the sense of her beauty.
Then she said, "Our chief guide at the administration building of the ORDDB, our Ordering, Receiving, Distributing and Directory Bureau, has learned your language, and he is anxiously looking forward to showing you around."
We were now approaching two beautiful buildings, both wide and high. We landed near them on a plane parking ground. These two buildings, side by side, were situated at the southern point of the oval lake, exactly in the middle of the city's width, running east and west.
Walking to one of the many doors of one of them, I noticed that the people were all going in one direction only. On the doors were signs in the Martian language which readFor Entrance Only; the exit doors were on the opposite side of the building. "That is a rule in all large public buildings in Mars," Xora explained.
In an office on the main floor, Xora introduced me to Mr. Amony, their head guide, who had been awaiting me. He led us into one of their large ground floor catalogue rooms, which was similar to the catalogue room on the third floor of the New York Public Library, but much larger. Two walls were lined with files in alphabetical order. He showed me how to use the files, which gave pictures and information concerning all the articles carried by the stores and instructions on how to obtain them. These catalogues were the only medium of advertising the stores had. Newspapers, magazines, mail, radio or airplanes were never used for advertising purposes.
Each of these buildings, square in shape, covered Earth men's measurements of eleven hundred by eleven hundred lineal feet. In the middle court you could place, side by side, two libraries the size of the New York 42nd Street Public Library Buildings. Each had sixty catalogue rooms on the ground floor. Each room measured one hundred by sixty feet. The hallways on the four sides were fifty feet wide and on every side were escalators, twenty-five feet wide and separated by hand rails every five feet. The people on Mars used only moving stairways and no elevators. To reach higher floors quickly, twenty passenger helicopterswere used outside. These constantly operated up and down to and from every floor landing to ground floor.
There were plane landings on each side on every floor and on the roofs of buildings higher than five floors. Beside the moving stairways in these buildings, and in all other large buildings, alongside the moving stairways were two elevator shafts, one used solely for up traffic, the other for down. They were each large enough to hold one of our freight cars, for they measured sixty feet by ten feet.
Used exclusively for freight, these elevators were only platforms supported by wheels eighteen inches in diameter. They also had gear wheels on each corner and on the middle of each side. Running up and down the walls of these shafts were six full-length geared metal beams. When a platform was in the shaft, the gear wheels closely fitted into the cogs or gears of the shaft beams and the platform gear wheels operated either up or down. Weather conditions in re to expansion and contraction did not loosen or tighten the hold that these gear wheels had on the beams. Strong springs helped to keep the hold constant.
These platforms were not attached to or supported by cables. They were not permanent inside fixtures of the shaft; many elevators could operate at the same time in one shaft, as many as there were floors. Automatically, they traveled in the shaft at a certain distance from each other so that they could not collide. When one of them reached its given floor, the whole line of elevators stopped in the shaft until this one vacated it. The shaft floor doors opened and released three rails from the floor into the shaft to support the elevator, while it released itself from the beams, gears. The elevator then rolled on its flat wheels onto the rails and then onto the floor. When the rails snapped back into position, the doors closed, and the other elevators in the shaft continued on their way to their floors.
Now the released elevator with its load propelled itself to the place of unloading. On the floor of this elevator were four movable belts. They were used for loading (pulling on) and unloading (pushing off) a full load, four units, when all four belts operated, or a half load, two units, when two belts operated; or a quarter load, one unit, when one belt operated. One unitwas the equivalent of the minimum size of a load of heavy merchandise that we handle.
When this elevator reached the place of unloading, it hooked onto the permanent loading platform against the wall, eighteen inches from the floor. These permanent platforms had metal movable belts for loading and unloading and when the elevator was hooked to one of them, the belts on both moved into action. The elevator belts pushed off while the platform belts pulled on the load. These loading and unloading belts were on all the freight cars, loading platforms, and on every deck, on both sides, of our air and sea freight ships.
The same process took place when the elevators were being loaded, but in reverse; the belts on the permanent platform pushed off and belts on the elevator pulled on the load at the same time. The elevator then was on its way to the down-going elevator shaft. When it got up to the shaft, the doors automatically slid open; all the down-going elevator platforms stopped; the rails to support the elevator shot into the shaft, and the elevator propelled itself into the shaft, firmly gripping with its gear wheels into the cogs of the beams. Then the floor rails pulled back, the shaft doors closed, and all elevators in that shaft started down. The destination of these platforms varied; some of them unloaded onto freight ships, some onto long distance railroad cars, and some, propelled at great speed, acted as railway cars on the rails of the city and suburban freight subways, and often went long distances to their final destinations.
All these operations were done efficiently and by remote control, by a person sitting at a switch desk, thousands of miles away.
After his long description of how the elevators worked, Mr. Amony led us to their main waiting room on the ground floor in the middle court, which, he explained, had an open roof during the summer season and was protected by skylights during the winters. We sat down and an attendant quickly served us refreshments. This room was nearly filled with people waiting to meet their friends. As we ate, Mr. Amony gave us more information.
"This building is a sample of the hundred stores that run in a row on our southern water front from east to west for twenty-fivemiles. These two buildings, with fifty stories each, have fifty separate office suites on each floor, totaling two thousand five hundred suites per building. In this building, fifty store buildings from here west, are operated and controlled; in our sister building the fifty buildings from here east are operated."
Leading us to the escalator, he said, "Let us go up and see one of the offices in action." In the office we visited, there was a personnel of five; a chief and four assistants. They had complete operating charge of an entire storage floor in a store building. Each one of them was responsible for one-quarter space of it. They not only were supposed to be experts in the special merchandise handled on that floor, but they also had to do the ordering from the production point and the inspecting of materials. They had to keep a full supply of stock at all times.
Seated at their desks with an assortment of business machines, including a television set, they could clearly see the floor under their control. From their seats, they operated heavily loaded elevator platforms to the appointed portions of their floor. Loading and unloading, taking up and storing, and taking out units of merchandise to near or distant destinations were done by them.
One operation attracted my particular attention. A large freight ship was being unloaded under a store building. I could very clearly see it on the television. The ship had just anchored directly beneath the elevator shafts, following the orders of the clerk by whom we were standing. A removable metal frame was being put together by the ship's crew to fit into the up-going shaft, through the hatch, and right down to the bottom of the hold.
Meanwhile, the clerk was manipulating an empty elevator platform in the down-going shaft to the ship's deck. When the frame had been securely placed in the up-going shaft, he guided the elevator into it and down to the bottom of the ship. Then, propelling it out, from this frame to a large loader of four units on the platform within the ship, he skillfully loaded it on the elevator. The loaded elevator he now moved back into the temporary frame, up the elevator shaft, and on to its floor. He neatly unloaded it at its appointed place. All that maneuvering was accomplished quickly without hitch or man power by buttonsand two-inch levers on the desk. The clerk certainly had complete control of his elevator platforms.
I could not help calling out, "Bravo! Bravo!"
At the adjoining desk another clerk was loading an underground subway freight car and speeding it to its distant destination.
Addressing myself to Mr. Amony, I asked, "These clerks seem to have great responsibility. Do they have the authority to give their orders to the producers or factories supplying the merchandise under their control?"
"Of course," he answered. "Not only that, but the manager at the factory has that floor where his goods are kept constantly under his vision; therefore, he knows when the floor is under or overstocked. After daily consultation, he and the clerks here on duty manage to keep the supply sufficient. Samples of the merchandise in these units are always mailed to this office for inspection before the merchandise is shipped. We have only one factory for every individual article, with its branches on all our continents. They work together and compete with each other to produce the best of a single material thing or article allotted them. Executives for our industries are appointed solely for their experience, and efficiency, and not through political or other influences. It is the same in personnel.
"This system of remote control, with few exceptions, is used by us on vehicles, locomotives, passenger airplanes, and machines doing heavy duty work, such as those you would call bulldozers, plows, or other farm machinery. In fact, we use it for almost all laborious work and engineering projects, on stationary and mobile engines, and on machinery used on dry land, marshes, and on the fertile floors of the sea."
Addressing Xora, he said, "Let us give our visitor a look into one of our mechanical factories across the river. I will meet you outside factory No. 100 in half an hour."
We landed in a large open parking ground where Mr. Amony was waiting for us. As he guided us into a large building, he said, "I am surprised you Earth men don't go in for similar manufacturing and improvements and reforms. They have theidea, which we hope will soon be also in operation. Look!" Meeting our sight was a
"Factory as clean, spacious, and continuously operating as hydro-electric plant. The production floor is barren of men. Only a few engineers, technicians, and operators walk about on a balcony above, before a great wall of master control panels, inserting and checking records, watching and adjusting batteries of control instruments. All else is automatic. Raw materials flow in by conveyor, move through automatic inspection units, fabricating machines, sub-assembly and assembly lines, all controlled from the master panels, and arrive at the automatic packaging machines a finished product."[19]"We have machines that see better than eyes, calculate more reliably than brains, communicate faster and farther than the voice, record more accurately than memory, and act faster and better than hands. These devices are not subject to any human limitations. They do not mind working around the clock. They never feel hunger or fatigue. They are always satisfied with working conditions."[20]
"Factory as clean, spacious, and continuously operating as hydro-electric plant. The production floor is barren of men. Only a few engineers, technicians, and operators walk about on a balcony above, before a great wall of master control panels, inserting and checking records, watching and adjusting batteries of control instruments. All else is automatic. Raw materials flow in by conveyor, move through automatic inspection units, fabricating machines, sub-assembly and assembly lines, all controlled from the master panels, and arrive at the automatic packaging machines a finished product."[19]
"We have machines that see better than eyes, calculate more reliably than brains, communicate faster and farther than the voice, record more accurately than memory, and act faster and better than hands. These devices are not subject to any human limitations. They do not mind working around the clock. They never feel hunger or fatigue. They are always satisfied with working conditions."[20]
Now Xora interrupted, "I need a garment which is in the store building of No. 1 east. Let us go there."
I found this store impressive. Mr. Amony explained that the other ninety-nine stores were of similar size, but carried different articles. They received, stored, delivered, and distributed all foods and merchandise and other necessities and luxuries for all the inhabitants of Amboria.
These buildings were sixty stories high. The first ten stories in each of these hundred buildings were used for shopping, display, individual ordering, and disposing of merchandise to shoppers. Each floor had its own exclusive kind of merchandise.
Going up the moving stairway to the first floor, we landed in front of a slowly moving, large, circular inside platform twenty-five feet wide, which went on the floor around the full size of the building. On both sides of this platform were plush rope rails with many openings and provided with comfortable seats. An attendant at each opening helped people off and on.
Alongside this moving platform was a stationary floor of twenty-five feet in width for walkers. We sat on a seat for three on the moving platform, and were taken around to see the beautiful displays on dummies and on beautiful living models. Each side of the floor showed its own special variety of displays. My feeling was that the ladies on Mars were no different from ours insofar as feminine finery was concerned.
From the moving platform to the show cases was a ten foot stationary floor, where the distributors and recipients were sitting on comfortable seats and were being shown different articles and negotiating transfers. As we were nearing a special display, Xora left us sitting, and lightly stepped off the platform. During her absence, Mr. Amony gave me some information.
"The attendants in our merchandising department are called merchandise distributors, not salespeople. We have no high pressure employees. Our distributive system is more simple than yours, which I have seen through television. We do not advertise. We have no bargain sales or substituting. Our attendants are courteous. The people they serve give them courtesy in return.
"We try not to strain the patience of our distributors. We provide comfortable seats for them. Your salespeople spend hours on their feet. The high pressure selling methods induce nervous tension and fatigue. They become old before their time.
"After the day's work is over, our distributors are not worried whether they have sold the day's quota or have made a commission. They are not afraid of losing their jobs or having their salaries reduced, because of a shortage in merchandise. We have no shoplifters or detectives in our stores."
By this time Xora had returned from her shopping. We thanked Mr. Amony for his kind services and departed. As we approached the plane parking ground, I suggested that we fly to the center lake, as I wanted very much to hear the symphony orchestrawhich was playing about this time. At the same time, I took her hand and held it firmly but very tenderly. She blushed deeply, but her return pressure gave me my answer.
"Oh, yes," she said, "We can spend some time there and have our afternoon tea." Hand in hand, we again took to the air. Soon we landed in a secluded portion of the center parkway, near the center lake.
We were served tea with a large assortment of dainty little sandwiches, cakes, fruits, and candies. The sweet soft music permeating the air exalted me, and we were both wrapped in the exultation of our newly found love.
My deep love for her made me more happy than I had ever been in my life. I could hardly express what I wanted to say. But she seemed to understand. She listened attentively, and when I started stammering, she pressed my hand to encourage me. I was astonished that such a wonderful girl could have any interest in a blundering person like me. When I had finished, she answered, "I love you, too; I loved you the first time I saw you on Mars.
"You must know that I watched you in our television when grandfather took possession of your plane," she continued, "and I greatly admired your actions and the way you carried yourself. It wasn't hard to grow to love you.
"You must understand that we have no sympathy with many of the conditions on earth. I was deeply impressed when Grandfather told me about the conference he had with you and your Earth friends, and of the plan you boys have made. The news has been broadcast all over Mars. Your success or even a partial one will be an outstanding feat of our time.
"We all hope that our sincere admiration for you boys shall be an inspiration for your success. We shall encourage you and take great pride in your work. Even though you don't succeed fully, but only plant among your people the seed of the way we live our life, I will be just as proud of your achievement."
We spent the whole afternoon, until late in the evening, telling each other of our love, and planning and hoping for our future.
We were in a deep embrace when her mother called her on the inter-communicating instrument to come home.
That was the most momentous day of my life.
FOOTNOTES:[19]Reprinted from the Nov. 1946 issue ofFortune Magazine.Machines Without Menby E.W. Leaver and J.J. Brown, by special permission from Editors, p. 165.[20]Ibid., p. 204.
[19]Reprinted from the Nov. 1946 issue ofFortune Magazine.Machines Without Menby E.W. Leaver and J.J. Brown, by special permission from Editors, p. 165.
[19]Reprinted from the Nov. 1946 issue ofFortune Magazine.Machines Without Menby E.W. Leaver and J.J. Brown, by special permission from Editors, p. 165.
[20]Ibid., p. 204.
[20]Ibid., p. 204.