THE UNLEARNED
By Raymond F. Jones
Illustrated by Ed Emsh
[Transcriber Note: This etext was produced from IF Worlds of ScienceFiction August 1954. Extensive research did not uncover any evidencethat the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
The Chief Officer of Scientific Services, Information and Coordinationwas a somewhat misleading and obscure title, and Dr. Sherman Hockley whoheld it was not the least of those whom the title misled and sometimesobscured.
He told himself he was not a mere library administrator, although he wasproud of the information files built up under his direction. Theycontained the essence of accumulated knowledge found to date on Earthand the extraterrestrial planets so far contacted. He didn't feeljustified in claiming to be strictly a research supervisor, either, inspite of duties as top level administrator for all divisions of theNational Standardization and Research Laboratories and theirsubsidiaries in government, industry, and education. During his term ofsupervision the National Laboratories had made a tremendous growth, incontrast to a previous decline.
Most of all, however, he disclaimed being a figurehead, to which all theloose strings of a vast and rambling organization could be tied. Butsometimes it was quite difficult to know whether or not that was hisprimary assignment after all. His unrelenting efforts to keep out of thecategory seemed to be encountering more and more determination to pushhim in that direction.
Of course, this was merely the way it looked in his more bittermoments—such as the present. Normally, he had a full awareness of theparamount importance of his position, and was determined to administerit on a scale in keeping with that importance. His decision could affectthe research in the world's major laboratories. Not that he was adictator by any means, although there were times when dictation wascalled for. As when a dozen projects needed money and the Congressallotted enough for one or two. Somebody had to make a choice—
His major difficulty was that active researchers knew it was theCongressional Science Committee which was ultimately responsible fortheir bread and butter. And the Senators regarded the scientists, whodid the actual work in the laboratories, as the only ones who mattered.Both groups tended to look upon Hockley's office as a sort of fulcrum intheir efforts to maintain balance with each other—or as referee intheir sparring for adequate control over each other.
At that, however, things research-wise were better than ever before.More funds and facilities were available. Positions in pure researchwere more secure.
And then, once again, rumors about Rykeman III had begun to circulatewildly a few days ago.
Since Man's achievement of extra-galactic flight, stories of Rykeman IIIhad tantalized the world and made research scientists sick with longingwhen they considered the possible truth of what they heard. The planetwas rumored to be a world of super-science, whose people had an answerfor every research problem a man could conceive. The very few Earthmenwho had been to Rykeman III confirmed the rumors. It was a paradise,according to their stories. And amon