Occasion for Disaster

Randall Garrett

• Publisher: Perlego
• Year: 2009
• eBook ISBN: 9700000030434
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: North American Literary Collections
• Index: Literature

A very small slip, at just the wrong place, can devastate any enterprise. One tiny transistor can go wrong... and ruin a multi-million dollar missile. Which would be one way to stop the missiles....
"We must remember not to judge any public servant by any one act, and especially should we beware of attacking the men who are merely the occasions and not the causes of disaster."Theodore RooseveltIn 1914, it was enemy aliens.In 1930, it was Wobblies.In 1957, it was fellow-travelers.In 1971, it was insane telepaths.And, in 1973:"We don't know what it is," said Andrew J. Burris, Director of the FBI. He threw his hands in the air and looked baffled and confused.Kenneth J. Malone tried to appear sympathetic. "What what is?"Burris frowned and drummed his fingers on his big desk. "Malone," he said, "make sense. And don't stutter.""Stutter?" Malone said. "You said you didn't know what it was. And I wanted to know what it was.""That's just it," Burris said. "I don't know."Malone sighed and repressed an impulse to scream. "Now, wait a minute, Chief—" he started.