Dragon (Dirk Pitt 10)

"I'd rather spell it out after Percy gets here."

"A tangible, a solid object, maybe like a nuclear warhead?" Yaeger asked smugly.

Pitt looked at him. "That's one possibility."

Yaeger lazily rose to his feet and started down the stairs. "While we're waiting for your uncle, I'll warm up my CAD/CAM."

He was gone and away on the computer floor before Pitt thought to ask him what he was talking about.

A great white beard flowed down Payload Percy's face and covered half his paisley necktie. He had a knuckle for a nose and the set brows and squinting eyes of a wagon master intent on getting the settlers through Indian country. He beamed at the world from a face that belonged in a TV beer commercial, and seemed far younger than his eighty-two years.

He dressed natty for Washington. No regimented gray pinstripe or blue suit with red tie for Percy. He entered NUMA's computer complex in a lavender sport coat with matching pocket kerchief and tie, gray slacks, and lizard-skin cowboy boots. Sought and intimately entertained by half the attractive widows within a hundred miles, Percy had somehow managed to remain a bachelor. A wit who was in demand as a party guest and speaker, he was a gourmand who owned a wine cellar that was the envy of every society party thrower in town.

The serious side of his character was his tremendous knowledge of the deadly art of nuclear weaponry. Percy was in on the beginning at Los Alamos and stayed in harness at the Atomic Energy Commission and its succeeding agency for almost fifty years. Many a third-world leader would have given his entire treasury for Percy's talents. He was one of a very small band of experts who could assemble a working nuclear bomb in his garage for the price of a power lawn mower.

"Dirk my boy!" he boomed. "How good to see you."

"You look fit," Pitt said as they hugged.

Percy shrugged sadly. "Damned Motor Vehicle Department took away my motorcycle license, but I can still drive my old Jaguar XK-One-twenty."

"I appreciate your taking the time to help me."

"Not at all. Always prime for a challenge."

Pitt introduced Percy to Hiram Yaeger. The old man gave Yaeger a shoe to headband examination.

His expression was one of benign amusement.

"Can you buy faded and prewashed clothes like that off the rack?" he asked conversationally.

"Actually my wife soaks them in a solution of camel urine, liverwort, and pineapple juice," Yaeger came right back with a straight face. "Softens and gives them that special air of savoirfaire."

Percy laughed. "Yes, the aroma made me wonder about the secret ingredients. A pleasure to meet you, Hiram."

"The same." Hiram nodded. "I think."

"Shall we begin?" said Pitt.

Yaeger pulled up two extra chairs beside a computer screen that was three times the size of most desk models. He waited until Pitt and Percy were seated and then held out both hands as if beholding a vision.

"The latest state-of-the-art," he instructed. "Goes by the name CAD/CAM, an acronym for Computer-Aided Design/Computer-Aided Manufacturing. Basically a computer graphics system, but also a supersophisticated visual machine that enables draftsmen and engineers to make beautifully detailed drawings of every mechanical object imaginable. No dividers, compasses, or T-squares. You can program the tolerances and then simply sketch a rough outline with an electronic pen on the screen.

Then the computer will render them in precise and elaborate solid forms, or in three dimensions."

"Quite astounding," Percy murmured. "Can you separate different sections of your drawings and enlarge details?"

"Yes, and I can also apply colors, alter shapes, simulate stress conditions, and edit the changes, then store the results in its memory to be recalled like a word processor. The applications from design to finished manufactured product are mind staggering."

Pitt straddled his chair and rested his chin on the backrest. "Let's see if it can lead us to the jackpot."

Yaeger peered at him over his granny glasses. "We in the trade refer to it as conceptualization.

"If it'll make you happy."

"So what are we looking for?" asked Percy.