ScienceDirect - Technol Rep Tohoku Univ ... - Garryck Osborne

88 The Hunt for Zero Point
Marckus registered my bewilderment. "Robert Watson-Watt. The
man who gave the British the secret of radar. It all happened here. I
thought you'd know that."
Once on the other side, we jumped down onto the beach and strolled
along the shoreline, past a lonely cafe, in the direction of the point.
"So how did Watson-Watt outwit the Germans?" I asked, to fill the
silence more than anything else.
"They saw the Graf Zeppelin on their scopes when it was way out over
the North Sea, realized what it was up to and switched off the radars. The
Germans went away believing that they were radio masts, that Germany
was the only nation that had successfully developed radar detection. A
month later, they invaded Poland."
"That's interesting. Did you work for him?" The term he'd used, "old
man," denoted more than a passing familiarity. "Watson-Watt, I mean."
Marckus never answered. He walked on in silence, watching the gulls
soaring on the cold currents above our heads. Then, without looking at
me, he said: "It's been a while since you've written about my favorite
subject. I was beginning to worry that you'd lost interest in it."
"It's like Professor Young said in his speech. I have come to the
conclusion—a little late in the day, perhaps—that antigravity is for the
birds."
"I see," he said. "Are you hungry?"
I looked at my watch. It was close to midday and I hadn't had any
breakfast.
Marckus, registering my hesitation, doubled back toward the cafe.
I pulled a copy of the U.S. Air Force's Electric Propulsion Study from my
coat pocket and set it down on the table next to a tatty yellowing manila
folder that had been clamped under his arm throughout.
Marckus and I were the only two people this side of the deep fryer.
After serving us our plates of cod and chips, the cafe's proprietor left us
on our own.
Marckus seemed to start to relax.
"Apart from the fact that the math and the physics are beyond me, the
evidence says that this whole science, if you can call it that, is still in its
infancy," I said. "One look at this report says they're still playing around
with algebra. When I wrote what I wrote, I thought the story was bigger
than that. I have to concede I was wrong."
"What were you hoping for, if I may ask?" Marckus asked.
I shrugged. "I thought maybe they'd have at least built some hardware
by now. God knows they've had time. The U.S. aerospace industry first