With No Strings Attached

"With No Strings Attached" by Randall Garrett is a science fiction tale that orbits around themes of groundbreaking creations, tricky falsehoods, and how people trust what science can do, all set in the 1960s. It places a lens on a game-changing idea for energy thought up by a puzzling creator. The atmosphere of the military forms the setting for a place where progress in science bumps against doubts from society. The story highlights Richard Thorn, a brain at North American Carbide & Metals, pulled into the orbit of the Black Suitcase, a mysterious product of Sorensen's making; this supposed source of endless energy catches the attention of the Navy, leading to contract talks. Despite initial misgivings, Thorn uncovers the ruse: the suitcase houses a device for hydrogen fusion, cleverly disguised as a simple battery. Sorensen's sneaky method aims to win trust for his forward-thinking invention, leaving Thorn caught in a maze where belief and scientific truth challenge the very essence of progress and human knowledge.