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.At the end he saiddetachedly: This is distinctly irregular.It is as irregular as anything could possibly be! But that is why Ihave agreed to it.It will be at least unexpected coming from me! Then he smiled without mirth and nodded to Joe and to Haney, and went striding away down theconcrete walk to where his car waited.Haney left a moment later to carry the list of arrangements to the Chief and to Mike.And Joe went intothe Shed to do his part.There was little difference in the appearance of the Shed by night.In the daytime there were long rows ofwindows in the roof, which let in a vague, dusky, inadequate twilight.At night those windows wereshuttered.This meant that the shadows were a little sharper and the contrasts of light and shade a triflemore abrupt.All other changes that Joe could see were the normal ones due to the taking down ofscaffolding and the fastening up of rocket tubes.It was clear that the shape of the Platform proper wouldbe obscure when all its rocket tubes were fast in place.Joe went to look at the last pushpots, and they were ready to be taken over to their own field for theirflight test before use.There were extras, anyhow, beyond the number needed to lift the Platform.[Pg 139]He found himself considering the obvious fact that after the Platform was aloft, they would be used tolaunch the ferry rockets, too.Then he moved toward the center of the Shed.A whole level of scaffolding came apart and its separateelements were bundled together as he watched.Slings lowered the bundles down to waiting trucks whichwould carry them elsewhere.There were mixing trucks still pouring out their white paste for the lining ofthe rocket tubes, and their product went up and vanished into the gaping mouths of the giant wire-woundpipes.Presently Joe went into the maze of piers under the Space Platform itself.He came to the temporarystairs he had reason to remember.He nodded to the two guards there. I want to take another look at that gadget we installed, he said.One of the guards said good-naturedly: Major Holt said to pass you any time. He ascended and went along the curious corridor it had handgrips on the walls so a man could pullhimself along it when there was no weight and went to the engine room.He heard voices.They werespeaking a completely unintelligible language.He tensed.Then the Chief grinned at him amiably.He was in the engine room and with him were no fewer than eightmen of his own coppery complexion. Here s some friends of mine, he explained, and Joe shook hands with black-haired, dark-skinned menwho were named Charley Spotted Dog and Sam Fatbelly and Luther Red Cow and other exotic things.The Chief said exuberantly, Major Holt told the guards to let me pass in some Indian friends, so I took my gang on a guided tour of the Platform.None of em had ever been inside before.And I heard you talking Indian, said Joe. You re gonna hear some more, said the Chief. We re the first war party of my tribe in longer n mygrandpa woulda thought respectable! [Pg 140]Joe found it difficult to restrain a smile.The Chief took him off to one side. Fella, he said kindly, it bothers you, this business, because it ain t organized.That s what this worldneeds, Joe.Everything figured out by slide rules an such it s civilized, but it ain t human! Whateverybody oughta be is a connoisseur of chaos, like me.Quit worryin an get outside and pick up thatsecurity guy the Major was gonna send to meet you! He gave Joe an amiable shove and rejoined his fellow Mohawks, each of whom, Joe noticed suddenly,had somewhere on his person a twelve-inch Stillson wrench or a reasonable facsimile to serve as asubstitute tomahawk.They grinned at him as he departed.At the bottom of the flight of narrow wooden steps there was a third security man.He greeted Joe. Major Holt told me to pick you up, he observed.Joe walked to one side with him.Major Holt had promised to send a first-class man to meet Joe at thisplace, with orders to take instructions from Joe [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.At the end he saiddetachedly: This is distinctly irregular.It is as irregular as anything could possibly be! But that is why Ihave agreed to it.It will be at least unexpected coming from me! Then he smiled without mirth and nodded to Joe and to Haney, and went striding away down theconcrete walk to where his car waited.Haney left a moment later to carry the list of arrangements to the Chief and to Mike.And Joe went intothe Shed to do his part.There was little difference in the appearance of the Shed by night.In the daytime there were long rows ofwindows in the roof, which let in a vague, dusky, inadequate twilight.At night those windows wereshuttered.This meant that the shadows were a little sharper and the contrasts of light and shade a triflemore abrupt.All other changes that Joe could see were the normal ones due to the taking down ofscaffolding and the fastening up of rocket tubes.It was clear that the shape of the Platform proper wouldbe obscure when all its rocket tubes were fast in place.Joe went to look at the last pushpots, and they were ready to be taken over to their own field for theirflight test before use.There were extras, anyhow, beyond the number needed to lift the Platform.[Pg 139]He found himself considering the obvious fact that after the Platform was aloft, they would be used tolaunch the ferry rockets, too.Then he moved toward the center of the Shed.A whole level of scaffolding came apart and its separateelements were bundled together as he watched.Slings lowered the bundles down to waiting trucks whichwould carry them elsewhere.There were mixing trucks still pouring out their white paste for the lining ofthe rocket tubes, and their product went up and vanished into the gaping mouths of the giant wire-woundpipes.Presently Joe went into the maze of piers under the Space Platform itself.He came to the temporarystairs he had reason to remember.He nodded to the two guards there. I want to take another look at that gadget we installed, he said.One of the guards said good-naturedly: Major Holt said to pass you any time. He ascended and went along the curious corridor it had handgrips on the walls so a man could pullhimself along it when there was no weight and went to the engine room.He heard voices.They werespeaking a completely unintelligible language.He tensed.Then the Chief grinned at him amiably.He was in the engine room and with him were no fewer than eightmen of his own coppery complexion. Here s some friends of mine, he explained, and Joe shook hands with black-haired, dark-skinned menwho were named Charley Spotted Dog and Sam Fatbelly and Luther Red Cow and other exotic things.The Chief said exuberantly, Major Holt told the guards to let me pass in some Indian friends, so I took my gang on a guided tour of the Platform.None of em had ever been inside before.And I heard you talking Indian, said Joe. You re gonna hear some more, said the Chief. We re the first war party of my tribe in longer n mygrandpa woulda thought respectable! [Pg 140]Joe found it difficult to restrain a smile.The Chief took him off to one side. Fella, he said kindly, it bothers you, this business, because it ain t organized.That s what this worldneeds, Joe.Everything figured out by slide rules an such it s civilized, but it ain t human! Whateverybody oughta be is a connoisseur of chaos, like me.Quit worryin an get outside and pick up thatsecurity guy the Major was gonna send to meet you! He gave Joe an amiable shove and rejoined his fellow Mohawks, each of whom, Joe noticed suddenly,had somewhere on his person a twelve-inch Stillson wrench or a reasonable facsimile to serve as asubstitute tomahawk.They grinned at him as he departed.At the bottom of the flight of narrow wooden steps there was a third security man.He greeted Joe. Major Holt told me to pick you up, he observed.Joe walked to one side with him.Major Holt had promised to send a first-class man to meet Joe at thisplace, with orders to take instructions from Joe [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]