y had never
noticed it before. "Ah, yes," Granby said, turning back. "Well, that's
about all there is to it." He looked at his partner. "It's obvious that
there's no violation here, eh, Feldstein?"

"Quite," said Feldstein in a staccato voice.

"Violation?" Porter asked. "What violation?"

"Well, nothing, really," Granby said, deprecatingly. "Just routine, as I
said. People have been known to buy aircraft as scrap and then repair
them and re-outfit them."

"Is that illegal?" Porter asked.

"No, no," said Granby hastily. "Of course not. But any ship so
re-outfitted and repaired must pass CAA inspection before it can leave
the ground, you understand. So we keep an eye on such transactions to
make sure that the law isn't violated."

"After three years?" Porter asked blandly.

"Well ... ah ... well ... you know how it is," Granby said nervously.
"These things take time. Sometimes ... due to ... clerical error, we
overlook a case now and then." He glanced at his partner, then quickly
looked back at Porter.

"As a matter of fact, Mr. Porter," Feldstein said in a flat, cold voice,
"in view of your record, we felt that the investigation at this time was
advisable. You bought a scrap missile and used it illegally. You can
hardly blame us for looking into this matter."

"No," said Porter. He had transferred his level gaze to the taller of
the two men, since it had suddenly become evident that Feldstein, not
Granby, was the stronger of the two.

"However," Feldstein went on, "I'm glad to see that we have no cause for
alarm. You're obviously not fitting that up as an aircraft. By the
way--just out of curiosity--what _are_ you doing with it?" He turned
around to look at the big fuselage again.

Porter sighed. "I had intended to hold off on this for a few days, but I
might as well let the cat out now. I intend to take off in that ship
this week end."

* * * * *

Granby's eyes opened wide, and Feldstein spun around as though someone
had jabbed him with a needle. "_What?_"

Porter simply repeated what he had said. "I had intended to make
application to the Space Force for permission to test it," he added.

Feldstein looked at him blankly for a moment.

Then: "The _Space_ Force? Mr. Porter, civilian aircraft come under the
jurisdiction of the CAA."

"How's he going to fly it?" Granby asked. "No engines, no wings, no
control surfaces. It's silly."

"Rocket motors in the rear, of cour