all your bureaucrat friends will have a chance
to give me an O.K. on this test. But I warn you, brother--_I'm going to
take that ship up!_"

* * * * *

Feldstein's jaw muscles had tightened at Porter's tone when he began,
but he had relaxed by the time the millionaire had finished, and was
even managing to look smugly tolerant. Elshawe had thumbed the button on
his minirecorder when the conversation had begun, and he was chuckling
mentally at the thought of what was going down on the thin,
magnetite-impregnated, plastic thread that was hissing past the
recording head.

Feldstein said: "Mr. Porter, we came here to remind you of the law,
nothing more. If you intend to abide by the law, fine and dandy. If not,
you'll go back to prison.

"That ship is not airworthy, and--"

"How do you know it isn't?" Porter roared.

"By inspection, Mr. Porter; by inspection." Feldstein looked
exasperated. "We have certain standards to go by, and an aircraft
without wings or control surfaces simply doesn't come up to those
standards, that's all. Even a rocket has to have stabilizing fins." He
paused and zipped open his briefcase.

"In view of your attitude," he said, pulling out a paper, "I'm afraid I
shall have to take official steps. This is to notify you that the
aircraft in question has been inspected and found to be not airworthy.
Since--"

"Wait a minute!" Porter snapped. "Who are you to say so? How would you
know?"

"I happen to be an officer of the CAA," said Feldstein, obviously trying
to control his temper. "I also happen to be a graduate aeronautical
engineer. If you wish, I will give the ... the ... aircraft a thorough
inspection, inside and out, and--"

"Oh, no!" said Porter. His voice and his manner had suddenly become very
gentle. "I don't think that would do much good, do you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that you'd condemn the ship, no matter what you found inside.
You couldn't O.K. a ship without airfoils, could you?"

"Of course not," said Feldstein, "that's obvious, in the face of--"

"All right, then give me the notification and forget the rest of the
inspection." Porter held out his hand.

Feldstein hesitated. "Well, now, without a complete inspection--"

Again Porter interrupted. "You're not going to get a complete
inspection, Buster," he said with a wolfish grin. "Either serve that
paper or get off my back."

Feldstein slammed the paper into Porter's hand. "Tha