bly," he said. "Name is Amenth. He didn't even read the traveler.
Just looked at the attached detail print and decided to miter the
edges, then reverse the flange with a weld." He threw the completed
part on Vogel's desk. "Go ahead, check those tolerances," he said
whitely. "Right on the money."

Vogel walked over to a calculator and figured. There was a dreamy
expression in his eyes. He said softly, "All fabrication in our own
shop. A net saving of 93 cents per unit, or eight hundred dollars
total. I believe you planned this item, Charlie."

Vogel fired him.

That same afternoon Amenth came into the office on Vogel's order.
"Sir?"

"Don't you know how to read a traveler?" Vogel asked sternly.

"It was a lucky accident." Amenth looked terrified. "I just read the
print--"

"And did what seemed logical." Statement, then a very quiet question.
"What happened to your accent?"

The little man looked blank.

Vogel took a slow deep breath. "I've got a material planning job
open," he said tightly. "Three-fifty to start. Interested?"

For a moment he thought Amenth would lick his hand.

The little man took to planning sheets like a duck to water. He pored
feverishly over blueprints, turning out travelers in a steady flood.

Vogel watched him. He went over to Personnel, requested Amenth's
employment application, read it and scowled. It was a masterpiece of
anonymity. Birthplace: New York. Former Occupation: Laborer. Hobbies:
None. He memorized Amenth's address and returned the application.

Vogel always ate lunch in the office with his expediters. That noon
two of them got into an argument about the planets.

"I say there is life on Mars," Pete Stone insisted stubbornly. "When
the polar ice cap melts, the water runs along the canals and traces of
green from growing vegetation can be spotted."

"Which proves nothing," Harvey Lamb yawned. Lamb was chief expediter.
"Man couldn't live there, anyway. There's not enough oxygen."

"You would be amazed," Amenth said quietly, "at the adaptability of
Man."

Vogel set down his thermos and leaned forward. "You mean Martians, for
instance, could live here, assuming they existed and had spaceships?"

Amenth's smile was infinitely bitter. "Until they'd go mad."

The talk turned to baseball. Vogel lit his pipe and gave Amenth a
surreptitious glance. The little man slumped in the corner, bleak and
withdrawn.

This was delicious.

* * * * *