cal ins and outs. All I know is, a
lot of things happened, and there wasn't any pattern to them at the
time. We just slogged through as best we were able, which wasn't
really very good. But I can identify one of those wriggling roots for
you, Sigurd. I was there when the question of arming the Stations
first came up. Or, rather, when the incident occurred that led
directly to the question being raised."

Our whole attention went to her. She didn't dwell on the past as often
as we would have liked.

A slow, private smile crossed her lips. She looked beyond us again.
"As a matter of fact," she murmured, "I got my husband out of it."
Then quickly, as if to keep from remembering too much:

"Do you care to hear the story? It was when the Sword was just getting
started. They'd established themselves on SSC 45--oh, never mind the
catalogue number. Sword Enterprises, because Mike Blades' name
suggested it--what kind of name could you get out of Jimmy Chung, even
if he was the senior partner? It'd sound too much like a collision
with a meteorite--so naturally the asteroid also came to be called the
Sword. They began on the borrowed shoestring that was usual in those
days. Of course, in the Belt a shoestring has to be mighty long, and
finances got stretched to the limit. The older men here will know how
much had to be done by hand, in mortal danger, because machines were
too expensive. But in spite of everything, they succeeded. The Station
was functional and they were ready to start business when--"

* * * * *

It was no coincidence that the Jupiter craft were arriving steadily
when the battleship came. Construction had been scheduled with this in
mind, that the Sword should be approaching conjunction with the king
planet, making direct shuttle service feasible, just as the chemical
plant went into service. We need not consider how much struggle and
heartbreak had gone into meeting that schedule. As for the battleship,
she appeared because the fact that a Station in just this orbit was
about to commence operations was news important enough to cross the
Solar System and push through many strata of bureaucracy. The heads of
the recently elected North American government became suddenly, fully
aware of what had been going on.

Michael Blades was outside, overseeing the installation of a receptor,
when his earplug buzzed. He thrust his chin against the tuning plate,
switching from gang to intero