t the opportunity. He pulled her by
the hands to where she was leaning out the opened canopy, then he
stooped and grabbed her under the arms and swung her up. For a moment
her soft hair brushed his ear, and a light scent from her neck suggested
he keep her pliant form close to him a little longer than necessary.

[Illustration]

He planted her next to the steps, and she muttered an uninspired thank
you. But halfway down, she halted and turned.

"It's much easier asking me out dancing, Grant," she smiled impishly,
and clacked across the hangar floor toward the jeep.

* * * * *

By the next morning arrangements for a small staff and office space had
swiftly gone through. Working through lunch, Bridget had the office set
up and the staff briefed and researching when Grant returned from dining
with the general.

"You're just in time," she said, looking up from an already cluttered
desk. "I'm ready now to scan through any G-2 you have on atomjet
operation in your Mojave files."

Grant bristled. "These files are under the general's nose, and I don't
think he'd appreciate--" He broke off when he observed Bridget tapping
her pencil and frowning at him impatiently.

With a degree of diplomacy he had to admire, Grant lifted the
non-technical files from the general's office and furtively smuggled
them out in his brief case.

"Don't take all day," he warned, handing them to Bridget. "Part of my
job is keeping the general neutral about you, and not against."

Bridget jumped up and drew another chair up to her desk. "How about
scanning with me? That'll get the files back faster. Here, take these on
pilot training."

The files repulsed him less than Bridget attracted him, and he sat down
promptly. "And what do I look for, psychologically significant portions,
is that it?"

"Even psychologically insignificant portions, major, if you please."

Grant began to read. As he scanned the copies of directives, reports,
operations logs, and procedures the process became automatic, and part
of his consciousness turned contemplative.

Three months ago he would have considered the situation in which he now
found himself a future development out of the question. Mojave had
brimmed with optimism and pride and accomplishment and eagerness. Base
Mojave loomed vital in national defense, constituted a main element of
national scientific pride.

From the dusty desert stretches the sprawling, efficient bas