the towering supply rockets
lifted.

He stopped, leaning against scaffolding as he saw a familiar figure turn
toward him. He cupped his hands before his face.

"Hey, douse that butt! Can't you ... oh, Mac!" The commanding voice
trailed off in a chuckle. Better to clown his way through the
inspection, MacNamara thought, than to let Ruiz notice his nervousness.
The co-pilot, Ruiz, walked toward him, still smiling. "One of these
days, boy, you gonna go too far. Thought you were a real, eighteen carat
saboteur." He clapped MacNamara on the shoulder and gazed aloft. "Good
day for it. No weather, no hangover, no nothing."

"Yeah. You know, Johnny, I've been thinking about a modification for our
breathing oxy." He sniffed appreciatively.

"What's that?"

"Put a little dust in it, a few smells. That stuff we breathe is just
too sanitary!"

"I know what you mean. I sure begin to crave this filthy, germ-filled
air after a few hours out there." They both smiled at the thought, then
turned to the business at hand.

"By the way, Johnny, what're you doing out so early? Didn't expect to
see you cabbies before ten."

"I donno," the bronzed Ruiz replied. "Went to bed early, woke up at six
and couldn't drop off again. And here I am. Carl ought to be along
around nine-thirty. Thought I'd help you preflight, if you want me to."

"Sure." He wanted nothing of the sort, but had the tact not to say so.

Edward MacNamara was as familiar with the _Valier_ as he was with the
tip of his nose. He had been on the scene when Dan Burke test-hopped the
third stage, had made improvements and re-routing jobs, and had
memorized every serial number of every bearing that went into _Valier_.
As Flight Engineer, he was supposed to.

With Johnny Ruiz helping a little and hindering a little, he finished
his tour of the cargo sections and grinned his approval to a muscular
loading technician. "They can button her up, sergeant. I couldn't do a
better job myself." It was a compliment of the highest order, and they
both knew it.

Riding the tiny lift down to ground level, MacNamara stopped them every
ten feet or so to circle the catwalks. He noticed Ruiz's impatience
about halfway down. "No hurry, Johnny. I don't want another _Wyld_ on
our hands." He knew he shouldn't have said it, but it slipped out
anyway. Everyone tried to forget the _Wyld_ disaster, particularly the
flight personnel. The _Wyld_, one of the first ships to be built, had
made only