Logan wasn't much over five feet tall, and his flight
suit made him look like a bald pussycat. His small physique covered a
fantastic set of reflexes, however, and Logan's sense of humor was a
quality of utmost importance. He hadn't an enemy in the world. His enemy
was out of this world by definition; Logan wanted to conquer space and,
so far, was doing just that.

"O.K., O.K. Laugh. Just remember this, Gargantua; I may not be tall, but
I sure am skinny." MacNamara smiled again, nodding agreement. "Well,
don't everybody talk at once. How is she, Mac?"

"With luck," answered MacNamara, "we might get ten feet off the turf."
He paused for effect. "Seriously, Carl, she never looked better. You
could take her up right now. Say, where's Johnny? I thought you'd just
be checking in to the medics; looks like everybody's early today."

"He's probably over in some corner, making out his will. He was down
below a while ago with a face a mile long."

_Probably_, thought Mac, _he's still thinking about the_ Wyld. _Why did
I have to bring that up?_ Aloud, he said, "I ought to check the ground
crew. Did you bring the forms?"

"Nope. Just my magnificent self. If anything had gone astray, they'd
have told you."

"All the same, I think I'll go down and question the troops. Don't leave
without me." He clambered out onto the catwalk, leaving the air lock
open. The sun was riding higher every minute. In a little over an hour,
he'd be a thousand miles away--vertically. The knot in his stomach began
to form again. He wasn't scared, exactly; he kept telling himself
"excited" was a nicer word.

The inspection forms signed, Mac held a short interrogation with the
crew chief. The grizzled lieutenant, commissioned because of his long
experience and responsibilities, gave _Valier_ a clean bill of health.
Each engine of the booster stage had been fired separately, before dawn.
A cubic foot of mercury seemed to roll from Mac's shoulders as he saw
Logan and Ruiz lounging at the bottom of the lift; there wasn't anything
to worry about. He recalled feeling the tension before the other three
flights, then chided himself. _Ya, ya, scared-y cat. Well, why not? It's
a helluva risk every time you make a shot, in spite of all the
propaganda. Hooey; if you didn't know everything's O.K., you wouldn't be
getting ready to make the shot. Yeah, but you never can tell_----He
stopped his inward battle and forced some spring into his step as he
moved toward Log