king out on the
whole plant, at oh-eight-hundred tomorrow."

"In violation of the Federal Labor Act, Section Eight, paragraphs four
and five," Melroy supplemented. "Crandall really has stuck his neck in
the guillotine. What's Washington doing?"

"President Hartley is ordering Navy personnel flown in from
Kennebunkport Reaction Lab; they will be here by about oh-three-hundred
tomorrow. And a couple of Federal mediators are coming in to La Guardia
at seventeen hundred; they're going to hold preliminary hearings at the
new Federal Building on Washington Square beginning twenty hundred. A
couple of I.F.A.W. negotiators are coming in from the national union
headquarters at Oak Ridge: they should be getting in about the same
time. You'd better be on hand, and have Dr. Rives there with you.
There's a good chance this thing may get cleared up in a day or so."

"I will undoubtedly be there, complete with Dr. Rives," Melroy replied.
"It will be a pleasure!"

* * * * *

An hour later, Ben Puryear called from the reactor area, his voice
strained with anger.

"Scott, do you know what those--" He gargled obscenities for a moment.
"You know what they've done? They've re-packed the Number One
Doernberg-Giardano; got a chain-reaction started again."

"Who?"

"Fred Hausinger's gang. Apparently at Harry Crandall's orders. The
excuse was that it would be unsafe to leave the reactor in its
dismantled condition during a prolonged shutdown--they were assuming, I
suppose, that the strike would be allowed to proceed unopposed--but of
course the real reason was that they wanted to get a chain-reaction
started to keep our people from working on the reactor."

"Well, didn't Hausinger try to stop them?"

"Not very hard. I asked him what he had that deputy marshal's badge on
his shirt and that Luger on his hip for, but he said he had orders not
to use force, for fear of prejudicing the mediators."

Melroy swore disgustedly. "All right. Gather up all our private papers,
and get Steve and Joe, and come on out. We only work here--when we're
able."

* * * * *

Doris Rives was waiting on the street level when Melroy reached the new
Federal Building, in what had formerly been the Greenwich Village
district of Manhattan, that evening. She had a heavy brief case with
her, which he took.

"I was afraid I'd keep you waiting," she said. "I came down from the
hotel by cab, and ther