" she said, "you are about to eat the first meal ever cooked
in a space ship--and like it!"

She served them and sat companionably down with them all. But her eyes
were very warm when she looked at Joe.

"Leavin' aside what we were arguin' about," said the Chief blissfully,
"Sally here--mind if I call you Sally, ma'am?--she says the slide-rule
guys have given our job the works and they say it's a better job than
they designed. Take a bow, Joe."

Sally said firmly: "When the technical journals are through talking
about the job you did, you'll all four be famous for precision-machining
technique and improvements on standard practices."

"Which," said the Chief sarcastically, "is gonna make us feel fine when
we're back to welding and stuff!"

"No more welding," Sally told him. "Not on this job. The Platform's
closed in. They've started to take down the scaffolding."

The Chief looked startled. Haney asked: "Laying off men yet?"

"Not you," Sally assured him. "Definitely not you. You four have the
very top super-special security rating there is! I think you're the only
four people in the world my father is sure can't be reached, somehow, to
make you harm the Platform."

Mike said abruptly: "Yeah. The Major thought he had headaches before.
Now he's really got 'em!"

Mike hadn't seemed to be listening. He'd acted as if he were feverishly
absorbing the feel of being inside the Platform--not as a workman
building it, but as a man whose proper habitat it would become. But Joe
suddenly realized that his comment was exact. There'd been plenty of
sabotage to prevent the Platform from reaching completion. But now it
was ready to take off in two days. If it was to be stopped, it would
have to be stopped within forty-eight hours by people with plenty of
resources, who for their own evil ends needed it to be stopped. These
last two days would contain the last-ditch, most desperate, most
completely ruthless stepped-up attempts at destruction that could
possibly be made. And Major Holt had to handle them.

But the four at table--five, with Sally--were peculiarly relaxed. The
matter they'd handled had been conspicuous, perhaps, but it was still
only one of thousands that had to be accomplished before the Platform
could take off. But they had the infinitely restful feeling of a job
well done.

"No more welding," said Haney meditatively, "and our job on the gyros
finished. What are we gonna do?"

The Chief said forcefully: "M