e-Gee looked at him in astonishment, then slowly grinned. He thrust
out a grimy hand. "You're my boy, young Brant. Who taught you about
polarization?"

Rick was about to say, truthfully, "My father." But he caught himself in
time. "A boss I had at Spindrift."

"He taught you well, and you're right. I did goof on that one. I'll
check, and you recheck."

They went at it again, inch by inch through the incredible maze of
wiring in the rocket's innards. By very accurate analogy, they were
probing the rocket's brains. The circuits, like nerves, carried messages
to and from the central rocket control. One would signal "_Rocket
starting to yaw_," and another would reply to the servomotors that
activated the gimbal-mounted motor, "_Compensate! Two degrees correction
azimuth 350!_" and the great rocket would steady on course again. There
was a circuit to carry the heartbeats of the monkey caged in the nose
cone, and another to carry his skin temperature, and dozens more.

Rick didn't even notice when it grew dark. Sometime during the night
someone thrust ham sandwiches and a cup of steaming coffee into his
hands and he ate and drank without taking his eyes from Gee-Gee.

Then, what seemed only minutes later, someone yelled, "Zero minus three
hours!"

Gee-Gee looked up. He glared at Rick from red-rimmed eyes. "Quick!
What's left to check?"

Rick stared at smudged, much-handled circuit diagrams through eyes that
refused to focus sharply. "Only the control circuit for the pumps."

They were low on the crane now, working at the last access port. These
were the electronic nerves of the great pumps that would force fuel into
the rocket motor. Gee-Gee checked them, spoke into a walkie-talkie he
had carried through the night, and Dick Earle's voice came back from the
blockhouse. "The board is green."

Rick took over and checked again. And once more Earle's voice sounded,
harsh and definite. "The board is green."

Gee-Gee slammed the access port door and locked the patented fasteners
with a few turns of his screw driver. "We're done," he said flatly.
"Come on down."

Rick followed, jumping to the ground from the lowest platform. He looked
around, dazed. The sky was pink in the east. It was dawn. Where had the
night gone? He stared amazed at grotesque figures that waited, silent,
patient, like beings from another world. Then he realized it was the
fueling crew dressed in protective clothing, swathed like strange
cocoons in p