arle wants everyone out
front. Staff meeting."

Rick and Dr. Bond hurriedly disconnected soldering irons and went out to
the main shed.

The Pegasus staff was gathering around Dr. Gordon, who was using a large
packing case for a podium. Rick saw the section chiefs conversing in low
tones next to Gordon's perch, and his heart pounded. Had the Earthman
appeared again?

Then, as the staff finally collected and Dr. Gordon began, Rick relaxed
a little. This wasn't about the Earthman, apparently.

"We are about to make a major schedule change," Gordon began. "However,
until we consult with the Pegasus group, we will not know if the change
is feasible.

"The Cetus group has run into a major roadblock. One essential piece of
apparatus cannot be delivered on schedule, because of trouble at the
factory where it's being made. In all probability Cetus will be held up
about three weeks. Now, as some of you know, the Cetus staff had already
begun work at the pad, and in the blockhouse. The question is, does
Pegasus wish to take over the Cetus schedule?"

Gordon held up his hand as a murmur swept the Pegasus crew. "This does
not mean you must shoot on their firing date. It merely means that you
must be out of the way by the time they are ready to move in again. If
you can, we will switch the schedule around and put you next. If you
can't, it will only mean that your firing date must be delayed. It's up
to you--specifically, it's up to your chiefs. However, we wanted you all
to know about Cetus just to spike any wild rumors that might get
started. The delay is not due to anything but a factory failure to
deliver."

Dr. Gordon yielded his improvised speaker's stand to Dr. Howard Bernais,
the project technical director. Dr. Bernais was administrative and
technical head of the entire project. Presumably he met with the section
chiefs fairly often, but he had an office near John Gordon in the main
administrative building and seldom came to the project.

The technical director was a gray-haired, gaunt, bespectacled man who
surveyed the staff through thick lenses. His voice filled the great
shed, not that he spoke loudly, but because he had that indefinable
something known as "command presence." Rick was impressed.

"We sometimes forget, we technical people, that we live in a democracy,"
Dr. Bernais began. "We're so used to taking orders that when someone
offers us a free choice we're rather surprised. However, when John
Gordon s