m
as if he were a person, not merely a Junior E. When he turned away from
them to greet the three Juniors, who, along with himself, ranked the
club-room privileges, he became certain of his impressions. Their faces
were frankly envious.

Eden was to be his problem!

He'd hoped for it. Even half expected it. Yet all the way through his
shower, dressing, coming down the elevator from his apartment, he'd been
nagged with the fear he might not be considered; that the grief of Linda
and her rise above it would lead only to anticlimax. By the time he'd
got to the club-room door, followed by his orderly, he had already
conditioned himself to disappointment.

Now he subdued his elation while he told his orderly what he wanted for
breakfast.

"You fellows join me in something?" he asked both Juniors and Seniors.

"A second cup of coffee," Wong agreed.

"A second bourbon," old McGinnis said drily.

The Juniors shook their heads negatively. Yesterday they had been his
constant companions, only a few degrees below him in accomplishment,
pushing rapidly to become his equal competitors for the next solo.
Today, this morning, there was already a gap between them and him, a
chasm they would make no move to bridge until they had earned the
right. They seated themselves at another table, apart.

"Of course we haven't asked you if you want this Eden problem," McGinnis
commented while orderlies placed food and drink in front of them. "We
ought to ask him, hadn't we, Wong?"

"First I should ask if either of you want it?" Cal said quickly. "Or
perhaps Malinkoff, if he shows up."

"Malinkoff is too deep in something to come to the briefing," Wong said.

"Wong and I came only to help on your first solo, if we can," McGinnis
said. "Always think a young fellow needs a little send-off. I remember,
about fifty years ago, more or less ..."

"Worst thing to guard against," Wong interrupted, "is disappointment.
This whole thing might add up to nothing. Might not turn out to be a
genuine solo at all, just something any errand boy could do. In that
case it wouldn't qualify you. You know that."

"Sure," Cal said. Naturally the problem would have to give real
challenge. You didn't just go out and knock a home run to become an E.
You tackled something outside the normal frame of reference, something
that required original thinking, the E kind of thinking. You brought it
off successfully. A given number of Seniors reviewed what you'd done.