r explosions--defiant gesture,
thought Beardsley!--before silence engulfed the room together with a
drift of acrid smoke.

It was acrid and _angry_ smoke. From a safe distance Beardsley adjusted
his glasses and observed the frantic, scurrying techs, many of them
nursing burned hands. Aside from a pounding heart he was amazed at his
own calm; nevertheless, he tread with caution as he approached Arnold,
who was on his haunches dolefully surveying the area of major damage.

"Uh--is it something serious?"

Arnold glared up at him. "Overload on the feed-backs. If that's _all_ it
is, we can pull out the unit and replace it in a few hours."

"Never happened before, eh?"

"Not like this," Arnold groaned. "Lord--it just seemed to go berserk!"

Beardsley glanced around nervously. "You see? You see? I didn't think
our beautiful friendship could last...."

Arnold snarled, "Get out, Beardsley! What the hell you doing here
anyway? Go somewhere and read a book!"

"Yes. Yes, I--" Beardsley swallowed hastily. He then straightened, took
a last look around and pulled himself together. Without a word, he
turned and strode resolutely into Jeff Arnold's office; he closed the
door carefully, then hurried over to the stat and pushed the button for
priority.

"Hello," he said. "Mandleco's office? ... this is Mechanical Division ...
no, I want _Mandleco_ ... I don't care, get him I said! This is emergency!
Put him on at once!"

* * * * *

Mandleco arrived twenty minutes later. The Minister of Justice was tall
and raw-boned with a long hook-nose, a shock of whitening hair, and more
than a suggestion of military arrogance. He paused for precisely one
second in the doorway, then strode straight over to Jeff Arnold. Before
saying a word he bent slightly and peered into the maze of mechanism.

Beardsley wanted to say, "Do you find the cause of the trouble, sir?"
But he held his tongue.

Mandleco straightened up, glaring. "Arnold, what is the meaning of
this?"

"Breakdown, sir."

"I can see that! The cause, man, the cause!"

"I--it's only the feed-back, sir." Arnold struggled with the terminals,
most of which were a fused and tangled mess. "Not as bad as it looks, I
assure you. I've already contacted Maintenance; they're sending up a new
unit."

"What precisely does that mean? Can you complete the run or not! This
has got to go through today!"

Arnold touched a hot terminal, jerked back his hand a