were trying to suppress a laugh. He almost succeeded. It came
out as a cough.

* * * * *

At the same time, Tarnhorst interrupted Alhamid. "You have made your
point, Mr. Alhamid," he said in a brittle voice. "Permit me to make
mine. I have come to discuss business with you. But, as a member of the
Congressional Committee for Industrial Welfare, I am also in search of
facts. Proper legislation requires facts, and legislation passed by the
Congress will depend to a great extent upon the report on my findings
here."

"I understand," said Alhamid. "I'll certainly be happy to provide you
with whatever data you want--with the exception of data on industrial
processes, of course. That's not mine to give. But anything else--" He
gestured with one hand, opening it palm upwards, as though dispensing a
gift.

"I'm not interested in industrial secrets," said Tarnhorst, somewhat
mollified. "It's a matter of the welfare of your workers. We feel that
we should do something to help. As you know, there have been protests
from the Worker's Union Safety Control Board and from the Workingman's
Compensation Insurance Corporation."

Alhamid nodded. "I know. The insurance company is complaining about the
high rate of claims for deaths. They've threatened to raise our premium
rates."

"Considering the expense, don't you, as a businessman, think that a fair
thing to do?"

"No," Alhamid said. "I have pointed out to them that the total amount of
the claims is far less per capita than, for instance, the Steel
Construction Workers' Union of Earth. Granted, there are more death
claims, but these are more than compensated for by the fact that the
claims for disability and hospitalization are almost negligible."

"That's another thing we don't understand," Tarnhorst said carefully.
"It appears that not only are the safety precautions insufficient, but
the post-accident care is ... er ... inefficient."

"I assure you that what post-accident care there is," Alhamid said, "is
quite efficient. But there is a high mortality rate because of the very
nature of the job. Do you know anything about anchor-placing, Mr.
Tarnhorst?"

"Very little," Tarnhorst admitted. "That is one of the things I am here
to get information on. You used the phrase 'what post-accident care
there is'--just how do you mean that?"

"Mr. Tarnhorst, when a man is out in space, completely surrounded by a
hard vacuum, _any_ accident is very lik