let you go away from
the Shed. I do not blame Joe at all."

But he did not look kindly. Joe wet his lips, ready to agree that any
disgrace he might be subjected to was justified, since he had caused
Sally to be shot at.

"I blame myself a great deal, sir," he said grimly. "But I can promise
I'll never take Sally away from safety again. Not until the Platform's
up and there's no more reason for her to be in danger."

The Major said remotely: "I shall have to arrange for more than that. I
shall put you in touch with your father by telephone. You will explain
to him, in detail, exactly how the repair of your apparatus is planned.
I understand that the gyros can be duplicated more quickly by the method
you have worked out?"

Joe said: "Yes, sir. The balancing of the gyros can, which was the
longest single job. But anything can be made quicker the second time.
The patterns for the castings are all made, and the bugs worked out of
the production process."

"You will explain that to your father," said the Major heavily. "Your
father's plant will begin to duplicate these--ah--pilot gyros at once.
Meanwhile your--ah--work crew will start to repair the one that is
here."

"Yes, sir."

"And," said the Major, "I am sending you to the pushpot airfield. I
intend to scatter the targets the saboteurs might aim at. You are one of
them. Your crew is another. From time to time you will confer with them
and verify their work. If any of them should be--disposed of, you will
be able to instruct others."

"It's really the other way about, sir," objected Joe. "The Chief and
Haney are pretty good, and Mike's got brains----"

The Major moved impatiently.

"I am looking at this from a security standpoint," he said. "I am trying
to make it plainly useless to attack the gyros again. Duplicates will be
in production at your father's plant. There will be three men repairing
the smashed ones. There will be another man in another place--and this
will be you--who can instruct new workmen in the repair procedure if
anything should happen. Thus there will have to be three separate
successful coups if the pilot gyros are not to be ready when the
Platform needs them. Saboteurs might try one. Possibly two. But I think
they will look for another weak spot to attack."

Joe did not like the idea of being moved away. He wanted to be on the
job repairing the device that was primarily his responsibility. Besides,
he had a feeling about Sally. If sh