ductions of a famous artist's
conception of other planets.

"This is nice," Rick said appreciatively.

"Best place I've seen since Callisto Connie's joint on Jupiter," Scotty
agreed whimsically.

A waiter, not much older than they were, wandered down the counter. He
was dressed in a loose tunic that glittered.

"Howdy, fellas," he greeted them.

Rick and Scotty "howdy'd" back.

The counter clerk eyed them with interest. "Haven't seen you in here
before."

"First time," Rick admitted. "Nice place."

"We like it. You from Scarlet Lake?"

The boys stiffened. "What gave you that idea?" Scotty asked quickly.

The waiter admired his fingernails. "Easy. You're not local folks and
you don't look like tourists. So, you came here to work. Maybe the
atomic test site, maybe Nellis, maybe Scarlet Lake. I said Scarlet Lake
because a lot of people from there come in to eat when they're in town.
Some of 'em here right now."

"Where?" Rick asked.

"At the tables over against the wall. What are you going to have?"

Neither boy wanted any more food at the moment, and said so. They agreed
on coffee.

"Here or at a table?"

"Table," Rick said. "Might as well move in with the people from Scarlet
Lake, starting now." He led the way across the room and picked out a
table next to two men in loud sports shirts. One man was big, nearly the
size of Dr. Zircon of the Spindrift staff. He had red hair and a curly
red beard. His eyes were dark and penetrating under bushy red eyebrows.
He looked the boys over with slow deliberation, as though memorizing
what they looked like.

The second man was big, too, although he didn't approach the redhead in
size. He was slightly over six feet, Rick guessed. He was
dark-complexioned and clean-shaven. His eyes, a light blue, were a
surprising contrast to his dark hair and heavily tanned skin.

The redhead leaned over as the boys sat down. "I haven't seen you kids
before. You from Scarlet Lake?"

"We hope to be," Rick replied civilly. "We've applied for jobs at Lomac,
but now we have to wait for a security check."

The redhead turned to his friend. "Catching 'em kind of young these
days, hey, Pancho?"

Pancho showed white teeth in a smile. "Looks like it."

"We can do a day's work," Scotty said shortly.

"Never doubted it for a minute." The redhead thrust out a massive paw.
"I'm Mac McCline. Big Mac, they call me. This here is Pancho Kelly."

The boys shook hands and gave their names.