at Careless Mesa?"

"Not the slightest."

"Neither do I. Maybe we'd better have a look."

That was fine with Rick. "When?"

"How about tomorrow?"

"I'll have to check. Suppose I wander over to the project? If Dick Earle
is there, I can sound him out."

"Okay, and I'll check with my people."

The boys parted, and Rick walked to the Pegasus shed. Dick Earle and Dr.
Bond were in the cubicle where the project paper work was done. The
marmoset was with them, perched on top of the file safe. As Rick
entered, the little spacemonk jumped to his shoulder and caressed his
cheek.

"Come in, Rick," Dr. Bond said. "We're just having a gloom session."

"Gloom? What about?" Rick petted the marmoset, then put him back on his
file-safe perch. "Is something wrong?"

"Transistors," Dick Earle stated flatly. "No transistors left on the
base. That means we come to a grinding halt until we get supplies."

"The whole project?" Rick asked in astonishment. He hadn't realized a
few parts would mean so much.

"Not all of it. Just our part. The air frame and propulsion people can
keep on, because they don't use the gadgets. But we'll be tied up for a
few days until a supply can get here."

Dr. Bond added, "An order has been placed, Rick. By telephone. But the
supplier can't possibly make delivery until after the Orion shoot."

Dick Earle nodded. "Correct. So you might as well plan to loaf for a day
or so, Rick."

The trip to Careless Mesa would be no problem now, Rick thought. He
wouldn't even need to ask permission.

"Strange that anyone would steal a whole supply of transistors," he
commented.

Dick Earle shook his head. "Not particularly. The transistor is still a
critical item in electronics and production isn't up to demand,
especially for special designs. That means the stolen transistors can be
sold fairly easily, once the proper channels to get them into the market
are found."

"What kind of channels?" Rick asked.

Earle shrugged. "Anything to hide the fact that the transistors are
stolen stock. The Earthman could make a deal with some jobber who
handles electronic materials, and feed the transistors into regular
trade channels through the jobber."

"But aren't they numbered, or trade-marked, or something like that?"

"Numbers and trade-marks can be changed," Dr. Bond reminded him.

As Rick walked back to his barracks he pondered over the meaning of the
day's development. For one thing, theft of the transistors