I think we can come to an agreement on the price." He saw Hugh's eyebrows lift slightly at this, but he continued on. "I want to be absolutely sure, however, that by the time we start construction there will be no misunderstanding between us regarding your needs—as I feel there is at the present time. To help clear this up I'd like to have you accompany us on a cruise aboard an H-62 for a few days, provided that is satisfactory to you."
"Live in bottom, o.k." the Ragalian technician said.
George nodded. "Right. We'll fix you a bunk right down on the floor next to the engine room!"
Mark criticized the whole procedure as a waste of time. He'd written off all hope of coming to terms with the Ragalians and their ridiculous specifications. 'The time could be better spent hunting new business. Hugh was pretty much of the same opinion, but he agreed to see through any salvage effort George wanted to make.
"We know why Monarch and Apex gave the job up," the Chief Engineer pointed out. "So we're not in the dark on that score. Now, if we can find a way either to make a suitable modification, or get Sleth Forander to back down on his specifications, we're in the chips! We've got nothing to lose by trying!"
"Well, how long is this trip going to take?" Mark Wilde wanted to know. "Sleth Forander is chomping at the bit. The Ragalians seemed to have gotten the idea that Earthmen are capable of pulling rabbits out of any old hat. They demand completion of this deal in eight months."
George stared. "With modifications? They're crazy!"
"Maybe we'd better just tell him to take his license and shop for spaceships elsewhere then, huh?"
"No—we could give him standard ships with the normal amount of modification in that time. There's something so completely smelly about this demand for modifications, that I want to track it down before throwing in the sponge. It just isn't rational."
"What do you want to do about it?" Hugh asked.
"Rig a special ship and take him out as I told him. Put in thermocouples to train on him automatically by electroencephalographic response. Remote pulse and respiration counters. Hemoglobin colorimeters. When we get him back on home ground again, we'll know something about why he doesn't like ships with the nose where the nose ought to be."
"I told you time was short. We can't afford to horse around with all that special rigging. If we finally do end up taking a contract we'll have to accept a time penalty that will break us. I say forget the whole thing. It was a wonderful dream—but only a dream."
"We may as well make a try. That's not costing us anything, at
