“You made a bad error that cost us material and valuable time. I would’ve done the same to any of the girls who’d made such an egregious mistake.”

“Would you? I don’t think so. I’ve seen plenty of girls mess up. It’s always been the floor supervisor who pulled them aside and spoke to them quietly. I think… I think you meant to scare me. You meant to make me look bad. You meant to intimidate me.”

“Not my intent.” Nora crossed her arms defensively. “I meant to give you a stern warning. I hope you got the message.”

Mary wiped away a tear. “The message I got was that you’re cruel. Why are you being so cold? Didn’t those nights we shared together mean anything to you?”

“I’m trying to help us both keep our jobs. Can’t you see that? Because right now, we’re standing on the edge of a cliff.”

“What are you talking about?”

Nora rounded on her. “Do you remember Harold Thurber?”

“Who?”

“Harold Thurber. He was the first-shift floor supervisor in Beta-2. You were on his shift several weeks ago.”

“You mean the guy who disappeared after a week on the job?”

“Yes.”

“What about him?”

“Do you know why he disappeared?”

“I assume he wasn’t doing a good job.”

Nora shook her head. “He was doing a great job. In fact, he was shaping up to be the best floor supervisor we had.”

“Then, what happened to him?”

“His boss and the District Engineer—the big boss—determined that he was a sexual deviate.”

“A…?”

“Sexual deviate. He preferred other men to women.”

Mary’s hand flew to her mouth. “They fired him for that? That’s terrible.”

“That’s us if we don’t pull ourselves together and let go of this madness. I spent all those years in school and endured too much harassment from male classmates so that I could be taken seriously as a scientist. Here, in this place, I’m in a position of authority; I’m in a position to make a real contribution to the war effort. I cannot afford to take a chance on people thinking and talking about me as they did about poor Harold. He’s a fine man, and he’s finished now. I have no idea where, or how, he’ll find work. I’m sure he doesn’t, either. Well, that’s not going to be me.”

“What about me? What about how I feel and my life?” She jabbed at her chest. “You only care about yourself!”