McPherson can still remember perfectly the mistake that got him stuck with this. He was down in LSR’s executive restaurant, walking in with Art Wong, and in response to something Art said, without pausing to think (or look around), he said, “I’m damned glad I don’t have the job you guys do. The whole ballistic defense program is nothing but a black hole for money and effort if you ask me.” And then he turned around and there was Stewart Lemon, standing right there and glaring at him.

And so now he’s assigned to Ball Lightning. Lemon never forgets.

Dan is ready to quit for the day, and he’s about to go with some of his crew to the El Torito just down the road. He wants McPherson to come along and join them for margaritas, and McPherson hides his irritation and agrees to it. On the short drive over he calls Lucy to let her know he’ll be home late, and then ascends the office complex’s maze of exterior staircases to the restaurant on the top floor. Fine view of the Muddy Canyon condos, and in the other direction, the sea.

Dan and Art Wong and Jerry Heimat are already there at a window table, and the pitcher of margaritas is on its way. McPherson sits and starts in on the chips and salsa with them. They’re talking shop. Executives at Grumman and Teledyne have been indicted for taking kickbacks from subcontractors. “That’s why they call the Grumman SAM the ‘Kicker,’ I guess,” says Dan. This gets them on the topic of missiles, and as the pitcher of margaritas arrives and is quickly disposed of, they discuss the latest performances in the war in Indonesia. It seems a General Dynamic antitank missile has gotten nicknamed “the Boomerang” for persistent problems with guidance software or vane hinges, no one is quite sure yet. But they just keep on flying in curved trajectories, a weird problem indeed. No one wants to use these devices, but they’re ordered to anyway because the Marines have huge quantities of them and won’t acknowledge that the problems have gotten above an acceptable percentage. So soldiers in the field have taken to firing their GDs ninety degrees off to the side of the target tanks … or so the gossip mill says. No doubt it’s a pack of lies, but no one likes GD so it makes for a good story.