Why?

With a thrill of unfocused apprehension, Helmuth looked at the foreman's jack, which allowed the operator here in the cubicle to communicate with the gang when necessary, and which kept him aware of anything said or done on the gang boards.

It was plugged in.

Dillon sighed suddenly, took the helmet off,' and turned.

"Hello, Bob," he said. "It's funny about this job. You can't see, you can't hear, but when somebody's watching you, you feel a sort of pressure on the back of your neck. Extrasensory perception, maybe. Ever felt it?"

"Pretty often, lately. Why the grand tour, Charity?"

"There's to be an inspection," Dillon said. His eyes met Helmuth's. They were frank and transparent. "A couple of Senate subcommittee chairmen, coming to see that their eight billion dollars isn't being wasted. Naturally, I'm a little anxious to see to it that they find everything in order."

"I see," Helmuth said. "First time in five years, isn't it?"

"Just about. What was that dustup down below just now? Somebody, you, I'm sure, from the drastic handiwork involved, bailed Eva out of a mess, and then I heard her talk about your wanting to blow up the Bridge I checked the area when I heard the fracas start, and it did seem as if she had let things go rather far, but. What was it all about?"

Dillon ordinarily hadn't the guile for cat-and-mouse games, and he had never looked less guileful than now. Helmuth said carefully: "Eva was upset, I suppose. On the subject of Jupiter we're all of us cracked by now, in our different ways. The' way she was dealing with the catalysis didn't look to me to be a suitable difference of opinion, resolved in my favor because I had the authority. Eva didn't. That's all."

"Kind of an expensive difference, Bob. I'm not nigeling by nature, you know that. But an incident like that while the subcommittees are here"

"The point is," said Helmuth, "are we going to spend, an extra ten thousand, or whatever it costs to replace a truss and reinforce a caisson, or are we to lose the whole caisson and as much as a third of the whole Bridge along with it?"

"Yes, you're right there, of course. That could be explained even to a pack of senators. But it would be difficult to have to explain it very often. Well, the board's yours, Bob; you could continue my spot-check, if you've time."

Dillon got up. Then he added suddenly, as though it were forced out of him:

"Bob, I'm trying to understand your state of mind. From what Eva said, I gather that you've made it fairly public. I ... I don't think it's a good idea to infect your fellow workers with your own pessimism. It leads to sloppy work. I know. I know that you won't countenance sloppy work, regardless of your own feelings, but one foreman can do only so much. And you're making extra work for yourself not for me, but for yourself by being openly gloomy about the Bridge.