"I just got outta--Listen, I can't take it so good any more, see?" "Don't worry. We aren't going to have any games this morning. Come on, let's go." When Sornal started talking, the flow of words was almost continuous. He had come to Kellonia almost four years before, on a standard one-year contract. For over twenty years, he'd moved around, working in space-yards over the galaxy. He'd worked on short contracts, banking his profits on his home planet. And he'd planned to finally return to his original home on Thorwald, use his considerable savings to buy a small business, and settle down to semi-retirement. But an offer of highly attractive rates had brought him to Kellonia for one last contract with Janzel. "They got my papers somewhere around here," he said, "only I can't get 'em back any more." He shook his head wearily and went on. Everything had gone smoothly for the first half of his contract period. He'd drawn impressively large checks and deposited them. And after thinking it over, he had indicated he would like an extension. "That was when they nailed me down," he said. "There was just that one bad run, only that was the job that sneaked through the inspection and went bust at Proof." "Blowup?" Sornal grinned sourly. "Blowup, you want to know? Even took out one of the tractor supports. Real mess. Oh, you think they weren't mad about that!" "You say there was just one bad run? Then everything came out normally again?" "Yeah. I ran a check, see? Test sample was perfect Beautiful. So then the power went off for a while. Crew was working around. Well, they found the trouble and cleared it, just before lunch time. I went ahead and finished my run. It was only ten gyro assemblies--control job. "I don't know--guess they were out of balance. Maybe the shaft alloys came out wrong. Anyway, I finished the run and went for chow. Came back and set up a new run." He stared into his cup. "Along about quitting time, they came after me. Mister, I don't like to think of that! I been beat up a lot since, but them's just little reminders. Those guys really enjoyed their work!" Sornal shuddered and set his cup down. Finally, he sighed and continued. He had left the hospital, muttering grim threats of the legal action he would take. And he'd limped over to file a complaint at the Federation Residency. "I didn't get there. Next thing I knew, I was in some cell." He looked up at Stan. "Now I know where I see you. You're in that van, going out of some jail." "Yeah." Stan nodded, looking at his own empty cup. "Tell me something," he said slowly. "When that maintenance crew was working around your machine, did they have a gravito clamp!" "Clamp? Yeah ... yeah, I suppose they might have. Use 'em a lot around here when they've got heavy stuff, and those guys had a lot of stuff to move." "I see. Wonder if the field head got pointed at your machine?" "I don't think ... I dunno, I didn't watch 'em close." Sornal looked sharply at Stan.