Willy spent the next minute trying to turn inside out. He finally squeaked. "I can't, Sam." "Why not, Willy?" It was my turn to be silent for a minute. It seemed a lot longer. I said, "I think you better tell me all about it, Willy." He did. I went back to the recreation room. The trideo was on and some narrator's voice was explaining and showing the course of the ship on a chart, and just where it would go. The ship was still unaccountably out of control. The plotted course showed that it would intercept Mars. And a map of Mars showed precisely where the ship would strike the surface. Of all the barren areas on Mars where the ship could strike and do a little less surface damage, it was headed instead straight for the only densely populated, industrial area. I looked at Goil and saw that his morale could be trod on. He probably already had computed his own monetary loss as well as the company losses. But he wasn't saying a word. He was keeping his misery to himself. Let him stew until morning, I thought. By then he should be ripe for the little package I was planning to hand him. * * * * * By morning, the confidence that I had the night before had pretty much dissipated. Nevertheless, I followed Goil from the dining hall to his quarters, giving him only time to complete any personal necessities before knocking on his door. Some of my confidence returned when I entered the room. He looked as if he hadn't slept any at all. The impending doom of his Mars holdings had apparently dwelt with him most intimately the past night. Goil said, "What's on your mind, Mr. Weston?" "I had a talk with Willy last night. He wants to tell you everything." Goil brightened slightly. "Fine," he said. "I've taken the liberty of asking him to come here," I said. Goil nodded. This was a good chance for me to needle him a little more, so I said, "The news reports are not good this morning. That freighter will have to be abandoned sometime this evening if they don't get it off the course it's on now." Goil dimmed again. He said, "I heard the news." "There is no way they can jettison that cargo either. Strange, isn't it. Of all the other points in and around space, that ship has got to pick Mars to smack into, and the only densely populated part of Mars at that. Fate, I guess." "Not so strange," said Goil. "It was enroute to Mars." "Sure," I said, "but a course usually includes a series of corrections for a haul like that." Goil said, "No navigator-computer combination is good enough to plan a one-shot course like that. It's just an unfortunate coincidence that the industrial area is to be hit." And those last words were just what I wanted to hear from him. Willy knocked on the door and entered at Goil's request. Willy's face was long, and the few steps that carried him into the room seemed to draw on his last reserves of energy. He seemed a little grateful when Goil bade him be seated.