Nick wanted the two thousand and he was against the wall for excuses. Then he had a happy thought. "Barrels is air-tight. You'd smother. Thing's im--impracac'l. We'll forget it." "I won't smother. I'm taking my own oxygen. Enough to last me clear to the Moon if it has to. Come on. Break down!" "Okay. For two grand. Got to have the dough now though." His heart singing, Joe Spain counted out two thousand in cash. When he'd finished he had exactly nine dollars left. He was a pauper. But the happiest pauper who ever bought with his whole fortune the thing he craved most. "You won't double-cross me now, will you? If you've got any ideas like that--" "I'll do like we said. Nick Sparks never went back on his word--never. But how you going to stay hid when it's time to leave work?" "Leave that to me. It'll be easy. They don't check Building B too close. No double check 'cause it's over a mile from Building A--outside the safety perimeter. I'll stay in tomorrow night and I'll put a little chalk-mark on the barrel I'm in--right near the top rim. First thing you do when you come to work the next morning is seal it and line it up with the filled ones." "Okay, but I gotta go home now. I got a head. I gotta get some sleep." * * * * * "What's in the duffel bag?" "Clean overalls--towel." Joe pulled the zipper down halfway. The guard fingered the blue denim but didn't dig deeper to find the towel. He checked Joe's badge number, made a note on his pad, and motioned to the next worker. Joe let tight breath slowly out of his lungs as he walked toward Building B. Getting past the guard was a load off his mind. He'd expected to get by, but it was one of the calculated risks that could have stopped him cold. Once inside the building, he put the bag into his locker and went to work. He labored briskly and carried more than his share of the load. But now and again he stopped to look over at the outline of Building A, limned hard against hot blazing sky. And each time it was with a sense of heady exhilaration that he thought of his destiny--his hard-earned, dearly bought destiny. To be among that select group who would first set foot upon the surface of the Moon! He had no worries about not being allowed to do so. Once he showed himself--with the ship far out in space--they'd have to accept him. Not graciously of course, but they'd have to admire his courage and tenacity. They could not, in all humanity, deny him a share of the victory. The day wore on and as quitting time approached, he became more tense--more alert. Five minutes before the whistle, he faded back into the building and hurried to the lavatory. He went into the booth furthest from the entrance and locked the door. Now there was nothing to do but wait. Another of the calculated risks.