"Those slides," he continued. "Ganymede's only about the size of
Mercury, something like 3200 miles in diameter, so things get heaped up
at steep angles. When the rock and ice are set to sliding, they come
at you practically horizontally. It doesn't need much start, and it
barrels on for a long way before there's enough friction to stop it. If
you're in the way--well, it's just too bad!"
_Say, that's pretty good!_ he told himself. _What a liar you are,
Tolliver!_
He enlarged upon other dangers to be encountered on the satellite,
taking care to impress the newcomer with the daredeviltry of John
Tolliver, driver of "missions" across the menacing wastes between dome
and port.
In the end, he displayed conclusive evidence in the form of the weekly
paycheck he had received that morning. It did not, naturally, indicate
he was drawing the salary of a space pilot. Betty looked thoughtful.
"I'm retiring in six months if I'm still alive," he said bravely,
edging the tractor into the airlock at their destination. "Made my
pile. No use pushing your luck too far."
His charge seemed noticeably subdued, but cleared her throat to request
that Tolliver guide her to the office of the manager. She trailed along
as if with a burden of worry upon her mind, and the pilot's conscience
prickled.
_I'll get hold of her after Jeffers is through and set her straight_,
he resolved. _It isn't really funny if the sucker is too ignorant to
know better._
* * * * *
Remembering his grudge against the manager, he took pleasure in walking
in without knocking.
"Jeffers," he announced, "this is ... just call her Betty."
The manager's jowled features twisted into an expression of welcome as
jovial as that of a hungry crocodile.
"Miss Koslow!" he beamed, like a politician the day before the voting.
"It certainly is an honor to have you on Ganymede with us! That's all,
Tolliver, you can go. Yes, indeed! Mr. Koslow--the president, that is:
your father--sent a message about you. I repeat, it will be an honor to
show you the ropes. Did you want something else, Tolliver?"
"Never mind him, Mr. Jeffers," snapped the girl, in a tone new to
Tolliver. "We won't be working together, I'm afraid. You've already had
enough rope."
Jeffers seemed to stagger standing still behind his desk. His loose
lips twitched uncertainly, and he looked questioningly to Tolliver. The
pilot stared at Betty, trying to recall pictures he had seen of the
elder Koslow. He was also trying to remember some of the lies he had
told en route from the spaceport.
"Wh-wh-what do you mean, Miss Koslow?" Jeffers stammered.
He darted a suspicious glare at Tolliver.
"Mr. Jeffers," said the girl, "I may look like just another spoiled
little blonde, but the best part of this company will be mine someday.
I was not allowed to reach twenty-two without learning something about
holding on to it."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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