"Grrrr," growled Channing. "That name is never mentioned in this household."
"You haven't a pix of the old bird turned to the wall, have you?" asked Arden.
"I tossed it out."
"We'll drink to that." They drained glasses. "And we'll have another!"
"I need another," said Channing. "Can you imagine that buzzard asking me to invent something big in seven days?"
"Sure. By the same reasoning that he uses to send a letter from Equilateral Station instead of just slipping it in on the Terra beam. Faulty."
"Phony."
The door opened abruptly and Walt Franks entered. "D'ja hear the latest?" he asked breathlessly.
"No," said Channing. He was reaching for another glass automatically. He poured, and Walt watched the amber fluid creep up the glass, led by a sheet of white foam.
"Then look!" Walt handed Channing an official envelope. It was a regular notice to the effect that there had been eleven failures of service through Venus Equilateral.