The controller said: "She'll stay home. What about yourself?"
"Me? Strictly bachelor."
Groating laughed. "Unfortunate, but excellent for tonight. Come, let's hurry."
We took the pneumatic to headquarters and let me tell you, stuff began to fly, but high! Before we were there ten minutes, three companies were reported ready for duty. It seemed to satisfy the controller, but it didn't satisfy me. I said: "Three's not enough. Make it five."
"Five hundred men? You're mad."
I said: "I wish it could be five thousand. Look, we've knocked our brains out digging through a thousand years for this clue. Now that we've got it I don't want us to muff the chance."
The C-S said: "Make it five."
"But I don't think we've got that many unmarried men in the service."
"Then get all you can. Get enough so they can stand close together in the cordon—close enough so no one can wander through. Look—this isn't a case of us hunting down a crook who knows we're after him. We're trying to pick up a couple who are perfectly innocent—who may wander through the cordon. We're trying to prevent an accident, not a crime."