“He’s psychotic. He can’t be trusted with normal people.”
Sheffield said, grimly, “I’ll thank you not to use the word, ‘psychotic.’ You are not competent to use it. If you’re so precise in your feeling for professional ethics, remember to stay out of my specialty in my presence. Mark Annuncio is perfectly normal.”
“After that scene with Rodriguez? Yes. Oh, yes.”
“Mark had the right to ask his question. It was his job to do so and his duly. Rodriguez had no right to be boorish about it.”
“I’ll have to consider Rodriguez first, if you don’t mind.”
“Why? Mark Annuncio knows more than Rodriguez. For that matter, he knows more than you or I. Are you trying to bring back an intelligent report or to satisfy a petty vanity?”
“Your statements about what your boy knows do not impress me. I am quite aware he is an efficient parrot. He understands nothing, however. It is my duty to see to it that data are made available to him, because the Bureau has ordered that. They did not consult me, but very well. I will co-operate that far. He will receive his data here in the ship.”
Sheffield said, “Not adequate, Cimon. He should be on the spot. He may see things our precious specialists will not.”
Cimon said, freezingly, “Very likely. The answer, Sheffield, is no. There is no argument that can possibly persuade me.” The astrophysicist’s nose was pinched and white.
“Because I made a fool of you?”