"So you wait in Three. I'm willing to take the chance."
"I'm not. And it isn't your pearly white skin I'm worried about, it's my pearly white Station. If we have one Section in vacuum, we'll have trouble enough keeping equilibrium. With two Sections out of whack, we'll wobble all over the damn Solar System."
"Irv, my whole cargo's in there! The cargo for QB is in there!"
"I can't help it. Besides, vacuum won't hurt that stuff for QB."
"Irv, if there's a break through the inner hull, and that meteor shakes loose, the QB cargo won't be in the Station any more, it'll be scattered halfway from here to Mars. Did you ever see stuff come flying out of a room that goes suddenly to vacuum?"
"Yes, I did. Did you ever see a man that's gone suddenly to vacuum?"
"Irv, look at your blasted pressure gauge!"
"It's down."
"It's down less than half a point, Irv, and that's because you've stopped pumping air in there. Listen, that QB cargo isn't hermetically sealed. If it doesn't get good air, it can rot."
"It can rot right now, for all of me. I'm not touching Section Five or anything in it. We'll get in touch with QB, and let them send a couple of reeps up here. It's their job, not ours."