"Irv, don't you realize what that cargo means to the boys at QB?"
"Sure, I do. But do you realize what this Station here means to me? The boys at QB can re-order another batch. I can't go out and re-order another Station."
"Irv, listen. The ground-pounders don't realize how important that stuff is. Without it, the crew at QB will be at each other's throats in a month. This is no exaggeration, Irv, the whole QB operation will fall apart within a month. And if QB falls apart, the whole system falls apart, because it's QB's job to run maintenance for the rest of us."
"I know that," said Mendel, "I know it well. Every word you say is absolutely true. But I still say they can re-order."
"And I say it'll take three months at the very least to fill the new order! We can't even put the order in until we can prove to the ground-pounders' satisfaction that this batch is destroyed, and we won't be able to do that till the reeps get here and patch the hole. So that's ten or fifteen days right there. Then they'll fool around another half a month or more, figuring out costs and tax breaks and whatnot, wanting to know why QB can't make do till the next regular shipment, and bogging down in a lot of red tape. Then they have to put the order in, out of sequence, so it'll take longer to fill it. And every single item has to be double-checked and approved by the psycho department and half a dozen other departments. It'll be more than three months!"
Mendel doggedly shook his head. "I'm not going to argue with you, Glenn," he said, "I'm going to tell you. That cargo is your responsibility, but this whole Station is mine, and I'm not going to risk this Station for you or QB or anybody. Period, finish, end of discussion. Now, I'm going to go on up and call QB and have them send us a couple of reeps. Want to come along?"
"I want to boot you in the rump, Irv, I swear."
Mendel grinned. "I feel like doing some rump-booting myself. Take it easy, Glenn. It'll all work out."
"Hot diggity," said Blair sourly.
"Want to come up to the office with me?"