"They want to get done. They must get done so that the engine can remove the car where the accident will happen."
"Where is this scene?" asked Peter.
It was out on the loading platform. A mislink crane shunted large cases from the platform, swung around in an arc, and the missing section passed through the door and the crane ran down the length of the car, dropping the case at the far end. The mislink crane returned, the far end reappeared, and another case was hooked to the boom. The operation was repeated. The cases were fitted in the box car with neatness and dispatch. The pile of cases diminished, and the box car was sealed as the crane went to work on the next car in line. It took time, though, to fill each car, and the men working out here sweated visibly, partly in fear and partly from the hurried work.
They had little time to stare into one another's faces and wonder which of them would be taking the brunt of the accident. As time wore along, the siren of the ambulance arriving caused some nervousness. The doctor and his corps of nurses came slowly forward, inquired as to the scene, and proceeded to lay out a fairly well equipped emergency operating set-up.
"I'm beginning to feel the morbidity of this," said Peter. "The doctor, the ambulance, the insurance agent. We're like a bunch of vultures awaiting the faltering step of the desert wanderer."
"A bunch of undertakers waiting for the accident to happen," said Ben. "No, I'm not calloused. I'm scared slightly green. I can't take it unless I joke about it. It's the uncertain certainty—the wondering just which one of us gets caught in the certain accident."
"It seems uncanny to talk about the certainty of accident," said Peter.
"The training at I.I.I. would instill a bit of the perfection of the statistical method in you," nodded Simpkins. "By the time your statistical bureau gets all done checking the chances of a new account, no one would bet against it. I.I.I. also puts the kiss of death on, too. Just try to hire men for a plant that can't be insured by your outfit. They'll ask a thousand credits a day."
"What time is this affair going to happen?" asked Peter.
"Not too long. They're about finished. Then they inert everything as usual and we'll all retreat to the inside wall and wonder."