"It seems like a hard row to hoe."
"Well, usually we keep people out of danger areas. We know where they'll be, of course. It's these darned accidents that happen twice in time."
"Twice in time?"
"Yes. The accident happens once invisibly, and once visibly. Once in the future controlled by the present, and then as the future unfolds, it is an accident happening in the present, controlled by the past. It's blind time, and there is nothing we can do about it."
"That fatalistic attitude again."
"Well—"
Ben interrupted. "They're stopping now."
They turned to watch. The final box car was loaded and the engine drew them away. The mislink crane returned for the final time and was stowed on the platform. A hush fell over the crew, and the windows in the back were filled with faces, watching.
The silence was intense. Peter realized that practically every man was holding his breath, and yet it would be at least a half hour before the mislink began to follow the crane, and some time after that before the mislink caught up to the scene of the accident.
He let his breath out with a sigh, and mentioned the fact to Ben and Simpkins. The foreman nodded and agreed, saying: "We know, but there isn't one of us who won't try to hold his breath for the next two hours."