"Sneer if you will, Miss Hanford. But marriage and motherhood have taken the 'hell' out of a lot of hell-raisers in the past."
II
Junior Spaceman Howard Reed entered the commandant's office eagerly and briskly. His salute was snappy as he announced himself.
Commander Breckenridge looked up at the young spaceman without expression, nodded curtly, and then looked down at the pile of papers neatly stacked in the center of his desk. Without saying a word, the commander fingered down through the pile until he came to a thin sheaf of papers stapled together. This file he withdrew, placed atop the stack, and then he proceeded to read every word of every page as if he were refreshing his memory about some minor incident that had become important only because of the upper-level annoyance it had caused.
When he finished, he looked up and said coldly, "I presume you know why you're here, Mr. Reed?"
"I can guess, sir—because of my technical suggestion."
"You are correct."
"And it's been accepted?" cried the junior spaceman eagerly.
"It has not!" snapped the superior officer. "In fact—"