Kingman flushed.
"Find that Terran Electric wasn't worth much?" jeered Channing.
"Sufficient," said Kingman.
"Did it ever occur to you that maybe Venus Equilateral wasn't worth much either?" asked Channing.
"I'll make it work for me. And I'll also report that one of your wild experiments got loose and nearly froze the station out completely. I still say that if you'd stopped toying around with everything that came along, Venus Equilateral would still be a running corporation."
"I daresay you're right. But the devil finds work for idle hands, you know. So just what is the future holding?"
"Channing, your attitude is entirely frivolous and unconvinced that I mean business. To convince you, I'm going to give you twelve hours to relinquish the station and be on your way from here!"
"May I point out that this is Christmas?"
"I've investigated that," returned Kingman. "I find that Christmas is a completely Terran date and is therefore legal for any and all legal action on any planet or place removed from the interplanetary boundary of the planet Terra. That, Channing, has been established to be the Channing Layer."
"And how about the personnel? Must they get the hell off too?" asked Channing loftily.