"You bet. Shoot."
"If it starts, what are the wheels going to do?"
"The brass?" Mel laughed. "You asking me? I'm just a light colonel."
"You're the senior military man aboard. All I want is your opinion."
Mel's brow furrowed. For a long moment he was silent, and Walter Stanton heard the ceaseless whine of the ventilators. Space Two, when and if it's built, he thought irrationally, had better have ventilators that don't cry like a cat in heat.
"Well, Mel?"
"I think," Mel Cramer said thoughtfully, "they'll suggest that we evacuate."
Walter Stanton slapped his hand on the desk and swung in his chair. "I knew it! Can't they see? Can't they see at all?"
"Walter," Mel said quietly. "Let's face it. From a military standpoint, Space One is a failure."