"I read you loud and clear. A quarter of a million bucks makes a little sabotage worth while, huh?"
Rick nodded. "We can't know, of course, but if you were a warehouse clerk and a big rocket went haywire, wouldn't you be out watching it?"
"I'd be out where the view was best. So would you," Scotty replied.
"Remember where we saw a transistor recently?" Rick asked.
Scotty reached in his pocket, brought out his sling, and unwrapped it. He picked up a stone, tested it for weight, then reconsidered and put the sling back. "I remember. Big Mac and Pancho. Mac said he must have stuck it in his pocket absent-mindedly while repairing his equipment."
"That's what he said," Rick agreed. "Only transistors aren't like radio tubes. They don't need replacing often."
"Meaning?"
"He might have been telling the truth or he might not."
Scotty tossed the stone away. "How much space would that many transistors take up?"
"Hard to say. We could find out, I suppose. But transistors are small, and they don't weigh much. Besides, some of the types used here are fantastically expensive. A couple of hundred dollars might pay for a transistor the size of a kidney bean."