Miss Furkle sniffed and disappeared from the screen. Retief left the office, descended forty-one stories, followed a corridor to the Corps Library. In the stacks he thumbed through catalogues, pored over indices.
"Can I help you?" someone chirped. A tiny librarian stood at his elbow.
"Thank you, ma'am," Retief said. "I'm looking for information on a mining rig. A Bolo model WV tractor."
"You won't find it in the industrial section," the librarian said. "Come along." Retief followed her along the stacks to a well-lit section lettered ARMAMENTS. She took a tape from the shelf, plugged it into the viewer, flipped through and stopped at a squat armored vehicle.
"That's the model WV," she said. "It's what is known as a continental siege unit. It carries four men, with a half-megaton/second firepower."
"There must be an error somewhere," Retief said. "The Bolo model I want is a tractor. Model WV M-1—"
