"Coincidence!" Mars' voice was guttural with contempt. "I told you from the start it wasn't practical. I knew...."
"All right, Mars," Reed interrupted. "You were project design engineer, right?" Mars nodded in agreement. "Was there anything wrong with the design of the ship, any reason why it probably wouldn't have worked, from a design stand-point?"
"No," he answered reluctantly. "Not that I could see. I just knew from the start it wasn't going to work. I told Bronsen that, lots of times, but he just isn't the type to take advice."
Bronsen roared and leaped to his feet.
"You old fool," he bellowed. "Technically, theoretically and mechanically, there wasn't one indication that it wasn't going to be a completely successful launching procedure. You know that as well as anyone! Ask the men around you. They handled the final application, the mechanics, the construction, the blast off. Ask any one of them. Every single one of them will tell you the same thing. There was no reason why the ship should have crashed! Every item had been checked, double checked and re-checked again. The instruments indicated everything was functioning perfectly at blast off. If you didn't have such a twisted inverted opinion of everything...."
Mars leaned forward, his body now trembling, "Don't you go calling me names, you swell-headed pup!"
Reed pounded his desk violently.
"Mars! Bronsen!" he shouted impatiently. "This is hardly the time for name-calling and airing personal gripes. We're here to find a good reason for spending more money on this project. We're not children in a schoolyard, arguing over a piece of candy, although that's exactly what it's beginning to sound like. Frankly, I'm of the opinion that with so much internal fighting going on, nothing could possibly come of spending more. It would be a waste of both finances and time."
Bronsen slowly sat down again, his trembling hands clenched into tight fists.
"That's one item you don't have to worry about," he growled. "Kenton is completely finished as far as I'm concerned. He's out. Fired."