His self-satisfaction vanished, and revulsion took its place. He stared at his body in horror. No human body could have endured such punishment. But he had taken it without noticing it!
Pat came back at a run. "Come on, Bill. A messenger just arrived from Earth with five hundred pounds of K-40!"
"Five hundred?" Norden could almost hear again the amazed voice of General Dawes when he asked for a mere five pounds—a quantity nearly impossible to secure.
Pat's face confirmed his suspicions. Earth couldn't have made five hundred pounds so rapidly.
They found the guards already waiting to take them to where Miles was, and followed them down to the entrance of the explosion testing chamber. Miles was smiling and chatting with a man who appeared to be a perfectly normal rocket pilot, and who seemed bored until he saw Norden. He consulted a picture on some kind of tape recording and stepped forward.
"I have orders to deliver the K-40 to you, Dr. Norden," the pilot said. "But it's pretty bulky in its containers. If you'll come out to the ship and okay it...."
Miles cut in blandly. "I've been explaining the new regulations, Dr. Norden." He winked slightly, with a faint motion toward the chamber.
"Go ahead and clear through," Norden told the pilot. "I'll wait, and then we can look at your cargo. It's a damned nuisance having to hold things up while everyone is X-rayed. But we've new regulations now." He caught Miles' look of approval, and he knew he'd reacted correctly.
The pilot shrugged. "Why not? Let me know if you find any dangerous diseases." He chuckled, and stepped through the entrance, and out toward the fluoroscope set-up.