"Well, out with it," barked Jenner. "What is it?"
The mechanic cleared his throat nervously. "We were testing the main gyroscope when it threw a blade."
"How bad is it?" asked Jenner.
"Pretty bad, I'm afraid. It tore up the subetherscope unit so bad we'll have to replace it. We can't get any on Aurora either. We'll have to send to Lennix, and that'll take close to a month."
"Roj! Knock off until I get there," barked Jenner. He slammed over the switch, viciously. "Of all the rotten luck!"
"Can't you get some plant here on Aurora to hand tool one for you?" asked Tee.
"No, that's just it," replied Jenner. "It's a special alloy. The owners of the process wouldn't give us any details on the manufacture. Anyway, even if we knew how, we couldn't duplicate it without their special machine tools."
"Does that mean—"
"I'm afraid so. The ship won't be ready for a month, now."
"A month! I can't wait a month."