"It's the Mpto. Forty-three and a third Mptos make an Anup, and twelve million Anups make a Zorex. It's a lot simpler than seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks and so on."
"Yes, I see," said Dr. Bruber. "But getting back to our topic. Just what should we have that would make us worth saving?"
"Stability," said Olbu. "Earthmen lack stability."
"Don't you think you should talk more about your trip?" Rodkey asked. "How did Saturn look when you passed it?"
"Saturn wasn't in the right place to be seen at all," Dr. Bruber said. "But you did see Pluto. How did it look?"
"There was nothing about it and it looked awful," said Olbu.
"I hate to be injecting my own personal ideas into this conversation," said Rodkey, "because after all, I know nothing about science. But don't you suppose it would please our viewers if we talked more about space flight than about the destruction of the human race?"
"You see," said Olbu to Dr. Bruber. "That's what I mean. No stability."
"After all, the poor man doesn't want to lose his job," Bruber explained. "I'd say that was a desire to be stable."
"If he's going to be dead, which he will be when I get word from my superiors, he'll lose his job whether he wants to or not," said Olbu.