"What would happen if you pulled a blunder that wrecked that ship out there on the stand."
"I'd have had it, that's all. I'd never get within ten miles of a rocket base again as long as I lived. And there wouldn't be much worth living for—"
"It would be pretty wonderful to feel you weren't constantly on the verge of some disastrous blunder, wouldn't it?"
"It would be a rocket man's idea of heaven to handle these ships with that kind of a feeling inside him."
"We're about ready to begin running tests on Superman, and I'd like you to be the first to help us out. Can you arrange it?"
"We're tied up like a ball of string on getting the nucleus ship in orbit. I know Oglethorpe gave orders we were to jump when you called, but I'll have to check on replacements for those of us you take. What kind of test are you going to run on me?"
"I want to find out how long it takes you to make a serious error, and what happens to you when you do!"
Arrangements were made for initiating this series of tests two days later. Paul had designed them, and Nat Holt's crew had built the equipment.
But before they were started, Paul grew increasingly aware of the clamor and public agitation against the Wheel. Instead of dying out after a small spurt of anger, it was accumulating momentum in every corner of the nation.