"How do you know? Do you test for squeal?"
"No, but -"
"Supersonic, mostly," said Kimberly. "At operational temperatures that vibration will shatter those springs to bits. Seventeen men of Flightways were left spread-eagled for a day and a half on the Moon. Your tested suit almost killed me when I tried one on in the icebox. Now, does anybody want to claim these suits are tested before they go out?"
"But a squeal —" Lane protested weakly.
"A squeal. You test the valves in an icebox. Nobody learns whether they squeal or not because the sound is too high for the mike in there. You put them in a suit and test the suit for pressure — constant pressure where there's no squeal. But when a man puts the suit on and the valve starts working, the springs go to pot. We gave the suits a thorough occupational test when the springs were designed, and then we changed the valves after such tests were made. Any questions now, gentlemen?"
He looked them over with savage enjoyment of their discomfiture. "Good, then we may expect a revision of the test procedures and a correction of the valve design."