How come? How come? How come?
CHAPTER II
Pink and Jerry and Joe Silver walked around and around the spacesuit. Bill Calico, the astrogator, and Washington Daley, the senior lieutenant, sat in front of it on stools covered with Venusian joerg-hide, going through a routine of flippant gags that thinly disguised their bafflement. Finally Pinkham said, "When were these suits invented?"
"2144," said Joe Silver.
Bright kid, thought Pink with irritation. "Thirty-odd years ago. That's my guess, too."
"October 1st, 2144, is the patent date," said Joe Silver smugly.
"Click, click, click," said Daley. "Your mind is a damn file room, Silver. It gives me the jitters."
Joe Silver looked at him expressionlessly.
"I just read the date on the instruction plate," he said.