"Fine," said Devers. "Oh, by the way, I want it understood, Commander,
that while I am lending Dave to you to work on the operation with the
professor, I'm not even going to let you pay him. He remains on my
payroll, so you can't take him away from me. The Jilolo Spaceways would
be lost without him."

Walters smiled. "All right with me," he said.

"I don't care _who_ pays him, as long as he's with me on this,
Commander," said Hemmingwell, wiping his glasses carefully. "That young
man has a mind equipped with a built-in calculator."

Dave Barret grinned in obvious embarrassment. "If Mr. Devers can devote
his time to you for one credit a year as salary, I have no objections to
working on this project," he said. "In fact, I told Mr. Devers that if
he didn't let me come down here, I'd quit and come, anyway."

Hemmingwell beamed. "Well, now, if Captain Strong were only here, we
could get along with the business at hand."

Devers frowned. "Why is he so important?" he asked.

"Steve has been placed in charge of procurement for the construction of
the hangar and getting the spur line in from the monorail station,"
replied Connel. "And that reminds me, Professor," he continued. "Where
is your hangar going to be? And where is that spur coming in from? Are
we going to have a lot of building to do to get that blasted thing
snaked over those hills?" Connel pointed to the protective ring of high
rugged peaks that surrounded the Academy.