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. How many can the Guard use?"
"Thor, you're worrying unnecessarily. Even if you don't come up with a superweapon -- and your chances aren't good -- all research pays off. Your stockholders won't lose."
"I am not worrying unnecessarily! I've got this job by a handful of votes; a special stockholders meeting could kick me out tomorrow. Sure research pays off, but not necessarily quickly. You can count on it that every credit I spend is reported to people who would love to see me bumped -- so I've got to have reasonable justification."
"How about a research contract?"
"With a vice colonel staring down my boy's neck and telling him what to do? We want to give him a free hand."
"Mmm . . . yes. Suppose I get you a letter-of-intent? Well make the figure as high as possible. I'll have to see the Marshal-in-Chief. He's on Luna at the moment and I can't squeeze time to go to Luna this week. You'll have to wait a few days."
"I'm not going to wait; I'm going to assume that you can do it. Jake, I'm going to get things rolling and get out of this crazy job -- if you won't have me in the corps I can always be an ordnanceman."
"Come on down this evening. I'll enlist you -- then I'll order you to detached duty, right where you are."
Thorby's chin dropped. "Jake! You wouldn't do that to me!"
"I would if you were silly enough to place yourself under my orders, Rudbek
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