“Nope. You are to stay here and be a nice, good-looking Mata Hari. This bird seems to think that he can run Venus Equilateral like a bus or a factory. I know the type, and the first thing he’ll do is to run the place into a snarl. Keep me informed of anything complicated, will you?”
“Sure. And where are you going now?”
“I’m going down and get Walt Franks. We’re going to inspect the transparency of a new type of glass.”
“I didn’t know that optical investigations come under your jurisdiction.”
“This investigation will consist of a visit to the ninth level.”
“Can’t you take me along?”
“Not today,” he grinned. “Your new boss does not believe in the evils of looking through the bottom of a glass. We must behave with decor. We must forget fun. We are now operating under a man who will comm
