Lou leaned back in his chair. “Yeah… that’s what Kaufman said.”

“You’re the crucial man,” Greg said. “Everything depends on you… and your electronic partner.”

Not bad for a kid from a hick college, Lou thought to himself.

“Well,” Greg said, getting up, “if there’s nothing I can do to help, I can at least get out of your way. Guess I’ll go see how Big George’s doing.”

Lou nodded and started to sort through the papers on his desk.

With a grin, Greg added, “Maybe I’ll take Bonnie out to dinner… seeing’s how you’ve stood her up.”

“Hey! Hands off!”

He laughed. “Relax pal. Relax. I don’t go poaching. Got a few girls of my own, hidden under rocks here and there.”

“Hmph,” said Lou.

“But if you can tear yourself away from Ramo for an hour or so, might be a good idea for you to take Bonnie out for dinner. The kid’s worked just as hard as you have to get your glider ready for this race, you know. Be a shame to leave her alone all weekend.”

“Yeah,” Lou agreed. “Maybe I will.”

But as soon as Greg left, Lou went back to work. He didn’t think about Bonnie or flying or anything else except matching the myriad possible permutations of the human genetic code and storing the knowledge in Ramo’s magnetic core memory. It was late afternoon when he was startled out of his concentration by a hard rap on his office door.

Looking up from his paper-strewn desk, Lou saw the door open and a hard-looking, thick-bodied older man stepped in heavily.

“Louis Christopher, I have a Federal warrant for your arrest.”