a full man-rated Saturn and laid it down as a monument. Alex, that bird will never fly again."
"Oh."
"It's right in front of the old Manned Space Center," Mike said. "Leetle hard to work on without attracting attention."
"Could steal it," Crazy Eddie said.
Bruce closed his eyes. "Steal it, Eddie? Do you know how big those suckers were?"
"Three hundred and sixty three feet high. Weighed three kilotons."
Bruce spoke patiently. "And you say we should steal it?"
"If we could round up enough pickup trucks," Eddie Two Bats said thoughtfully. "Of course it will be hard to stand it up again. I think we need an engineer."
"I see how it works," Alex said quietly to Sherrine.
"How?"
"It's Crazy Eddie's job to come up with nutty ideas, and Bruce's job to chop him down. Do any of Eddie's notions ever work?"
She shrugged.
"I could cry."
She frowned. "Over Crazy Eddie?"
"No, the rocket. The Saturn Five was the most powerful rocket ever built-—Sherrine, it was the most powerful machine ever made!"
"A fire in the sky," she said. "I know the song."
"And now it's a lawn ornament."
"I'm sorry," she said. "Monument! They didn't want competition for the shuttle. They even tried to burn the blueprints-—"
"It wasn't your fault."
"I know that, but I'm sorry. Sorry that anyone could ever have been so stupid. And that was NASA! We gave the space program to NASA, and they, and . . . Damn."
"Does anyone else have an idea?" Bruce asked. "No? Then we carry on as before. The fewer who know about the Angels, the safer they'll be. Don't tell anyone without consulting me. The cover is that they're closet fans from North Dakota, people Fang and Thor have known for years.
"Oh."
"It's right in front of the old Manned Space Center," Mike said. "Leetle hard to work on without attracting attention."
"Could steal it," Crazy Eddie said.
Bruce closed his eyes. "Steal it, Eddie? Do you know how big those suckers were?"
"Three hundred and sixty three feet high. Weighed three kilotons."
Bruce spoke patiently. "And you say we should steal it?"
"If we could round up enough pickup trucks," Eddie Two Bats said thoughtfully. "Of course it will be hard to stand it up again. I think we need an engineer."
"I see how it works," Alex said quietly to Sherrine.
"How?"
"It's Crazy Eddie's job to come up with nutty ideas, and Bruce's job to chop him down. Do any of Eddie's notions ever work?"
She shrugged.
"I could cry."
She frowned. "Over Crazy Eddie?"
"No, the rocket. The Saturn Five was the most powerful rocket ever built-—Sherrine, it was the most powerful machine ever made!"
"A fire in the sky," she said. "I know the song."
"And now it's a lawn ornament."
"I'm sorry," she said. "Monument! They didn't want competition for the shuttle. They even tried to burn the blueprints-—"
"It wasn't your fault."
"I know that, but I'm sorry. Sorry that anyone could ever have been so stupid. And that was NASA! We gave the space program to NASA, and they, and . . . Damn."
"Does anyone else have an idea?" Bruce asked. "No? Then we carry on as before. The fewer who know about the Angels, the safer they'll be. Don't tell anyone without consulting me. The cover is that they're closet fans from North Dakota, people Fang and Thor have known for years.