"Roger, Kodiak. Everything normal here. Mission pro- file unchanged."
"Okay, Niner. We have nothing new for you. Oh, wait . . . Chet, Lew Regneson is here and he says he's put twenty bucks on your butt to uphold the Air Force's honor. Keep 'em flying."
Keeping his face as straight as possible, Kinsman an- swered, "Roger, Kodiak. Mission profile unchanged."
"Good luck!"
Linda's thoughtful expression had deepened. "What was that all about?"
He looked straight into those cool blue eyes and lied, "Damned if I know. Regneson's one of the astronaut corps. Been assigned to Kodiak for the past six weeks. He must be going ice-happy. Thought it'd be best just to humor him."
"I see." But she looked unconvinced.
"Have you checked any of your pictures through the film processor yet?"
Shaking her head, Linda replied, "No. I don't want to risk them on Air Force equipment. I'll process them in New York when we get back."
"Damned good equipment," Kinsman said, "even if it was built by the lowest bidder."
"I'm fussy."
He shrugged and let it go. At least the subject of the conversation had been changed.
"Chet?"
"What?"
"The power pod . . . what's it for? Colonel Murdock got awfully coy when I asked him."
"It's classified," he said. "I don't know myself." 89
"It's a nuclear reactor, isn't it?"
"A little one."
"Isn't it dangerous?"
He laughed. "You're getting more cosmic rays through your pretty bod right now than any radiation that might come from the reactor."
