"Skip, help look."
Capt. Lawler got down from the bunk and Major Winship mounted. "We
haven't got all day."
A few minutes later, Lt. Chandler issued the triumphant cry. "Here it
is! Dozen tubes. Squeeze tubes. It's the new stuff."
Major Winship got down and Capt. Wilkins got up.
"Marker showed it over here," Major Winship said, inching over to the
wall. He traced the leak with a metallic finger.
"How does this stuff work?" Capt. Lawler asked.
They huddled over the instruction sheet.
"Let's see. Squeeze the tube until the diaphragm at the nozzle
ruptures. Extrude paste into seam. Allow to harden one hour before
service."
Major Winship said dryly, "Never mind. I notice it hardens on contact
with air."
Capt. Wilkins lay back on the bunk and stared upward. He said, "Now
that makes a weird kind of sense, doesn't it?"
"How do they possibly think--?"
"Gentlemen! It doesn't make any difference," Lt. Chandler said. "Some
air must already have leaked into this one. It's hard as a rock. A
gorilla couldn't extrude it."
"How're the other ones?" asked Major Winship.
Lt. Chandler turned and made a quick examination. "Oh, they're all
hard, too."
"Who was supposed to check?" demanded Capt. Wilkins in exasperation.
"The only way you can check is to extrude it," Lt. Chandler said, "and
if it does extrude, you've ruined it."
"That's that," Major Winship said. "There's nothing for it but to yell
help."