"I was fairly well shielded when it happened. I never got the contract,
but I got a good dose of radiation instead. Not enough to kill me," he
said. "Just enough to necessitate the removal of--" he indicated the
empty space at his thighs. "So I got off lightly." He gestured at the
wheelchair blanket.
I still didn't understand. "But why kill us Geigs? _We_ had nothing to
do with it."
"You're just in this by accident," he said. "You see, after the
explosion and the amputation, my fellow-members on the board of Ledman
Atomics decided that a semi-basket case like myself was a poor risk as
Head of the Board, and they took my company away. All quite legal, I
assure you. They left me almost a pauper!" Then he snapped the punchline
at me.
"They renamed Ledman Atomics. Who did you say you worked for?"