human
Doc Medick! Harper exclaimed.
gpt
How's your crew of head shrinkers coming along? We're just about ready for your new breed of pilots.
human
What do you mean?
gpt
This is the nucleus ship. She's going out in orbit tonight with the first batch of supplies and instruments to get ready for the new Wheel. We're going to need your men awfully fast.
human
That's what I came to talk about. Can you spare a few minutes?
gpt
Sure. Harper led him to the office, where the whining of fueling pumps was silenced.
human
What can we do for you?
gpt
I wanted to ask about Cummins. You knew him pretty well, didn't you?
human
Buddies. Just like that.
gpt
What went wrong, do you think? I know it's all been hashed over in the investigations, but I'd like your personal feelings about him.
human
Cummins was as good a guy as they come, he said.
gpt
But in a pinch he was just a weak sister. That doesn't mean he didn't have a lot on the ball, Harper added defensively.
human
He was a better pilot than most of us ever will be, but he was just human like the rest of us.
gpt
What do you mean, 'human'?
human
Weak, soft, failure when the going gets rough--everything we have to be on guard against every minute we're alive.
gpt
I take it you don't think much of human beings, as such.