"Framed?" asked Tom.

"Yeah, framed!" snapped Bush. "I was taking a credit pouch to Venusport
from Atom City when it was stolen from me."

"Could you prove it?" asked Tom.

"How could I prove it when I don't know what happened to it?" growled
Bush. "Listen, Corbett, you can't hold a little thing like that against
me. A man is entitled to one mistake--"

Tom held up his hand. "Mr. Bush, you also had your space papers
suspended for six months and were caught during the suspension blasting
off with false papers. Was that a mistake?"

"Well, what do you expect a man to do? Go hungry? I've been a spaceman
longer than you've been alive. I had to have a job. There wasn't
anything else I could do." His voice trailed off into a whine.

"But you did, willfully and with full knowledge of your act, violate the
space code by using false papers, didn't you?" pursued Tom.

"Yeah, but--" whined Bush.

"I'm sorry," said Tom, standing up. "Your application has been
rejected."

Bush stood up and snatched the application from Tom. His mouth began to
twitch furiously. "Why, you little--"