On May 11, Heinlein formally began work at the Navy Yard, asking that his pension be stopped. On the same day, Asimov was appointed a junior chemist, and soon he was on the train to Philadelphia, writing to Pohl, “Frankly, I’m scared stiff about going off to live alone.” Before long, however, he would feel differently. At the end of May, he told Pohl, “My job is really a reasonable facsimile of paradise on earth. The work is interesting, the surroundings ideal, the coworkers congenial, my room very nice—and my spirits in great shape.” And he had another piece of news. “Freddie, old man, old
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