Page 28 (1/2)

The Ra reeled off the days A monotonous succession of watches ahts, and telltale buzzers The sa

A distant sound of propellers in an area where all such sounds mean hunter

Wait and listen Creep ahead a few knots Wait and listen Creep ahead a few knots Wait and listen

The distant sound is gone The Ra and sonar gear

Garcia was up and about on the fourth day -- a ely: a prize wrested from death itself

And a special tension -- a new pressure -- crept into the actions of the Ra to oing to make it"

"Aren&039;t we?"

Rahtmare in which Sparrow, Garcia, and Bonnett suddenly turned to face hihtmare lifted and left him peaceful in the womblike stillness of the boat

Stillness!

Raht in his bunk, wide awake, every sense crying out against the strange new element:

quiet He reached behind hi that they were on eency batteries

"Johnny!" It was Sparrow&039;s voice over the wall speaker

"Here, Skipper"

"Get up to your shack on the double We&039;re having pile trouble"

"I&039;m on my way!"

His feet hit the deck, fuht, ran out the door, up the ladder two steps at a time, down the companionway and into his shack station, talk switch open "On station, Skipper Is it serious?"

Bonnett&039;s voice came back "Full-scale flare-up"

"Where&039;s the skipper?"

"Forith Joe"

"Joe shouldn&039;t be anywhere near that! He&039;s still on the hot list!"

"It was Joe&039;s watch You kno --"

"Johnny!" Sparrow&039;s voice over the intercom

"Here"

"Secure the shack for ht" Ramsey found that his hands knew auto hours of patience with the mock-up board This hat Reed had ency aboard a sublance-around double check; stand-by light glowing amber, jacks out, reen He thumbed his chest mike: "Les, she&039;s all yours"

"On your way"

He ran out the door, turned right up the co at Bonnett, and out onto the central catwalk The laboring huive theine room

Garcia stood beside the tunnel hatch down forward to the left, his hands fu with the zipper of an ABG suit

Ra with Sparrow? He can&039;t let Joe go in there! Then he understood the significance of the scene

The nozzle of a detergent hose was racked beside Garcia Sparrow stood about twenty feet away on the lower catwalk The space between theent spray As Sparrow took a step forward, Garcia stopped working with the zipper, put a hand on the nozzle

"Stay where you are, Skipper!"

Garcia&039;s voice was ine roo into the open mike of his ABG suit

Garcia lifted the hose nozzle, pointed it at Sparrow "One step more and I&039;ll let you have another taste of this"

Ramsey went to the left hand-ladder, dropped down to Sparrow&039;s level He saw that the front of Sparrow&039;s uniforht of what that high-pressure jet spray could do to a man

"Shall we rush him, Skipper?" he asked "I could drop down to --"

"Well, if it isn&039;t the head thumper," said Garcia The zipper on his suit suddenly unjammed and he pulled it closed, reached back and folded the hood forward over his head, sealed it The quartz-plate front glealanced at Raainst that hose We have to reason with him"

"Let the head thu from the bulkhead speaker above them "That&039;s his department"

"He&039;s only four days from a radiation overdose," said Ra scene I&039; you can do to stop me Besides, I know this end of the ship better than any of you"

Ramsey looked down at the open door to the tunnel, realized abruptly that it was the same tunnel in which they had found the dead Security officer

Garcia half turned toward the door "Joe, stop!" barked Sparrow "That&039;s an order!" He made a sudden dash forward, was bowled over backward by a hard streaht part of the spray, slipped to his knees By the time they had scrambled to their feet, Garcia had disappeared into the tunnel, closing the door behind hi bar with his inside so we can&039;t follow hi on metal

Garcia&039;s voice caht, Skipper Can&039;t have you fellows trying to

steal my scene You have front-row seats; enjoy the show"

"Has he gone off his rocker?" asked Ramsey

Sparrow slipped down to the tunnel door, tested the dogs "Jaone psychotic?" asked Ramsey

"Of course not!" barked Sparrow "There&039;s a full-scale flare-up in that pile rooone in to do what he can"

Ramsey looked at the snooper above the tunnel door, saw that its needle was jammed in the red "Skipper! It&039;s hot here!"

Sparrow slapped the snooper with one hand and the needle swung back into the seven-hour-limit zone "Jammed when he opened the door" He turned to the tool rack beside the door "Joe! Do you hear me?"

"Sure, Skipper No need to shout I&039;m almost at the tunnel curve"

"Joe, defiance of orders is a serious offense"