"And for myself," Napier said. "It's obvious that ten men aren't going
on to Saturn--you'll have to turn back, or head for Jupiter. Jupiter,
in fact, is the only sensible answer. And a ship can get along without
a doctor that long when it has to. I demand my right to the draw."
Muller only shrugged and laid down the rules. They were simple enough.
He would cut drinking straws to various lengths, and each would draw
one. The two deck hands would compare theirs, and the longer would be
automatically safe. The same for the pair from the engine-room. Wilcox
was safe. "Mr. Peters and I will also have one of us eliminated," he
added quietly. "In an emergency, our abilities are sufficiently
alike."
The remaining group would have their straws measured, and the seven
shortest ones would be chosen to remove themselves into a vacant
section between hulls without air within three hours, or be forcibly
placed there. The remaining ten would head for Jupiter if no miracle
removed the danger in those three hours.
Peters got the straws, and Muller cut them and shuffled them. There
was a sick silence that let us hear the sounds of the scissors with
each snip. Muller arranged them so the visible ends were even. "Ladies
first," he said. There was no expression on his face or in his voice.
Jenny didn't giggle, but neither did she balk. She picked a straw, and
then shrieked faintly. It was obviously a long one. Eve reached for
hers--
And Wilcox yelled suddenly. "Captain Muller, protest! Protest! You're
using all long straws for the women!" He had jumped forward, and now
struck down Muller's hand, proving his point.
"You're quite right, Mr. Wilcox," Muller said woodenly. He dropped his
hand toward his lap and came up with a group of the straws that had
been cut, placed there somehow without our seeing it. He'd done a
smooth job of it, but not smooth enough. "I felt some of you would
notice it, but I also felt that gentlemen would prefer to see ladies
given the usual courtesies."
He reshuffled the assorted straws, and then paused. "Mr. Tremaine,
there was a luxury liner named the _Lauri Ellu_ with an assistant
engineer by your name; and I believe you've shown a surprising
familiarity with certain customs of space. A few days ago, Jenny
mentioned something that jogged my memory. Can you still perform the
duties of an engineer?"
Wilcox had started to protest at the delay. Now shock ran through him.
He stared unbelievingly from Muller to me and back, while his face
blanched. I could guess what it must have felt like to see certain
safety cut to a 50 per cent chance, and I didn't like the way Muller
was willing to forget until he wanted to take a crack at Wilcox for
punishment. But....
"I can," I answered. And then, because I was sick inside myself for
cutting under Wilcox, I managed to add, "But I--I waive my chance at
immunity!"
"Not accepted," Muller decided. "Jenny, will you draw?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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