"Did you find anything?" Dane asked as they rounded that mess on their way to the ladder. Rip's voice came back through the helmet com. "Nothing we know how to interpret. I wish Frank or Craig had had a chance to check. We took tri-dees of everything before we dumped. Maybe they can learn something from these when--" His voice trailed off leaving that "when" to ring in both their minds. It was such an important "when." When _would_ either the steward or the Medic recover enough to view those tri-dee shots? Or was that "when" really an ominous "if?" Back in the Queen, sealed once more for blast-off, they took their stations. Dane speculated as to the course Rip had set--were they just going to wander about the system hoping to escape notice until they had somehow solved their problem? Or did Shannon have some definite port in mind? He did not have time to ask before they lifted. But once they were space borne again he voiced his question. Rip's face was serious. "Frankly--" he began and then hesitated for a long moment before he added, "I don't know. If we can only get the Captain or Craig on their feet again--" "One thing," Ali materialized to join them, "Sinbad's back in the hydro. And this morning you couldn't get him inside the door. It's not a very good piece of evidence--" No, it wasn't but they clung to it as backing for their actions of the past few hours. The cat that had shown such a marked distaste for the company of the stricken, and then for the hydro, was now content to visit the latter as if some evil he has sensed there had been cleansed with the dumping of the garden. They had not yet solved their mystery but another clue had come into their hands. But now the care of the sick occupied hours and Rip insisted that a watch be maintained by the com--listening in for news which might concern the Queen. They had done a good job at silencing the E-Stat, for they had been almost six hours in space before the news of their raid was beamed to the nearest Patrol post. Ali laughed. "Told you we'd be pirates," he said when he listened to that account of their descent upon the I-S station. "Though I didn't see all that blaster work they're now raving about. You'd think we fought a major battle there!" Weeks growled. "The Eysies are trying to make it look good. Make us into outlaws--" But Rip did not share in the general amusement at the wild extravagation of the report from the ether. "I notice they didn't say anything about the voucher we left." Ali's cynical smile curled. "Did you expect them to? The Eysies think they have us by the tail fins now--why should they give us any benefit of the doubt? We junked all our boosters behind us on this take-off, and don't forget that, my friends." Weeks looked confused. "But I thought you said we could do this legal," he appealed to Rip. "If we're Patrol Posted as outlaws--"