to my arm. He
looked pretty bad himself. His face was bandaged heavily, and one eye
was purple. He spoke in a muffled voice through stiff jaws. His tone was
deliberate.

"This will keep you conscious enough to answer a few questions," he
said. "Now you're going to give me the combinations to the locks so we
can call off this suicide run; then maybe I'll doctor you up."

I didn't answer.

"The time for clamming up is over, you stupid braggard," Kramer said. He
raised his fist and drove a hard punch into my chest. I guess it was his
shot that kept me conscious. I couldn't breathe for a while, until
Kramer gave me a few whiffs of oxygen. I wondered if he was fool enough
to think I might give up my ship.

After a while my head cleared a little. I tried to say something. I got
out a couple of croaks, and then found my voice.

"Kramer," I said.

He leaned over me. "I'm listening," he said.

"Take me to the lift. Leave me there alone. That's your only chance." It
seemed to me like a long speech, but nothing happened. Kramer went away,
came back. He showed me a large scalpel from his medical kit. "I'm going
to start operating on your face. I'll make you into a museum freak.
Maybe if you start talking soon enough I'll change my mind."

I could see the watch on his wrist. My mind worked very slowly. I had
trouble getting any air into my lungs. We would intercept in one hour
and ten minutes.

It seemed simple to me. I had to get back to the Bridge before we hit. I
tried again. "We only have an hour," I said.

Kramer lost control. He jabbed the knife at my face, screeching through
gritted teeth. I jerked my head aside far enough that the scalpel grated
along my cheekbone instead of slashing my mouth. I hardly felt it.

"We're not dying because you were a fool," Kramer yelled. "I've taken
over; I've relieved you as unfit for command. Now open up this ship or
I'll slice you to ribbons." He held the scalpel under my nose in a fist
trembling with fury. The chrome plated blade had a thin film of pink on
it.

I got my voice going again. "I'm going to destroy the Mancji ship," I
said. "Take me to the lift and leave me there." I tried to add a few
words, but had to stop and work on breathing again for a while. Kramer
disappeared.

I realized I was not fully in command of my senses. I was clamped in a
padded claw. I wanted to roll over. I tried hard, and made it. I could
hear Kramer talking, others answering, but it seemed