* * * * *

There was silence from the control room as Jayjay clambered on down
the stairwell. Fortunately, the steps had been built so that it was
possible to use them from either side, no matter which way the gravity
pull happened to be. By the time he reached the control room, he
weighed a good fifteen pounds.

Captain Atef al-Amin was staring up at the stairs as Jayjay came down.
He was jammed tightly into a space between two of the big control
cabinets, hanging head downward and looking more disheveled than
Jayjay had ever seen the usually immaculately-uniformed captain.

"Oh," said Captain Al-Amin, in English, "it's you. For a moment I
thought--" Then he waved his free hand. "Never mind. Can you get me
out of here?"

What had been the floor of the control room was now the ceiling. The
two steel cabinets which housed parts of the computer unit now
appeared to be bolted to the ceiling. They were only about five feet
high, and the space between them was far too narrow for a man to have
got in there by himself--especially a man of the captain's build. None
the less, he was in there--jammed in up to his waist. Only his upper
torso and one arm was free. The other arm was jammed in against the
wall.

Jayjay took the leap from the stairs and grabbed on to the chair that
hung from the ceiling nearby. When you only weigh fifteen pounds, you
can make Tarzan look like an amateur.

"You hurt?" he asked.

"It isn't comfortable, sure as hell," said Al-Amin. "I think my arm's
broken. Think you can get me loose?"

"I can try. Give me your hand." Jayjay took the captain's free hand
and gave it a tug. Then he released the chair he was holding, braced
both feet against the panels of the computer housings, and gave a good
pull. The captain didn't budge, but he winced a little.

"That hurt?"

"Just my arm. The pressure has cut off my blood circulation; my legs
are numb, and I can't tell if they hurt or not."

Jayjay grabbed the chair again and surveyed the situation. "Where's
your First Officer?"

"Breckner? Down in the engine room."

Jayjay didn't comment on that. If the hold was airless, it was likely
that the engine room was, too, and there was no need to worry Al-Amin
any more than necessary just now.

"Can you use a cutting torch?" the captain asked.

"Yes, but I don't think it'll be necessary," Jayjay said. "Hold on a
minute." He went back up the stairs to the officers' washroom