r
a moment with a flashlight. "Let me take a look," he said, edging
Jayjay aside. He looked over the halves of the coupling very
carefully, then said: "I don't see anything wrong. I'll try it again."

"Hold on a second," Jayjay said quietly. "Let me take a look, will
you?"

Smith handed him the torch. "Go ahead, but there's nothing wrong."

* * * * *

Jayjay took the light and looked the connections over again. Then he
screwed his head around so that he could look into the female plug.

"Hm-m-m. Hard to count. Gap's too small. Anybody got a toothpick?"

Nobody did.

Jayjay turned to Jeffry Hull. "Mr. Hull, would you mind going to the
lounge? I think there's some toothpicks in the snack refrigerator."

"Sure," said Hull. "Sure."

He pushed himself across the control room and disappeared through the
stairwell.

"Get several of them," Jayjay called after him.

Captain Al-Amin said: "What's the trouble, Mr. Kelvin?"

"I'm not sure yet," Jayjay answered. "When did you last have the
screamer units inspected?"

"Just before we took off from Jove Station," Al-Amin said. "That's the
law. All emergency equipment has to be checked before takeoff. Why?
What's the matter?"

"Did they check this unit?" Jayjay asked doggedly.

"Certainly. I watched them check it myself. I--" He brought himself up
short and said: "Give me that torch, will you? I want to take a look
at the thing."

Jayjay handed him the flashlight and grasped the captain's belt. With
one arm in a splint, Al-Amin couldn't hold the flashlight and hold on
to anything solid at the same time.

"I don't see anything wrong," he said after a minute.

"Neither do I," Jayjay admitted. "But the way it acts--"

"I got the toothpicks!" Jeffry Hull propelled himself across the room
toward the three men who were clustered around the screamer.

Jayjay took the toothpicks, selected one, and inserted it into the
female plug. "Hard to see those threads with all the tubes blocking
that plug," he said offhandedly.

Hull said: "Captain, did you know that the refrigerator is off?"

"Yes," said Atef Al-Amin absently. "It isn't connected to the
emergency circuits. Wastes too much energy. What do you find, Mr.
Kelvin?"

After a second's silence, Jayjay said: "Let me check once more." He
was running the tip of the toothpick across the threads in the female
plug, counting as he did so. "Uh-huh," he said finally, "just as I
thought. Ther