said, holding himself back with an effort that turned his face red,
"we'll start clearing this up. And not a word of this."

Napier, Lomax, Pietro and I went back to the scientists' quarters,
leaving Muller and Jenny conferring busily. That was at fifteen
o'clock. At sixteen o'clock, Pietro issued orders against smoking.

Dinner was at eighteen o'clock. We sat down in silence. I reached for
my plate without looking. And suddenly little Phil Riggs was on his
feet, raving. "Whole wheat! Nothing but whole wheat bread! I'm sick of
it--sick! I won't--"

"Sit down!" I told him. I'd bitten into one of the rolls on the table.
It was white bread, and it was the best the cook had managed so far.
There was corn instead of baked beans, and he'd done a fair job of
making meat loaf. "Stop making a fool of yourself, Phil."

He slumped back, staring at the white bun into which he'd bitten.
"Sorry. Sorry. It's this air--so stuffy. I can't breathe. I can't see
right--"

Pietro and I exchanged glances, but I guess we weren't surprised.
Among intelligent people on a ship of that size, secrets wouldn't
keep. They'd all put bits together and got part of the answer. Pietro
shrugged, and half stood up to make an announcement.

* * * * *

"Beg pardon, sirs." We jerked our heads around to see Bullard standing
in the doorway.

He was scared stiff, and his words got stuck in his throat. Then he
found his voice again. "I heard as how Hendrix went crazy and poisoned
the plants and went and killed himself and we'll all die if we don't
find some trick, and what I want to know, please, sirs, is are what
they're saying right and you know all kinds of tricks and can you save
us because I can't go on like this not knowing and hearing them
talking outside the galley and none of them telling me--"

Lomax cut into his flood of words. "You'll live, Bullard. Farmer
Hendrix did get killed in an accident to some of the plants, but we've
still got air enough. Captain Muller has asked the help of a few of
us, but it's only a temporary emergency."

Bullard stared at him, and slowly some of the fear left his
face--though not all of it. He turned and left with a curt bow of his
head, while Pietro added a few details that weren't exactly lies to
Lomax's hasty cover-up, along with a grateful glance at the chemist.
It seemed to work, for the time being--at least enough for Riggs to
begin making nasty remarks about cooked past