nished the wine. "If this mess is ever over, Paul, or you
get a chance, drop down," he said. "I like a man who knows good
things--and I liked your reaction when you spotted that Haydn for
Hohmann's recording. Muller pretends to know music, but he likes the
flashiness of Mohlwehr."

Hell, I'd cut my eye teeth on that stuff; my father had been first
violinist in an orchestra, and had considered me a traitor when I was
born without perfect pitch. We talked about Sibelius for awhile,
before I left to go out into the stinking rest of the ship. Grundy was
sitting before the engines, staring at them. Wilcox had said the big
ape liked to watch them move ... but he was supposed to be locked up.

* * * * *

I stopped by Lomax's door; the shutter was open, and I could see the
big man writhing about, but he was apparently unconscious. Napier came
back from somewhere, and nodded quickly.

"Concussion," he said. "He's still out, but it shouldn't be too
serious."

"Grundy's loose." I'd expected surprise, but there was none. "Why?"

He shrugged. "Muller claimed he needed his mate free to handle the
crew, and that there was no place the man could go. I think it was
because the men are afraid they'll be outnumbered by your group." His
mouth smiled, but it was suddenly bitter. "Jenny talked Pietro into
agreeing with Muller."

Mess was on when I reached the group. I wasn't hungry. The wine had
cut the edge from my appetite, and the slow increase of poison in the
air was getting me, as it was the others. Sure, carbon dioxide isn't a
real poison--but no organism can live in its own waste, all the same.
I had a rotten headache. I sat there playing a little game I'd
invented--trying to figure which ones I'd eliminate if some had to
die. Jenny laughed up at Muller, and I added him to the list. Then I
changed it, and put her in his place. I was getting sick of the little
witch, though I knew it would be different if she'd been laughing up
at me. And then, because of the sick-calf look on Bill Sanderson's
face as he stared at Eve, I added him, though I'd always liked the
guy. Eve, surprisingly, had as many guys after her as Jenny; but she
didn't seem interested. Or maybe she did--she'd pulled her hair back
and put on a dress that made her figure look good. Either flattery was
working, or she was entering into the last-days feeling most of us
had.

Napier came in and touched my shoulder. "Lomax is conscious