didn't get it. Captain, you don't dehydrate beans and
pop-corn--they come that way naturally. You don't can them, either, if
you're saving weight. They're seeds--put them in tanks and they grow!"

He leaned back, trying to laugh at us, as Napier finished dressing his
wound. "Bullard knows where the lockers are. And corn grows pretty
fast. It'll carry you through. Do I get that favor? It's simple
enough--just to have Beethoven's Ninth on the machine and for the
whole damned lot of you to get out of my cabin and let me die in my
own way!"

Muller shrugged, but Napier found the tape and put it on. I wanted to
see the louse punished for every second of worry, for Lomax, for
Hendrix--even for Grundy. But there wasn't much use in vengeance at
this point.

"You're to get all this, Paul," Wilcox said as we got ready to leave.
"Captain Muller, everything here goes to Tremaine. I'll make a tape on
that, too. But I want it to go to a man who can appreciate Hohmann's
conducting."

Muller closed the door. "I guess it's yours," he admitted. "Now that
you're head engineer here, Mr. Tremaine, the cabin is automatically
yours. Take over. And get that junk in the fuel locker cleaned
out--except enough to keep your helpers going. They'll need it, and
we'll need their work."

"I'll clean out his stuff at the same time," I said. "I don't want any
part of it."

He smiled then, just as Eve came down with Bullard and Pietro. The fat
cook was sobered, but already beginning to fill with his own
importance. I caught snatches as they began to discuss Bullard's
knowledge of growing things. It was enough to know that we'd all
live, though it might be tough for a while.

Then Muller gestured upwards. "You've got a reduced staff, Dr. Pietro.
Do you intend going on to Saturn?"

"We'll go on," Pietro decided. And Muller nodded. They turned and
headed upwards.

I stood staring at my engines. One of them was a touch out of phase
and I went over and corrected it. They'd be mine for over two
years--and after that, I'd be back on the lists.

Eve came over beside me, and studied them with me. Finally she sighed
softly. "I guess I can see why you feel that way about them, Paul,"
she said. "And I'll be coming down to look at them. But right now,
Bullard's too busy to cook, and everyone's going to be hungry when
they find we're saved."

I chuckled, and felt the relief wash over me finally. I dropped my
hand from the control and caught hers--a nic