"Yes," I said.
He passed me and went into the smoking room door nearby.
I stood a moment at one of the deck windows, gazing at the stars; and
for no reason at all I realized I was tense. Johnson was a great one
for his regular sleep--it was wholly unlike him to be roaming about
the ship at such an hour. Had he been watching me? I told myself it
was nonsense. I was suspicious of everyone, everything, this voyage.
I heard another step. Captain Carter appeared from his chart room
which stood in the center of the narrowing open deck space near the
bow. I joined him at once.
"Who was that?" he half whispered.
"Johnson."
"Oh, yes." He fumbled in his uniform; his gaze swept the moonlit deck.
"Gregg--take this." He handed me a small metal box. I stuffed it at
once into my shirt.
"An insulator," he added swiftly. "Snap is in his office. Take it to
him, Gregg. Stay with him--you'll have a measure of security--and you
can help him to make the photographs." He was barely whispering. "I
won't be with you--no use making it look as though we were doing
anything unusual. If your graphs show anything--or if Snap picks up
any message--bring it to me." He added aloud, "Well, it will be cool
enough presently, Gregg."
He sauntered away toward his chart room.
"By heavens, what a relief!" Snap murmured as the current went on. We
had wired his cubby with the insulator; within its barrage we could at
least talk with a degree of freedom.
"You've seen George Prince, Gregg?"
"No. He's assigned A20. But I saw his sister. Snap, no one ever
mentioned--"
Snap had heard of her, but he hadn't known that she was listed for
this voyage. "A real beauty, so I've heard. Accursed shame for a
decent girl to have a brother like that."