Johnny rolled over, swung his feet down, and sat up, brushing the fat
man aside. "What you guys need," Johnny chuckled, "is a nice kind
policeman to feed you candy and take you home. You're real lost."
Ives said, "Johnny, take it easy and be quiet, huh? We'll figure a way
out of this."
"I already have, scrawny," said Johnny offensively. He got up, strode to
the port. "What a bunch of deadheads," he growled. He went two steps
past the port and grasped the control-wheel which was mounted on the
other side of the port from the button.
"Oh my God," breathed Anderson delightedly, "the manual! Anybody else
want to be Captain?"
"Factor of safety," said Hoskins, smiting himself on the brow. "There's
a manual control for everything on this scow that there can be. And we
stand here staring at it--"
"If we don't win the furlined teacup...." Ives laughed.
Johnny hauled on the wheel.
It wouldn't budge.
"Here--" Ives began to approach.
"Get away," said Johnny. He put his hands close together on the rim of
the wheel, settled his big shoulders, and hauled. With a sharp crack the
wheel broke off in his hands.
Johnny staggered, then stood. He looked at the wheel and then up at the
broken end of its shaft, gleaming deep below the surface of the
bulkhead.
"Oh, fine...." Ives whispered.
Suddenly Johnny threw back his head and loosened a burst of high,
hysterical laughter. It echoed back and forth between the metal walls
like a torrent from a burst dam. It went on and on, as if now that the
dam was gone, the flood would run forever.
Anderson called out "Johnny!" three times, but the note of command had
no effect. Paresi walked to the pilot and with the immemorial practice
slapped him sharply across the cheeks. "Johnny! Stop it!"
The laughter broke off as suddenly as it had begun. Johnny's chest
heaved, drawing in breath with great, rasping near-sobs. Slowly they
died away. He extended the wheel toward the Captain.
"It broke off," he said, finally, dully, without emphasis.
Then he leaned back against the hull, slowly slid down until he was
sitting on the deck. "Broke right off," he said.
Ives twined his fat fingers together and bent them until the knuckles
cracked. "Now what?"
"I suggest," said Paresi, in an extremely controlled tone, "that we all
sit down and think over the whole thing very carefully."
Hoskins had been staring hypnotically at the broken shaft deep in the
wall. "I wonder," he said at length, "which way Johnny turned that
wheel."
"Counter-clockwise," said Ives. "You saw him."
"I know that," said Hoskins. "I mean, which way: the right way, or the
wrong way?"
"Oh." There was a short silence. Then Ives said, "I guess we'll never
know, now."
"Not until we get back to Earth," said Paresi quickly.
"You say 'until', or 'unless'?" Ives demanded.
"I said 'until', Ives," said Paresi levelly, "and watch your mouth."
"Sometimes," said the fat man with a dangerous joviality, "you pick the
wrong way to say the right thing, Nick." Then he clapped the slender
doctor on the back. "But I'll be good. We sow no panic seed, do we?"
"Much better not to," said the Captain. "It's being done efficiently
enough from outside."
"You are convinced it's being done from outside?" asked Hoskins, peering
at him owlishly.
"I'm ... convinced of very little," said the Captain heavily. He went to
the acceleration couch and sat down. "I want out," he said. He waved
away the professional comment he could see forming on Paresi's lips and
went on, "Not claustrophobia, Nick. Getting out of the ship's more
important than just relieving our feelings. If the trouble with the port
is being caused by some fantastic _something_ outside this ship, we'll
achieve a powerful victory over it, purely by ignoring it."
"It broke off," murmured Johnny.
"Ignore _that_," snorted Ives.
"You keep talking about this thing being caused by something outside,"
said Paresi. His tone was almost complaining.
"Got a better hypothesis?" asked Hoskins.
"Hoskins," said the Captain, "isn't there some way we can get out? What
about the tubes?"
"Take a shipyard to move those power-plants," said Hoskins, "and even if
it could be done, those radioactive tubes would fry you before you
crawled a third of the way."
"We should have a lifeboat," said Ives to no one in particular.
"What in time does a ship like the _Ambassador_ need with a lifeboat?"
asked Hoskins in genuine amazement.