"I'm not sure yet," Jayjay answered. "When did you last have the
screamer units inspected?"
"Just before we took off from Jove Station," Al-Amin said. "That's the
law. All emergency equipment has to be checked before takeoff. Why?
What's the matter?"
"Did they check this unit?" Jayjay asked doggedly.
"Certainly. I watched them check it myself. I--" He brought himself up
short and said: "Give me that torch, will you? I want to take a look
at the thing."
Jayjay handed him the flashlight and grasped the captain's belt. With
one arm in a splint, Al-Amin couldn't hold the flashlight and hold on
to anything solid at the same time.
"I don't see anything wrong," he said after a minute.
"Neither do I," Jayjay admitted. "But the way it acts--"
"I got the toothpicks!" Jeffry Hull propelled himself across the room
toward the three men who were clustered around the screamer.
Jayjay took the toothpicks, selected one, and inserted it into the
female plug. "Hard to see those threads with all the tubes blocking
that plug," he said offhandedly.