Bull, realizing that there was no sense in trying to condone what he had done, answered with the first thing that popped into his mind.
"Too bad we didn't reach the Regis, sir."
"But we sure tried," Skip added. "The ship's crew gave everything it had. If we couldn't do it, it couldn't be done."
"Nothing to say for yourselves?" Stevens persisted.
"I guess not, Sir," Skip answered for both of them.
Captain Stevens walked over and stood in the space between their beds. "Both of you seem to have missed an important point; in spite of all your experience—and all your learning."
Bull and Skip were puzzled.
"When that line from the Cerebus III to the Regis let go, what happened to us?" Stevens asked.
"Why, we were flung from here to trouble," Bull exclaimed.
Skip's face screwed up into a frown under his bandages. Then he let out a sigh of relief. "Of course."