Artie had stepped outside in the hall. When he saw me step out of the rec room doorway, he motioned me down the hall farther. Gloom was all over his face, even in his motions. He said:
"Sam, I don't know what's going on around here between Willy, Goil, and you. But I thought you'd like to know Goil was in to see me a little while ago. Before I had much of a chance to think about it, I gave him the figures and tapes for that course I plotted for Willy. I don't know how Goil knew about them, but he asked for them directly."
"Which figures, Art?" I asked anxiously.
"Why, the ones I made for you. Is there something wrong, Sam?"
My alarm must have shown in my face. I said, "No, Art. I thought maybe you might have given him that other course I asked you to plot."
"You mean that false course? Hell, Sam. I didn't know—"
"It's all right, Art. You didn't know." And I left him standing there puzzled. I went back to the rec room.
I wasn't feeling so good by the time I got back. My seat had been taken, so I wriggled myself a place against the back wall.
Goil knew all about the fictitious course I gave him. Right there he had me cold. But he was too worried to want to do anything about it then.
The time seemed to stand still. The crew still had some fifteen minutes before they were due to abandon ship, so I left the rec room to sneak out to the galley for a cup of coffee. When I entered, there was Artie and Elmer already having coffee.