Betty didn't even glance in my direction while she was putting on her space-suit. She gave me one look as she went out through the air lock, and one was enough. It was pure poison.
V
I was glad before morning that the nights on Vesta were only six hours long. Soon after Betty left, a couple of Stony's gorillas went over to the ship and sent back the two that had been left on watch. The new ones weren't any prettier to look at, and they scoffed up just as big a share of rations as the others had, and with even less manners, if possible. After that one of them got out a deck of mouldy-looking cards, and the whole crew sat down to a game of poker.
They had me tied down on the chair again by this time, and after the second bottle of juice had been around once or twice they hit on the quaint idea of using me for stakes. Each winner of a pot was to have the right to choose which portion of my anatomy he would separate from the rest of me by force and violence in case I didn't come through with the power slug in the morning.
By the time they had reached the stage of marking out their respective territories with chalk, Stony made them quit. He told them that when he got through with me there wouldn't be enough left for them to argue about.
My ribs weren't doing me any good, either....
Someone was cuffing me on the head. I opened my eyes and it was a bright day.
"On your feet," Stony gritted. "You and me have got a date for a little game of truth or consequences. Remember?"
I staggered up and scrubbed some of the fatigue out of my face with my hands. Someone shoved a bulger at me. I saw that it was mine, and the tanks and ration kits were full. I crawled in and clamped down the fishbowl.