"Yes we will. And besides, if I'd let them stay, they would have blasted this ship out of the sky. And besides that, I had to give them something to let you loose—"
"Suppose you both shut up," the CO suggested, "and come up to the bridge and let me have the straight of this."
The three of us went into the control cabin which was unoccupied at the moment. The CO motioned us to chairs. We peeled off our bulgers and sat down.
"Now—Miss Day, I believe? I'm Allison, Commander, in charge. Let's have your version."
Betty gave him the story of all that had happened since I landed on Vesta, and enough of the background to make the story clear as far as she knew it. Allison buzzed for the medical officer when she got to the part about my ribs, and I was untaped and taped again. I was glad enough by now to have someone else worrying about them for awhile besides me.
Aside from that he made no comment until Betty had finished. Then he turned on me, and his eye was harder than ever.
"Well, Denby? I realize that you're not sworn in as a Patrolman, and I suppose you thought you were acting chivalrously. But it's rather a tradition that all spacemen consider themselves unofficial deputies of the Patrol when the occasion arises, and it seems to me that even a civilian might have kept his mouth shut about that slug. As for their shooting us out of the sky, we would have something to say about that. We know how to operate against land batteries."
"I don't doubt that," I assured him. "But I think you'll agree that a ship in space with no drive is an easier set-up."
"No drive? What do you mean?"