Ten minutes later Kurt came out. “It’s all fixed.”
“I don’t believe it,” said Ozaki, shouldering his way past Kurt. He reached down and pushed a small curved handle. There was the satisfying sound of rushing water. He next reached into the little shower compartment and turned the knob to the left. With a hiss a needle spray of cold water burst forth. The pilot looked at Kurt with awe in his eyes.
“If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t have believed it! That’s two answers you’ve earned.”
Kurt peered back into the cubicle curiously. “Well, first,” he said, “now that I’ve fixed them, what are they for?”
Ozaki explained briefly and a look of amazement came over Kurt’s face. Machinery he knew, but the idea that it could be used for something was hard to grasp.
“If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t have believed it!” he said slowly. This would be something to tell when he got home. Home! The pressing question of location popped back into his mind.
“How far are we from the garrison?” he asked.
Ozaki made a quick mental calculation.
“Roughly two light-seconds,” he said.
“How far’s that in kilometers?”