"I think I'd better go alone, chief," he informed the Port Admiral one day. "I'm not quite as sure as I was as to just what they've got."
"What difference does that make?" Haynes demanded.
"Lives," was the terse reply.
"Your life is what I'm thinking about. You'll be safer with the big ship, you can't deny that."
"We-ll, perhaps. But I don't want—"
"What you want is immaterial."
"How about a compromise? I'll take Worsel and Van Buskirk. When the Overlords hypnotized him that time it made Bus so mad that he's been taking treatments from Worsel. Nobody can hypnotize him now, Worsel says, not even an Overlord."
"No compromise. I can't order you to take the Dauntless, since your authority is transcendent. You can take anything you like. I can, however, and shall, order the Dauntless to ride your tail wherever you go."
"QX, I'll have to take her then." Kinnison's voice grew somber. "But suppose half the crew don't get back—and that I do?"
"Isn't that what happened on the Brittania?"