In the silence they all heard her laugh. Several men moved uncomfortably. "He's leading her toward the couch—oh-oh—she stopped to look at the radar screen."
It was the auxiliary radar, not the important one in the control room. "What's he doing?"
"Telling her—he's edging her to the couch again—now she's asking about the Bassett Blaster. They're fooling around with the gun. He's showing her how it works—trying to put his hands—!"
This last was lost, for there was a sudden, resounding blast. Their bunks, the entire ship, trembled.
The meaning was clear to all. They flattened to their bunks, and waited tensely. They heard a sound, the sound of a foot kicking a body. A hand scratched tentatively along the wall.
No one moved. "She killed him." O'Connors voice was no more than a slight whisper. "Lay low—lay low."'
Then a woman's voice said, in perfect English, "All right, you men. Come out of there."
The door was found and flung open. Catataphinaria stood in the dim light—still holding the Blaster. She said again, more sharply, "I said, Come out of there!"
Clumsily, they came down from their bunks.
"Now," she said, as she had them all against the wall, "call down the others."