He struggled to his feet. Then saw the other man, not moving, crumpled to the deck. A jagged fragment of metal was embedded in his chest. There was another sickening lurch and another. They were being clobbered with everything the Tinker-ship had.
But somehow he got to the wounded man's side. The hard eyes opened for but a moment, and the lips moved. The sounds they made were but a whisper in his earphones.
"Six ... nine-X. Point ... oh one-Y. Eight six. Z—"
And then the eyes opened wide, and the lips closed, and the man was dead.
The ship shuddered again, and through his helmet Kane heard a dull, booming explosion, and he knew the craft had been fatally hit. Another second and it would be pulling apart at the seams. All Tinker guns were on-target and firing at will.
The locks! Where the hell would the locks be on this strangely designed ship?
He breathed again when the hatch popped open because of the dwindling air pressure. He was aware of the conglomeration of noises in his earphones. Somewhere a man was screaming. There had been men screaming for the last full minute, but only now were the sounds beginning to register on his taut brain.
"Where in hell is Zetterman?"
"Don't know—aft with the guy we were sent for I guess. Oh God."