"I think—" He held up a hand abruptly. His ears, attuned to life aboard a spacer, had caught the sound of someone coming up the landing ramp and into the salon a few decks above. Then faint as if it were a hundred yards away but audible in the silence of the ship, they could hear the triple-tongued piping of a man.
He was answered by Carolyn Niles. "Speak Terran!"
Farradyne nudged Norma. "That's the line I used and it worked," he chuckled.
Carolyn's companion said, "Why use this mono-voice junk?"
"You know the rules. It's not smart to relax, you idiot."
"All right. So what's the answer?"
"Ask me in Terran."
"All right, Your Highness. I was merely inquiring as to the imminence of your take-off."
"Don't be insolent! We're taking off as soon as we're all aboard. Now get along with your work!"
The next voice scared them both out of a year's growth; they had been straining to hear Carolyn and her companion high above them in the salon, and now, with every nerve tense, the sound of the ship's intercom roared at them with terrifying volume. "Carolyn Niles! Go aloft, will you, and put the—" there came a triple-voiced syllable "—into stand-by!"