Guy went on, telling his partly-memorized tale, until he was again questioned.
"You hadn't felt the brunt of the electrolysis before the Mardinex was attacked?"
"It had just started. The final explosion broke my straps and destroyed the electrolysis equipment."
"And you couldn't make your way to a lifeship at that time?"
"I did as soon as I came to, and realized that I was alone. The least damaged lifeship required repairs that were completed several hours later. By that time we were passing through the midst of Martian territory and I thought it best to lie low."
"You preferred to take the chance of orbiting rather than running the Martian gauntlet?"
"Orbiting was no chance, sir. Running the gauntlet would have been sheer suicide since the Martians were extremely interested in the Mardinex. They had most of their grand fleet out watching. Only my velocity—which prevented any attempt to stop me—and my acceleration—which prevented any attempt to try to match my speed—got me past safely. I am certain that they put a pointer on me as we went past."
"By what reasoning?"
"I would have done it, sir, if the cases had been reversed."