"Three squadrons, now. And a fourth is just heading out from Procyon. We'll be picked up—"
Jock Norton came awake with a cry. "Shut that damned thing off!" he roared.
"Why?" demanded Andrews belligerently.
"It's a waste of power."
"This thing?" sneered Andrews.
"That thing. It draws one point three kilowatts. That's plenty important for a lifeship."
"Look," suggested Andrews, "why don't we call back and have 'em pick us up?"
"Because nobody has ever found any directional quality about the infrawaves. That's why we can't use 'em for detecting, ranging, and locating. If they echoed, we might be able to use 'em somehow. But they're not even directional, let alone echoing. Not only that, but they are instantaneous in transmission, so even if they did echo they couldn't be used for ranging. So we'll not waste power howling for more help. We spend a bit every hour, because we want to let 'em know we're still alive. But let's not waste any more than we have to."
Andrews shut off the infrawave receiver. "It was interesting," he said. "But I suppose we can always assume that they are on the search." He shivered. "Is it getting cold in here, or am I getting exhausted?"