O'Brine's jaw muscles bulged, but he held his temper. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that, Foster. We have to get along until the asteroid is safely in an orbit around earth. After that, I'm going to take a great deal of pleasure in feeding you to the spacefish, piece by piece."
It was Rip's turn to get red. "I'm sorry, Commander. Accept my apologies." He certainly had a lot to learn about space etiquette. Apparently there was a time for spacemen and Planeteers to fight each other, and a time for them to cooperate like friends. He hoped he'd catch on after a while.
"I'm sure you'll be able to figure out what to do with this stuff," O'Brine said. "If you need help, let me know."
And Rip knew his apology was accepted.
The deputy commander arrived, drew O'Brine aside, and whispered in his ear. The commander let out an exclamation and started out of the room. At the door he turned. "Better come along, Foster."
Rip followed as the commander led the way to his own quarters. At the door, two space officers were waiting, their faces grave.
O'Brine motioned them to chairs. "All right. Let's[pg 060] have it."
The senior space officer held out a sheet of flimsy. It was pale blue, the color used for highly confidential documents. "Sir, this came in Space Council special cipher."
"Read it aloud," O'Brine ordered.
"Yessir. It's addressed to you, this ship. From Planeteer Intelligence, Marsport. 'Consops cruiser departed general direction your area. Agents report crew Altair may have leaked data re asteroid. Take appropriate action.' It's signed 'Williams, SOS, Commanding.'"