"Quit crabbing. He promised you that you could snoop around and take pictures and satisfy your ghoulish appeties as soon as the board is finished. In the meantime, enjoy . the luxury of eight hours of sleep for a change. No watches, none of any sort."
, "Say, that's right!" agreed Matt. "I hadn't thought about it, but there's no point in watching for rocks when you're tied down and can't duck."
"As the crew of the Pathfinder know only too well."
Last Muster was held for the Pathfinder on the following day. The bodies themselves had been sealed into a compartment of the dead ship; muster took place in the wardroom of the Aes Triplex. It was rather lengthy, as it was necessary to read the services of three different faiths before the Captain concluded with the Patrol's own all-inclusive farewell: "Now we shape our orbit home-"
It so happened that there were just enough persons present to answer the roll. The Aes Triplex's company was a captain and eleven others. For the Pathfinder there were exactly eleven-six patrol officers, one civilian planetologist, and the Four who are present at every muster. Captain Yancey called off the Pathfinder's roll and the others answered, one after the other, from Commander Miller down to Tex-while The Long Watch, muted down to a requiem, played softly over the ship's speaker system.
Matt found his throat almost too dry to answer. Tex's chubby cheeks ran with tears and he made no effort to wipe them.
Lieutenant Brunn was a source of information for the first couple of days of the investigation. He described the Pathfinder as in good shape, except for the damaged door. On the third day he suddenly shut up. "The Captain doesn't want the board's findings discussed until he has had time to study them."
Matt passed the word on to the others. "What's cooking?" demanded Tex. "What can there possibly be to be secret about?"
"How should I know?"
"I've got a theory," said Oscar.