"Don't give me any lip, or so help me, I'll report you" for AWOL-jumping ship."
Silently the cadet did as ordered. The instructor leaned inside to see that Vargas actually anchored himself, then straightened out. "Come, gentlemen- we'll start again-and no monkey-shines. This is a drill, not a tea party."
Presently Matt said, "Sergeant Hanako-"
"Yes? Who is it?"
"Dodson. Number three. Suppose we had all pulled loose?"
"We'd 'ave had to work our way back on our rocket units."
Matt thought about it. "Suppose we didn't have reaction, units?"
"Nothing much-under these circumstances. The officer of the watch knows we're outside; the radio watch is guarding our frequency. They would just have tracked us by radar until they could man a scooter and come get us. Just the same-listen, all of "you-just because they've got you wrapped in cotton batting is no reason to behave like a bunch of school girls. I don't know of any nastier, or lonelier, way to die than all by yourself in a space suit, with your oxygen running out." He paused. "I saw one once, after they found him and fetched him back."
They were rounding the side of the ship, and the bulging sphere of the Earth had been rising over their metal horizon.
Suddenly the Sun burst into view.