Kennett permitted himself a smile as he moved swiftly to the controls. "Good! I knew you'd think that way."
Marnay said: "Don't flatter me, I never think. There's always been idiocy in my family and this proves it."
They'd been about twelve hours out when Kennett handed over the controls. He moved down the corridor into the middle part of the ship. Marnay heard him pounding and moving around back there for hours, but couldn't imagine what he was doing.
When he returned, Kennett pulled a lever and a heavy double door slid across, isolating the control room and part of the corridor from the rest of the ship. He volunteered no explanation, however.
On Marnay's off-duty he moved back toward those doors, experimentally. Kennett stopped him with: "Sorry, but this will have to be our quarters from now on."
Marnay nodded to himself. He was a newsman, a good one, and he knew people. He could see that Kennett was restless and impatient for action despite the fact that he was deliberately holding the Vera's speed down.
But Marnay said nothing, and on the second day out, Kennett seemed a little more talkative. He said: "I guess you've been wondering why I want so much to get Prather."
Marnay shrugged, but looked at his companion shrewdly. "Wondering? No, I'm not wondering. Only last month Tri-Planet Metals boosted the reward up to a half million."
"That so? I didn't know that. But then, I haven't thought much about the reward angle." Kennett sounded as though he meant it. He went on: "You know how Prather works, I suppose."