"Might as well get some use out of Bandit's automatic weapons," Gotch dryly concluded.
Crag disagreed. He didn't think it likely that any attack would take the form of a simple armed assault. "That would give us time to get off a message," he argued. "They can't afford that."
Gotch pointed out that neither could they launch a missile while still in space. "A homing weapon couldn't differentiate between Aztec, Baker and Bandit," he said.
"But they'd still have to have some sure fire quick-kill method," Crag insisted.
"You may be right. Have you a better plan?"
Crag did, and outlined it in some detail. Gotch listened without comment until he had finished.
"Could work," he said finally. "However, it's going to shoot your schedule, even if you could do it."
"Why can't we?"
"You're not supermen, Commander," he said tersely. "The psychiatrists here inform us that your crew—as individuals—should be near the breaking point. We know the cumulative strain. To be truthful with you, we've been getting gray hair over that prospect."
"Nuts to the psychiatrists," Crag declared with a certainty he didn't feel. "Men don't break when their survival depends on their sanity."