“What are you doing in here, Thomas?” I asked. “Don’t you know we’re in action against a hostile ship?”
Thomas looked surprised. “This here’s my action station, Cap’n,” he said. “I’m a Waste Recovery Technician, First Class, I keep the recovery system operatin’.”
“You just stay in here?” I asked.
“No, sir,” Thomas said. “I check through the whole system. We got three main disposal points and lots a little ones, an’ I have to keep everything operatin’. Otherwise this ship would be in a bad way, Cap’n.”
“How did you get in here?” I asked. I looked around the small room. There was only one door, and the gray bulk of the converter unit which broke down wastes into their component elements for re-use nearly filled the tiny space.
“I come in through the duct, Cap’n,” Thomas said. “I check the ducts every day. You know, Cap’n,” he said shaking his head, “they’s some bad laid-out ductin’ in this here system. If I didn’t keep after it, you’d be gettin’ clogged ducts all the time. So I jist go through the system and keep her clear.”
From somewhere, hope began again. “Where do these ducts lead?” I asked. I wondered how the man could ignore the mutiny going on around him.
“Well, sir, one leads to the mess; that’s the big one. One leads to the wardroom, and the other one leads up to the Bridge.”
My God, I thought, the Bridge.
“How big are they?” I asked. “Could I get through them?”