"In view of what happened to the other two ships. How do you know this one hasn't been sabotaged, too? In your understandable anxiousness to get this girl...."
"I'm sure," George said evenly. "I tell you this ship is all right."
"Well, how do you know? Obviously, you knew the other two ships were all right, too; only they weren't...."
The Oligarch restrained an impulse to command. "This is too important a matter to delay with explanations."
The four soldiers clustering around the major seemed ominous.
"Our doctor will be here in a moment. Immediate aid can be given the girl."
George's hands trembled with rage and maddening anxiety. "I am going to takeoff immediately. Explanations can come later when the girl has been treated. I will hold you personally responsible for any further delay." He went toward the control room.
The major started to follow.
The Oligarch whirled to face him. "You will be responsible for her death. I am going to leave. If necessary, I will take all of you with me. You will have to use force to stop me."
The major stood with his hands clenched into fists at his sides. There was silence. The fists slowly unclenched.