Surprisingly, Pietro laughed. "I'm afraid I'd put up a poor showing against the captain, Paul. My apologies, Captain Muller."
Muller hesitated, but finally took Pietro's hand, and dropped the issue.
"We've got enough plants," he said, changing the subject. "We'll have to cut out all smoking and other waste of air. And I'll need Jenny to work the hydroponics, with any help she requires. We've got to get more seeds planted, and fast. Better keep word of this to ourselves. We—"
A shriek came from Jenny then. She'd been busy at one of the lockers in the chamber. Now she began ripping others open and pawing through things inside rubber-gloves. "Captain Muller! The seeds! The seeds!"
Hal took one look, and his face turned gray.
"Chromazone," he reported. "Every bag of seed has been filled with a solution of chromazone! They're worthless!"
"How long before the plants here will seed?" Muller asked sharply.
"Three months," Jenny answered. "Captain Muller, what are we going to do?"