"All right, then," said Calhoun, "if you're going to be emotional about it! Pass your cup."
He reached out and Murgatroyd put the tiny object in his hand. He refilled it and passed it back.
"But watch yourself," he advised. "We're landing on Tallien Three. It's just been transferred to us from another sector. It's been neglected. There's been no Med Service inspection for years. There could be misunderstandings."
Murgatroyd said, "Chee!" and squatted down to drink.
Calhoun looked at a clock and opened his mouth to speak again, when a taped voice said abruptly:
"When the gong sounds, breakout will be five seconds off."
There was a steady, monotonous tick, tock, tick, tock, like a metronome. Calhoun got up and made a casual examination of the ship's instruments. He turned on the vision screens. They were useless in overdrive, of course, Now they were ready to inform him about the normal cosmos as soon as the ship returned to it. He put away the coffee things. Murgatroyd was reluctant to give up his mug until the last possible lick. Then he sat back and elaborately cleaned his whiskers.
Calhoun sat down in the control chair and waited.
"Bong!" said the loud-speaker, and Murgatroyd scuttled under a chair. He held on with all four paws and his furry tail. The speaker said, "Breakout in five seconds ... four ... three ... two ... one ..."