"You will take it this time. Drake will take over the duty the next time it is yours. I wish to talk to him." He turned to me. "Will you come into my cabin, Drake?"
"Yes, sir," I said.
I followed him through the door and we entered the chartroom. You don't walk into that room, you drop into it. The corridor which separates the two parts of Spartan's cabin is equipped with small doors opposite each other and in the approximate center of the craft. You must pull yourself up to the opening and slide through by aid of centrifugal force.
Spartan was standing opposite the door when I came through. I dropped to the floor beside him and he gestured for me to sit down on the floor.
"Drake," he said, "I understand you had some difficulty bringing Grover's body into the ship after you found it."
This was the first time he mentioned what I knew he knew. "A very minor difficulty, sir," I said.
"For your information, Warner Joel saw the entire episode on the television screens in the control room. You were in view most of the time. It looked as if your safety line broke."
"It became disengaged, sir," I replied.
"Disengaged? How did that happen?"
"I don't know," I said. "And, as you recall, I had a short supply of oxygen in my tank. I used Grover's tank to jet to the ship."