Captain Al-Amin nodded slowly. "That's right. The test showed that the oxyhydrogen section worked fine. It showed that the starter worked fine. It showed that the radiowave broadcaster worked fine. But it didn't show that they'd work together."
Smith said a short, five-letter word. It was French; the Anglo-Saxon equivalent has only four letters. "What good does all this theorizing do us?" he added. "The question is: How do we fix the thing?"
"Well, can't you put another turn on the thread?" Hull asked.
"Oh, sure," Smith said sarcastically. "You give me a lathe and the proper tools, and I'll make you all the connections you want. Hell, if I had the proper tools, I could turn us out a new spaceship, and we could all go home in comfort."
"Couldn't you drill out the metal with that drill?" Hull asked plaintively.
"No!" Smith said harshly. "How do you expect me to get a quarter-inch bit into a space less than a sixteenth of an inch in diameter?"
Hull wasn't used to machinist's terms. "How big is an inch?"
"Two point five four oh oh oh five centimeters," Smith said in a nasty tone of voice. "Does that help you any?"
"I'm just trying to help!" Hull snapped. "You've got no call to get sarcastic with me!"