I froze with startled horror.
The diaphragms at my ears rang with Miko's words: "I have set the time for now—two minutes—"
It seemed to startle Rankin and George Prince as much as it did me. Both exclaimed: "No!"
"No? Why not? Everyone is at his post!"
Prince repeated, "No!"
And Rankin, "But can we trust them? The stewards—the crew?"
"Eight of them are our own men! You didn't know that, Rankin? They've been aboard the Planetara for several voyages. Oh, this is no quickly planned affair, even though we let you in on it so recently. You and Johnson.... By God!"
There was a commotion in the stateroom. I crouched, tense. Miko had discovered that his insulation had been cut off! He had evidently leaped to his feet. I heard a chair overturn. And the Martian's roar: "It's off! Did you do that, Prince? By God, if I thought—"
My apparatus went suddenly dead as Miko flung on his insulation. I lost my wits in the confusion: I should have instantly taken off my vibrations. There was interference: it showed in the dark space of the ventilator grid over Miko's doorway, a snapping in the air, there—a swirl of sparks.
I heard with my unaided ears Miko's roar over his insulation: "By God, they're listening!"