Gavin turned to the girl. "You heard the Captain."
She nodded weakly. There was a large greenish bruise on the gleaming flesh of her shoulder which Gavin hadn't noticed before. He said, "You'd better go to your cabin. Patch yourself up." He raised a sandy eyebrow. "That costume could stand a repair job, too."
Nadia glanced at herself, at the missing breast plate, the ripped skirt, and wailed, "Oh, dear. It's ruined."
"You're lucky that you're not, too," drawled Gavin dryly.
"Ruined? Me?" She shot him a glance from her long black eyes. "Why Mr. Murdock, I didn't know you were so impetuous," and fled up the ladder.
Gavin stared after her. He made an uncomplimentary but expressive remark under his breath.
The jetman and master mechanic stood their regular four-hour watches, but Gavin went unrelieved. He spent the first twelve hours examining the Nova's space drive. He could discover nothing extraordinary about it. It was capable of driving the slave ship at an acceleration of five G's, but several of the latest model Terran patrol spacers were able to do as well. It left him completely mystified.
No great damage had been done the Nova, but, besides sundry fractured arms, legs, and ribs, seven men had been killed outright. The chief engineer was recovering from a light case of concussion. Gavin was the only qualified engineer aboard able to stand watch.
He drank gallons of coffee during the next twelve hours, trying desperately to stay awake. He brooded over the fact that with one dead engineer and another laid up with a fractured leg, he and the chief would have to stand four on and four off during the entire twelve sidereal months, which was the minimum time required to make the crossing between Venus and Jupiter.