Craig jumped. The voice seemed to speak from the empty air beside him.
"Don't be startled," the voice said. "This is a simple communication mechanism for transmitting voice tones. All space ships have them."
"All—" Craig caught himself. He had started to say that no space ship had such a device, that he had never heard of a method of transmitting a voice through a steel hull.
"What do you want?" the voice said.
"We want to talk."
"Talk to Captain Martin."
"This is hardly a matter for the captain. There's a party inside. We thought perhaps you would like to join it. Your friends are having themselves a whale of a time. We came to take over the duties of anyone who remained in the ship so you can join them," Craig said, hastily improvising.
"And while you are on duty, you would explore the ship! Is that your plan?"
"What?" Craig gasped. His first dazed thought was that his mind was being read.
"Well, of all things!" Mary said, her voice hot. "Is there something to hide inside the ship?"