Pink activated the intercom screen, told the crew briefly what had happened. Then he raised the mutiny gates, giving a sigh of relief. "Get going," he told his officers.
"What about the girl?" asked Jerry suspiciously. "She could still be one of them."
"Leave her with me. I have six bullets in this thing and forty-eight more after that." He looked at Circe, who was pale and weary. "Sit down, O. O. Smith," he said gently. "I think you're all right. But you realize we can't chance anything till we have proof."
"I understand," she said listlessly, and dropped into a foamseat, staring at the fallen giant. The others trooped out.
With the door shut, Pink walked to the head of the creature; it was a swollen and hideous head, but by rights it should have been even more hideous, should have had half a dozen wounds. The yellow hide was unmarked. Pink said, "You're alive. Can you speak?"
"Certainly." The lips barely moved. "I am but immobilized for the moment."
"What caused it?"
The being sneered at him without answering. Pink said, "I can keep you in this state for a long time, chum. And when we've shown our heels to your brothers, I'm going to dump you out an air-lock and let you drift around between the stars."
He knelt beside it. "What did you do to the space drive?"