"Whatever that first one did to burn him, that's the weapon they used on him and Sparks. Both of them were burnt to a...."
"Okay," he said. "Okay, okay."
"So Daley said they'd try to find us; but everyone got mixed up in the caves, and there hasn't been a sign or sound of anyone for half an hour."
"Half an hour?" The flesh chilled down his back. "How long have I been out?"
"I don't know. A couple of hours."
"My Lord! The Elephant's Child is to be blown up two hours from the minute we left her!"
"Daley said Silver was going to countermand that order."
Pink groaned heavily. "He can't! Jackson had my absolute command on it, and Jackson would see himself and Silver and the whole lot of them dead before he'd fail to carry out a command of mine. That was important; we calculated that two hours was more than enough to expend all the ammo, and that if we weren't back by then, the hull would be crawling with giants. Every bullet aboard came out with us. We couldn't take the chance of the ship blasting off with giants on her, maybe in the form of gnats or smoke or—no," he finished, "Silver, if he tried to change my order, is either dead or unconscious or in the brig right now." He lifted his left hand. "I've got to check the time," he said, and for an instant switched on the dial of his glove watch.
It was a hundred and two minutes after landing time.
He had eighteen minutes to get back to the Elephant's Child.