The lighter flame snapped off and Adams straightened in his chair.
"Eh?" he asked.
Sutton hugged himself. Caught him off base. Threw him for a loss. A passed pawn, he told himself. That's what it is…a passed pawn.
He said aloud, "You know by now, of course, that I flew home a ship that could not be flown. You know I had no space-suit and that the ports were broken and the hull was riddled. I had no food and water and 61 is eleven light-years away."
Adams nodded bleakly. "Yes, we know all that."
"How I got back or what happened to me has nothing to do with my report and I don't intend to tell you."
Adams rumbled at him, "Then why mention it at all?"
"Just so we'll understand one another," Sutton said. "So that you won't ask a lot of questions that will get no answer. It will save a lot of time."
Adams leaned back in his chair and puffed his pipe contentedly.
"You were sent out to get information, Ash," he reminded Sutton. "Any kind of information. Anything that would make Cygni more understandable. You represented Earth and you were paid by Earth and you surely owe Earth something."