"I can and I will! Hell, what do I care what happens to them? Tony betrayed me, got me sent up for trial. Elise dropped me like a red-hot comet. And you cast the deciding vote that kicked me out of the service with a reputation that keeps me out of any ship that flies." His hand moved forcibly. "No, I'll never lift a hand to save any of you from anything!"
He slumped to the bunk, sucked absently on the cigarette, his wide shoulders shaking from the violent emotions that sped through his turbulent mind. He heard the sudden indrawn gasp of the colonel's breath, nurtured a turgid satisfaction that the other was in trouble with which he could not cope.
"You absolutely refuse to help find the girl you loved, and to endeavor to rescue her and the others?" Barber said tensely.
Sudden vicious slyness darkened Val Kenton's eyes. "I didn't say that," he countered, "before I make a definite decision, we've got a little talking to do."
"I'll promise anything within reason."
"I want back my old rating; I want command of the finest ship in the service; and I want a Presidential pardon."
Colonel Barber's face had aged twenty years; he was suddenly an old broken man. He shook his head slowly, defeat in his gray features.
"I can't do any of those things, Val," he said slowly, "and you know it. But I will bring all the weight I can swing your way, to clear your name and give you a new start."
Val Kenton laughed, but there was no amusement in his eyes or features. "I've got you over a barrel," he snapped, "you've got to play my way. I'm the only living man who has ever penetrated Venus' cloud envelope, the only human who can find those islands and effect a rescue before Elise and Tony and Johnson starve to death—or are killed by attacking Venusians. And you've heard my demands; either meet them, or the whole Patrol can't find them in time to save their lives."
Colonel Barber shifted ponderously, his face like chiseled granite. "That is your final word?"