Mike Gurloff had been relaxed on his bunk, staring unseeingly at the overhead. Now he spun around and came to an elbow, blinking.
“Holy Jumping Wodo!” he blurted.
“Yes, sir,” Norsen said. “That’s what I said. Probably the first female stowaway on a military craft since the beginning of intergalactical warfare.” He added, as though anyone needed reminding, “A year long cruise—forty-five men and one woman.”
Doc Thorndon closed the door behind them. He said, softly, “We’re only three days out, Mike.” He was the only man aboard who habitually called the burly commander by his first name. “We could turn back.”
The skipper brought his feet around to the floor and sat up. He stared at the girl, almost vacantly, then lowered his shaven head into his hands. He was a big man and toughened by the long years in the space service which had seen him rise to the position of the outstanding ship’s officer of his generation. He sat there like that for a full five minutes.
Finally he took a deep breath and brought his eyes up to her. “What is your name. Miss?” Then he cleared his throat and said, more gently, “Don’t be afraid. What’s your name?”
“It’s Kathleen…sir.” She added, after swallowing, “They call me Kathy.”
He continued to look at her, and she said, nervously, “Kathleen Westley.”
“All right, Miss Westley. Now tell us about it.” He indicated the swivel chair at the desk, the only chair in the tiny room. “You might as well sit down.”
She sat in the chair, knees together and her hands in her lap, and looked less frightened now.
Gurloff said, “Tell us about it.”
She swallowed once more and said, “I don’t sec why women aren’t allowed in the Space Service.” There was an edge of defiance in her voice.
Doc Thorndon said softly, “There are various reasons, Miss. Some of them medical, especially in intergalactic travel.”
“Well, I don’t see—”
Commander Gurloff said, “It doesn’t make much difference right at the moment, does it? What are you doing aboard my ship, Miss Westley?” His face was expressionless, almost as though he was too tired to care.
She tossed her head infinitesimally, and her lower lip protruded. “I…I’ve always wanted to be a space…well, a spaceman.”
Inadvertently, Gurloff’s eyes took in her full breast, her rounded hips. He said, wryly, “I’m afraid something went wrong with your ambitions twenty-five or so years ago.”
The girl flushed, but her face remained defiant.
Doctr Thorndon said, “To make it short, Miss Westley, do we understand that you stowed away on this vessel to prove that women are quite as suitable for space travel as are men?”
Her mouth tightened stubbornly and she nodded.
Commander Gurloff asked, “And did you know that this vessel was to be in space for a period of over a year, Miss? A year is rather a long time.”
Her eyes widened at that. “A…a year?”
Gurloff grunted, suddenly weary of the interview. He said, “Mr. Norsen, take our…our passenger back to the officer’s mess. I suppose she’s hungry.” He thought it over briefly. “She can have the second and third officer’s stateroom. One of them can bunk with you, the other in the ship’s hospital.” His mouth tightened. “See that the lock on the door is in good repair and that she has a key.”
The skipper’s eyes went back to the girl. He said, “Later—we’re going to have lots of time, Miss Westley—later, you can give us any further details about your decision to become a…a spaceman.” He motioned with his head and Johnny Norsen took her by the arm to lead her out.
Gurloff said, “Do you mind staying a while, Doctr?”
After the first officer and the girl had left, Doc Thorndon sank into the chair she had vacated. He waited for the other to speak.
Commander Mike Gurloff sank prone on the bed again and his eyes focused on a rivet in the overhead. He said, “Possibly she’s the straw.”
“The one that broke the camel’s back, eh?”
Gurloff said, “Doc, have you wondered why we’ve been sent out on a cruise less than two weeks after the last one? Out on a cruise that’ll take over a year? A year! And half of my men on the verge of space cafard after finishing the last trip.”
Doctr Thorndon nodded and rubbed the end of his nose with a forefinger. He said, “No, I haven’t wondered. I know the reason, Mike. By the way, did you know that they sent us off in such a hurry that our supplies of books, games, music wires, video-wires—all of our means of entertainment, in short—were ‘accidentally’ not replenished? Nothing, that is, except last year’s news wires.”
Mike Gurloff’s eyes came around to him and his lips thinned back over his teeth.
Doc Thorndon nodded again. “The men are reading books that they’ve already read a dozen times over; playing games they’re sick and tired of; seeing video-shows they’ve already memorized. They’ll never get through the full year, Mike. Cafard will have us in less than six months.”
The skipper’s face went blank again and he stared vacantly at the overhead.
Doc Thorndon said, “They’ve got you this time, I’m afraid, Mike.”
Gurloff bit out stubbornly. “The crew is with me. We’re the proudest ship in the fleet. We’ve got a record that’s the envy of the solar system. We’ll—”
The doctr shook his head. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to turn back, Mike. I can’t guarantee this crew’s mental health for a period of a year.”
Gurloff held a hand up, clenched the fist. “We’ve got to make it!”
He came to his elbow again, faced the other. “I’ve got them this time, Doc, if we can just make this trip. Don’t you see? The filthy makrons can’t stand outspoken criticism. They hate the popularity I’ve been accumulating with the public. I’ve become the spokesman for the opposition, and they’ve tried to keep me quiet by a series of cruises that seemed impossible to succeed. They’ve sent the New Taos to spots that required a full fleet, and we came back with the information they wanted. They sent us on assignments impossible to achieve, and we achieved them. And each time we won out, we gained that much more of the public’s approval.”
Doc Thorndon allowed a half smile to touch his mouth. “Sure, Mike. And each time we returned from a cruise, you made a withering speech against the powers that be, against the present administration. And, each time, they’ve pulled the same trick; they’ve sent you out on another long cruise to get you away from Solar System politics. Each time they figured to be rid of you—and this time, Mike, I’m afraid they’ve won.”
“No!”
“Yes.”
The
