in,
with the two deckhands and the pair from the engine room behind him.
Sam let out a yell that sounded like protest, and they headed for
us--just as gravity came on.

I pulled myself off the floor and out from under Bullard to see the
stout, oldish figure of Captain Muller standing in the doorway, with
Engineer Wilcox slouched easily beside him, looking like the typical
natty space officer you see on television. Both held gas guns.

"All right, break it up!" Muller ordered. "You men get back to your
work. And you, Dr. Pietro--my contract calls for me to deliver you to
Saturn's moon, but it doesn't forbid me to haul you the rest of the
way in irons. I won't have this aboard my ship!"

Pietro nodded, his little gray goatee bobbing, his lean body coming
upright smoothly. "Quite right, Captain. Nor does it forbid me to let
you and your men spend the sixteen months on the moon--where _I_
command--in irons. Why don't you ask Sam what happened before you make
a complete fool of yourself, Captain Muller?"

Sam gulped and looked at the crew, but apparently Pietro was right;
the little guy had been completely disgusted by Bullard. He shrugged
apologetically. "Bullard insulted Dr. Lomax, sir. I yelled for someone
to help me get him out of here, and I guess everybody got all mixed up
when gravity went off, and Bullard cracked his head on the floor. Just
a misunderstanding, sir."

Muller stood there, glowering at the cut on my knuckles, and I could
feel him aching for a good excuse to make his threat a reality. But
finally, he grunted and swung on his heel, ordering the crew with him.
Grundy threw us a final grimace and skulked off behind him. Finally
there was only Wilcox, who grinned, shrugged, and shut the door
quietly behind him. And we were left with the mess free-fall had made
of the place.

I spotted Jenny heading across the room, carefully not seeing the
fatuous glances Pietro was throwing her way, and I swung in behind.
She nodded back at me, but headed straight for Lomax, with an odd look
on her face. When she reached him, her voice was low and businesslike.

"Hal, what did those samples of Hendrix's show up?"

Hendrix was the Farmer, in charge of the hydroponics that turned the
carbon dioxide we breathed out back to oxygen, and also gave us a bit
of fresh vegetables now and then. Technically, he was a crewman, just
as I was a scientist; but actually, he felt more like one of us.

Lomax looked surprised. "Wha