safety officer says to secure the tubes."

That could mean only one thing: deceleration. Rip rounded up his men.
"We're finished. The safety officer passed the word to secure the tubes,
which means we're going to decelerate." He smiled grimly. "You all know
they gave us this job just out of pure love for the Planeteers. So
remember it when you go through the control room to the decontamination
chamber."

The Planeteers nodded enthusiastically.

Rip led the way from the mixing chamber, through the heavy safety door,
and into the engine control room. His entrance was met with poorly
concealed grins by the spacemen.

Halfway across the room, Rip turned suddenly and bumped into Sergeant
Major Koa. Koa fell to the deck, arms flailing for balance--but flailing
against his protective clothing. The other Planeteers rushed to pick him
up, and somehow all their hands beat against each other.

The protective clothing was saturated with fine dust. It rose from them
in a choking cloud and was picked up and dispersed by the ventilating
system. It was contaminated dust. The automatic radiation safety
equipment filled the ship with an earsplitting buzz of warning. Spacemen
clapped emergency respirators to their faces and spoke unkindly of Rip's
Planeteers in the saltiest space language possible.

Rip and his men picked up Koa and continued the march to the
decontamination room, grinning under their respirators at the
consternation around them. There was no danger to the spacemen, since
they had clapped on respirators the moment the warning sounded. But even
a little contamination meant the whole ship had to be gone over with
instruments, and the ventilating system would have to be cleaned.

The deputy commander met Rip at the door of the radiation room. Above the
respirator, his face looked furious.

"Lieutenant," he bellowed, "haven't you any more sense than to bring
contaminated clothing into the engine control room?"

Rip was sorry the deputy commander couldn't see him grinning under his
respirator. He said innocently, "No, sir, I haven't any more sense than
that."

The deputy grated, "I'll have you up before the Discipline Board for
this."

Rip was enjoying himself thoroughly. "I don't think so, sir. The
regulations are very clear. They say, 'It is the responsibility of the
safety officer to insure compliance with all safety regulations by both
complete instructions to personnel and personal supervision.' Your safety