flame. "That leaves
nineteen torpedoes," he said. "In Cth we're safe enough but we're
helpless without a probe. Yet we can only get into attack position from
Cth. That leaves us only one thing to do--improvise a probe."

"And how do you do that?" I asked.

"Put a man out on a line--with the converter from the auxiliary. Give
him a command helmet and have him talk the ship in."

"But that's suicide!"

"No, Marsden, not suicide--just something necessary. A necessary
sacrifice, like this whole damned war! I don't believe in killing men.
It makes me sick. But I kill if I have to, and sacrifice if I must." His
face twisted and the gray-green look came back. "There are over a
thousand men on the 'Amphitrite,' and a vital cargo of munitions. One
life, I think, is fair trade for a thousand, just as a few hundred
thousand is fair trade for a race." The words were schoolmasterish and
would have been dead wrong coming from anyone except Chase. But he gave
them an air of reasonable inevitability. And for a moment I forgot that
he was cold-bloodedly planning someone's death. For a moment I felt the
spirit of sacrifice that made heroes out of ordinary people.

* * * * *

"Look, skipper," I said. "How about letting me do it?" I could have
kicked myself a moment later, but the words were out before I could stop
them. He had me acting noble, and that trait isn't one of my strong
suits.

He smiled. "You know, Marsden," he said, "I was expecting that." His
voice was oddly soft. "Thanks." Then it became dry and impersonal.
"Request denied," he said. "This is my party."

I shivered inside. While I'm no coward, I didn't relish the thought of
slamming around at the end of a duralloy cable stretching into a nowhere
where there was no inertia. A hair too heavy a hand on the throttle in
Cth would crush the man on the end to a pulp. But he shouldn't go
either. It was his responsibility to command the ship.

"Who else is qualified?" Chase said answering the look on my face. "I
know more about maneuver than any man aboard, and I'll be controlling
the ship until the last moment. Once I order the attack I'll cut free,
and you can pick me up later."

"You won't have time," I protested.

"Just in case I don't make it," Chase continued, making the
understatement of the war with a perfectly straight face, "take care of
the crew. They're a good bunch--just a bit too eager for the _real_
Navy--but good. I've tr