"You're proving right now that you didn't study astrogation," retorted Carrel sharply. "Any spaceman can tell you the reaction of cosmic rays on Jupiter's atmosphere is fatal at the distance we'll pass in this orbit. If our convoy had been passing so close, every ship would have been shielded."

"Carrel, I can't see your object in lying, but I think you are. Some damned good spacemen plotted this orbit."

"And what do they care about your life or ours?" demanded Carrel hotly. "You know your Flanjo buddies as well as I do. We'll live long enough for them to get all the information they want out of us."

Albrekt studied him closely. Carrel returned his gaze with serious eyes.

"Maybe you're telling the truth," said Albrekt slowly. "If you're lying, I can't see your reason. You know I won't panic, and we can't change orbit."

"I'm trying to impress you with the seriousness of this thing, because there's something we can do about it if you'll let us," said Carrel patiently. "All it takes is a thin metal shield at a proper distance from the ship, and we can build that out of the cargo we're carrying."

"The only metal aboard is lithium," demurred Albrekt sternly. "That lithium's slated for nuclear reactors and weapons and it's going to reach Rhea intact!"

"We're not going to burn up any of your precious lithium!" exploded Carrel. "All I ask is to use half of it to build a shield. They can use the damn stuff out of the shield as easy as out of cargo bars. It'll all be there, just the same."

Albrekt hesitated. It was quite conceivable that his superiors had not bothered about such a trifle as his slow death from radiation. They would have plotted the most effective orbit for their purposes, and if the By Jove! didn't happen to be shielded—well, casualties had to be expected in any military operation.

"You have my permission to build the shield," he said stiffly at last, "under my strict supervision, of course."

"That's all right with me," consented Carrel with a sigh of relief. "And I give you my word as a space captain, Albrekt, nobody aboard the By Jove! will lift a hand against you while it's being built."

Despite Carrel's reassurance, Albrekt, wary of some stratagem, held to his determination to oversee every step of the shield 

 Prev. P 13/19 next