straps to throw you off course, Lefler, but I don't want you to think I was trying to blame it on you. I was trying to make it look like Makki killed himself."

"But why, Taat?"

"It wasn't just that Makki cheated me," replied Taat with some difficulty. "I'd saved several thousand dollars to build a little clinic in Mars City—something I've dreamed of all my life. That's why I let Makki talk me into investing—I needed just a little more. But the business was almost worthless. He stole most of my money. I was arguing with him about it in the control room, when he drew the gun and threatened to kill me. He was strapped down. I wrestled with him, and he was killed in the scuffle. That's it."

They maneuvered Taat into a bunk and tried to arrange the straps to avoid the gaping wound in his stomach. Taat raised his hand weakly and removed his spectacles. He blinked up at Lefler.

"I didn't think you knew enough about medicine to tell how long a man had been dead," he said.

"I don't," said Lefler. "But you set the time of Makki's death at 1830 hours. You said you could tell.

"The Earth transit started at 1612, Taat. I've known Makki all my life. If he'd been alive then, he'd have recorded it in the log. And he didn't.

"I just figured the only man who had any reason to lie deliberately about the time of Makki's death was the man who shot him."

Lefler looked at the centerdeck chronometer. It was 2025.

"Do what you can for him, then bring him up to the radio, Robwood," he said. "I've got to get up to the control room and record the midpoint of the Earth transit." 

 Prev. P 15/15