More or less, I said, and yes and no, and off the record, in case this place is bugged. Is it?

She came in, nodded her head and put a finger to her lips.

Well, let's go do something, I said. We'd better act quickly, I don't want these guys fouling the project all up.

They won't. Okay. I'll give it to you that you know what you are doing. I will take you at face value as a strange creature. You did something which nobody expected of you. This does happen occasionally. We sometimes meet up with a guy who knows his job thoroughly and can see when something is going wrong, and who cares enough about it to proceed from there and damn the torpedoes. You say an atomic bomb will soon be going off aboard this ship. Right?

Yes.

You think one of the charges has been attached, and has a timer cued in?

Right, and I looked at my wristwatch and saw that it was going on seven. I'd bet less than an hour from now.

They're going down in a few minutes, she told me.

What are you going to do about it?

She picked up the telephone on the little table next to her bed.

Operations, she said. Stop the countdown. Then, Give me the barracks.

Sergeant, she then said, I want you to make some arrests. She looked at me. What is your room number? she asked.

Six-forty, I replied.

Six-forty, she said. Two men ... Right ... Yes ... Thank you. And she hung up.

They're taken care of, she told me. So, you think a charge might go off prematurely?

That's what I said, twice.

Could you stop it?

With the proper equipment, though I'd rather you send in a service ...

Get it, she said to me.

Okay, and I went and did that thing.

I came back to her cabin around five minutes later, with a heavy pack slung over my shoulder.

I had to sign my name in blood, I told her. But I've got what I need ... Why don't you get yourself a good physicist?