He was observant, that had to be granted. “The lights are ours but the gravity is Calle’s,” 12-Upjohn explained tersely.
“We’re in a part of the ship that cracked up.”
“Well, it’s good that we’ve got power.”
“We can’t afford to be philosophical about it. Whatever shape it’s in, this derelict is a thoroughly conspicuous object and we’d better get out of it in a hurry.”
“Why?” Robin said. “We were supposed to make contact with these people. Why not just sit here until they notice and come to see us?”
“Suppose they just blast us to smaller bits instead? They didn’t stop to parley with the fleet, you’ll notice.”
“This is a different situation,” Robin said stubbornly.
“I wouldn’t have stopped to parley with that fleet myself, if I’d had the means of knocking it out first. It didn’t look a bit like a diplomatic mission. But why should they be afraid of a piece of a wreck?”
The Consort of State stroked the back of his neck re-flectively. The boy had a point. It was risky; on the other hand, how long would they survive foraging in completely unknown territory? And yet obviously they couldn’t stay cooped up in here foreverespecially if it was true that there was already no water.
He was spared having to make up his mind by a halloo from the direction of the office. After a startled stare at each other, the two hit the deck running.
Sergeant Oberholzer’s face was peering grimly through the split in the bulkhead.
“Oho,” he said. “So you did make it.” He said something unintelligible to some invisible person outside, and then squirmed through the breach into the room, with considerable difficulty, since he was in full battle gear. “None of the officers did, so I guess that puts you in command.”