III

           Itmighthavebeenbetterforeveryone’speaceofmindiftheemergencyhadcontinued.Withlightsandpowerbackandnothingtodosavestareemptilyateachother,thefivepeopleonthebridgegrewincreasinglyrestless.Therewasnoroomtostretchoutandrelax.Asinglefloorpacerwouldhaveusedalltheavailabledeck.Sotheymopedattheirstations,downedinordinatequantitiesofcoffeespewedoutbytheautochef,andtriedtothinkofsomethingtodothatwouldkeeptheirdamnablybusybrainsfromconcentratingonthepresentunpleasantsituation.Astowhatlayoutsidetheship,possiblycloseby,theyelectednottospeculatealoud.

           Ofthemall,onlyAshseemedrelativelycontent.Hisonlyconcernatthemomentwasforthementalconditionofhisshipmates.Therewerenotruerecreationfacilitiesontheshipforthemtoturnto.TheNostromowasatug,aworkingvessel,notapleasurecraft.Whennotperformingnecessarytaskshercrewwassupposedtobespendingitsblanktimeinthecomfortingwombofhypersleep.Itwasonlynaturalthatunoccupiedwaketimewouldmakethemnervousunderthebestofcircumstances,andthepresentcircumstancesweresomethinglessthanthebest.

           Ashcouldrunproblemsintheorythroughthecomputeroverandover,withouteverbecomingbored.Hefoundtheawaketimestimulating.

           ’Anyresponseyettoouroutcalls?’Dallasleanedoutfromhischairtoeyethescienceofficer.

           ’I’vetriedeverytypeofresponseinthemanual,plusfreeassociation.I’vealsoletMothertryastrictlymechanalogcodeapproach.