“You’d better be getting back to the bridge, Captain,” Retief said. “We’re due to lift in twenty minutes.”

The thick-necked man and the Captain both shouted at once. The Captain’s voice prevailed.

“—twenty minutes… uniform Code… gonna do?”

“Close the door as you leave,” Retief said.

The thick-necked man paused at the door. “We’ll see you when you come out.”

3

Four waiters passed Retief’s table without stopping. A fifth leaned against the wall nearby, a menu under his arm.

At a table across the room, the Captain, now wearing a dress uniform and with his thin red hair neatly parted, sat with a table of male passengers. He talked loudly and laughed frequently, casting occasional glances Retief’s way.

A panel opened in the wall behind Retief’s chair. Bright blue eyes peered out from under a white chef’s cap.

“Givin’ you the cold shoulder, heh, mister?”

“Looks like it, old timer,” Retief said. “Maybe I’d better go join the skipper. His party seems to be having all the fun.”

“Feller has to be mighty careless who he eats with to set over there.”

“I see your point.”

“You set right where you’re at, mister. I’ll rustle you up a plate.”

Five minutes later, Retief cut into a thirty-two-ounce Delmonico backed up with mushrooms and garlic butter.

“I’m Chip,” the chef said. “I don’t like the Cap’n. You can tell him I said so. Don’t like his friends, either. Don’t like them dern Sweaties, look at a man like he was a worm.”

“You’ve got the right idea on frying a steak, Chip. And you’ve got the right idea on the Soetti, too,” Retief said. He poured red wine into a glass. “Here’s to you.”

“Dern right,” Chip said. “Dunno whoever thought up broiling ’em. Steaks, that is. I got a Baked Alaska coming up in here for dessert. You like brandy in yer coffee?”

“Chip, you’re a genius.”

“Like to see a feller eat,” Chip said. “I gotta go now. If you need anything, holler.”

Retief ate slowly. Time always dragged on shipboard. Four days to Jorgensen’s Worlds. Then, if Magnan’s information was correct, there would be four days to prepare for the Soetti attack. It was a temptation to scan the tapes built into the handle of his suitcase. It would be good to know what Jorgensen’s Worlds would be up against.

Retief finished the steak, and the chef passed out the baked Alaska and coffee. Most of the other passengers had left the dining room. Mr. Tony and his retainers still sat at the Captain’s table.