The Watch Below

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Authors: James White
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doctor, who

used to grow roses, and green growing leaves absorb carbon dioxide and

produce oxygen. As the process requires light, this is another reason

for having the generator, possibly the strongest reason of all.

"And that," Wallis ended, smiling, "is how we are going to grow beans,

and why."

For a long time the only sound was the steady rasp of the hacksaw biting

through metal. The voices coming from the sick bay had stopped or had

become too low to be heard, and Dickson seemed to have been rendered

speechless. But the condition was only temporary.

"I'm impressed," he said finally. "I had no idea that you were looking

so far ahead, or working on so many projects. . . ." He hesitated, and

when he went on his tone had reverted to that of the Dickson which they

knew of old. ". . . What bothers me is that if they are successful,

I'll have to take a bath."

Trying to match the other's tone, Wallis said, "We could be rescued before

then, or the ship might sink. Try not to worry too much about it."

The doctor returned shortly afterwards. With the bare minimum of conversation

he gave his torch to Dickson and asked for directions for marking the

positions of the saddle compartments they hoped to use. Wallis, meanwhile,

worked at modifying an initial batch of three faucets, breaking off

only when it was necessary to help the doctor carry Dickson to another

tank. But when the mate's directions were finally complete and it was

time to return him to the sick bay, Radford brought up a subject which

he had obviously been avoiding since his return from the other patients.

He said, "I can't keep that girl under sedation indefinitely, not just

for the sake of peace and quiet. Her burns are still uncomfortable,

but not painful enough to warrant keeping her doped all the time. In any

case I don't have unlimited quantities of medication and what little there

is left I would like to save for emergencies."

The recent movements of his litter and the unavoidable bumps he had

received while the doctor and Wallis were pushing and hauling it over

scattered heaps of cargo could not have been pleasant for Dickson,

considering his injuries -- so unpleasant, perhaps, that he might have

felt entitled to some of the dope the doctor wanted so suddenly to

ration. But even though Wallis could sympathize with these feelings,

Dickson's reaction came as a shock.

"What the blazes d'you call this!" he yelled suddenly, in a voice too much

like the one which had come earlier from the sick bay. "We're trapped

in a sinking ship. We're deep ! The whole damn hull could cave in on us

at any minute! What bigger emergency can you have than that?"

"If we were here long enough," Radford broke in harshly, "I can think

of several. . . ."

In the following silence the sound of banging came clearly from the sick bay.

There was no screaming, just the banging. Presumably Miss Murray was still

asleep and Miss Wellman was awake and worried, and wanted someone to come

and tell her what all the shouting was about. Judging by the urgency of

the banging she could not have been very far from screaming herself.

Wallis motioned for the doctor to take the other end of the litter.

He said, "I think Mr. Dickson has need of some female companionship,

doctor. To keep him from becoming morbid."

By the time the gear was ready, it had been decided that without power

for the drills the only way of piercing the coffer dam bulkhead was

to burn a hole in it and risk the wastage of oxygen. They decided on

procedure and tried to imagine the things most likely to go wrong and to

guard against them. There was no way of measuring the passage of time,

but Wallis felt that too much of it had passed while the preparations

were going on. The deck was so steady under his feet that they might have

been hard aground. But the ship was not aground and the waves above them

were moving farther away with each hour that passed -- and there was no

way of telling

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