"Then how? I mean, after all, there isn't much opportunity. Or is there?"

"Maggie, stop pestering him. Let the man eat his dinner."

Mrs. Weberbauer on his other side was as easy and motherly as Mrs. Daigler was difficult. Under her soothing presence Max managed to start eating. Then he noticed that the way he grasped a fork was not the way the others did, tried to change, made a mess of it, became aware of his untidy nails, and wanted to crawl under the table. He ate about three hundred calories, mostly bread and butter.

At the end of the meal Mrs. Daigler again gave her attention to him, though she addressed the Chief Engineer. "Mr. Compagnon, isn't it customary to toast a promotion?"

"Yes," the Chief conceded. "But he must pay for it. That's a requirement."

Max found himself signing a chit presented by Dumont. The price made him blink--his first trip might be a professional success, but so far it had been financial disaster. Champagne, iced in a shiny bucket, accompanied the chit and Dumont cut the wires and drew the cork with a flourish.

The Chief Engineer stood up. "Ladies and gentlemen--I give you Astrogator Jones. May he never misplace a decimal point!"

"Cheers !"--"Bravo!"--"Speech, speech!"

Max stumbled to his feet and muttered, "Thank you."

His first watch was at eight o'clock the next morning. He ate breakfast alone and reflected happily that as a watch stander he would usually eat either before or after the passengers. He was in the control room a good twenty minutes early.

Kelly glanced up and said, "Good morning, sir."

Max gulped. "Er--good morning, Chief!" He caught Smythe grinning behind the computer, turned his eyes hastily away.

"Fresh coffee, Mr. Jones. Will you have a cup?" Max let Kelly pour for him; while they drank Kelly quietly went over the details--acceleration schedule, position and vector, power units in use, sights taken, no special orders, etc. Noguchi relieved Smythe, and shortly before the hour Dr. Hendrix appeared.

"Good morning, sir."

"Good morning, Doctor."

"Morning." Hendrix accepted coffee, turned to Max. "Have you relieved the officer of the watch?"

"Uh, why no, sir."

"Then do so. It lacks less than a minute of eight."

Max turned to Kelly and shakily saluted. "I relieve you, sir."

"Very well, sir." Kelly went below at once. Dr. Hendrix sat down, took out a book and started to read. Max realized with a chilly feeling that he had been pushed in, to swim or not. He took a deep breath and went over to Noguchi. "Noggy, let's get the plates ready for the middle o' watch sights."

Noguchi glanced at the chronometer. "As you say, sir."

"Well ... I guess it is early. Let's take a few dopplers."

"Aye aye, sir." Noguchi climbed out of the saddle where he had been loafing.

Max said in a low voice, "Look, Noggy, you don't have to say 'sir' to me."

Noguchi answered just as quietly. "Kelly wouldn't like it if I didn't. Better let it ride."

"Oh." Max frowned. "Noggy? How does the rest of the Worry gang feel about it?"

Noguchi did not pretend not to understand. He answered, "Shucks, they're all rooting for you, if you can swing it."

"You're sure?"

"Certain. Just as long as you don't try to make a big hairy thing out of yourself like--well, like some I could mention." The computerman added, "Maybe Kovak isn't exactly cheering. He's been having a watch of his own, you know--for the first time."

"He's sore?"

"Not exactly. He couldn't expect to keep it long anyhow, not with a transition coming up. He won't go out of his way to give you trouble, he'll be fair."

Max made a mental note to see what he could do to swing Kovak over to his side. The two manned the dopplerscope, took readings on stars forward of vector, checked what they found by spectrostellograph, and compared both with standard plates from the chart safe. At first Max had to remember that he was in charge; then he got so interested in fussy details of measurements that he was no longer self-conscious. At last Noguchi touched his sleeve. "Pushing ten o'clock, sir. I'd better get set up."

"Huh? Sure, go ahead." He reminded himself not to help Noggy; the chartsman has his prerogatives, too. But he checked the set up just as Hendrix always did, as Simes rarely did, and as Kelly sometimes did, depending on who had made it.

After they had gotten the new data Max programmed the problem on paper (there being plenty of time), then called it off to Noguchi at the computer. He thumbed the book himself, there being no "numbers boy" available. The figures were as clear in his recollection as ever, but he obeyed Hendrix's injunction not to depend on memory.

The result worried him. They were not "in the groove." Not that the _Asgard_ was far out, but the discrepancy was measurable. He checked what he had done, then had Noguchi run the problem again, using a different programming method. The result came out the same.

Sighing, he computed the correction and started to take it to Hendrix for approval. But the Astrogator still paid no attention; he sat at the console, reading a novel from the ship's library.

Max made up his mind. He went to the console and said, "Excuse me, sir. I need to get there for a moment." Hendrix got up without answering and found another seat. Max sat down and called the power room. "Control officer speaking. I intend to increase boost at eleven o'clock. Stand by for time check."

Hendrix must have heard him, he thought, but the Astrogator gave no sign. Max fed in the correction, set the control chronometer to execute his wishes at eleven plus-or-minus nothing.

Shortly before noon Simes showed up. Max had already written his own log, based on Noguchi's log, and had signed it "M. Jones." He had hesitated, then added "C. O. o/W." Simes went to Dr. Hendrix, saluted, and said, "Ready to relieve you, sir."

Hendrix spoke his first word since eight o'clock. "He's got it."

Simes looked non-plussed, then went to Max. "Ready to relieve you." Max recited off the situation data while Simes read the log and the order book. Simes interrupted him while he was still listing minor ship's data. "Okay, I relieve you. Get out of my control room, Mister." Max got out. Dr. Hendrix had already gone down.

Noguchi had loitered at the foot of the ladder. He caught Max's eye, made a circle with thumb and finger and nodded. Max grinned at him, started to ask a question; he wanted to know if that discrepancy was a booby trap, intentionally left in by Kelly. Then he decided that it would not be fitting; he'd ask Kelly himself, or figure it from the records. "Thanks, Noggy."

That watch turned out to be typical only in the one respect that Dr. Hendrix continued to require Max to be officer of the watch himself. He did not again keep quiet but rode Max steadily, drilling him hour after hour, requiring him to take sights and set up problems continuously, as if the _Asgard_ were actually close to transition. He did not permit Max to program on paper but forced him to pretend that time was too short and that data must immediately go into the computer, be acted on at once. Max sweated, with remote controls in each fist and with Hendrix himself acting as "numbers boy." The Astrogator kept pushing him for speed, speed, and more speed--never at the sacrifice of accuracy, for any error was unforgivable. But the goal was always greater speed.

Once Max objected. "Sir, if you would let me put it right into the machine, I could cut it down a lot."

Hendrix snapped, "When you have your own control room, you can do that, if you think it wise. Now you'll do it _my_ way."

Occasionally Kelly would take over as his supervisor. The Chief Computerman was formal, using such phrases as, "May I suggest, sir--" or "I think I'd do it this way, sir." But once he broke out with, "Confound it, Max! Don't ever pull a dumb stunt like that!"