Page:Amazing Stories Volume 15 Number 12.djvu/108

108 ner and sat down. My knees were very weak.

WAS with Shane in Old Ironpants' stateroom two hours later. The old boy was beaming happily. Shane was eating it up.

"Excellent work, Sergeant. You had a wonderful crew. I must say the finish was certainly exciting and, ah, worthy of the fighting spunk of the F.S.S. Western Hemisphere."

"And you won't protest the MacKeltish incident, sir?"

Old Ironpants waved his hand.

"It would turn a splendid race into a sordid squabble. MacKeltish was back on board an hour ago. Our M.P.s found him bound and gagged in a Martian canal barge. No. I'll say nothing of it."

I took a deep breath out of sheer relief.

"How did you drive them to that finishing spurt, Sergeant?" Old Ironpants demanded.

"I convinced them, sir, that a crew that won't be beaten can't be beaten. It was a question of stiffening their spirit, that's all." He smiled smugly.

Out on the deck, ten minutes late, I got Shane off into a corner.

"Look," I said. "That was very wonderful, I'll agree with Old Ironpants. But now, give me the truth. You know damn well we had enough plagterium planted in the bulk plates of the judging spacelaunch to hold our lifecraft back at an even speed with it for a year. And why didn't you use that double-headed coin of yours to get the outside position away from the judging spacelaunch?"

"I did use the double-headed coin, but I picked tails."

"You what?" I howled.

"Sure," said Shane complacently. "The best laid plans of mice and men, you know"

I grabbed his arm and shook him.

"You crazy galoot," I shot at him, "give me this straight, or I swear I'll go nuts and blame it on you."

But Sergeant Shane went blissfully on, torturing me.

"It's a smart man who can take the plans away from the Fates when they go wrong, and steer 'em right again. Only a genius like me could wring victory out of certain defeat. It was only my usual quick thinking"

"Quick thinking!" I gasped. "Why, you numbskull, you haven't thought fast since the time you decided not to take on ten men at once in a saloon on Pluto, and legged it in shameful disgrace"

"Strategy, that was," retorted Shane with injured dignity. "Only a fool"

"And only a fool would pick tails when he knew the coin had a head on both sides!" I said bitingly.

" Unless he wanted to lose," Shane hinted coyly.

"Wanted to" I stared.

"Sure. Y'see, I got to figurin' after we were ready to toss for position. With the galoots I got pumping for me, I figure the Saturn's lifecraft is a cinch to get the jump on us. Now it's natural the judging spacelaunch will keep pace with the leader. So I picked tails, and got the position next the spacelaunch, where it could drag us ahead, instead of holding us back. After that, it was just a matter of two forces outnumbering and outpowering one. When we went into the lead, our momentum was so much greater than the Saturn's lifecraft, that it was impossible for them to equal our speed. So we won"

I gaped blankly.

"But how'd you know the Saturn's lifecraft would get the jump on you?"

The big lunkhead smirked.

"Easy, I just cut out half the pumps