Rip and his men picked up Koa and continued the march to the
decontamination room, grinning under their respirators at the
consternation around them. There was no danger to the spacemen, since
they had clapped on respirators the moment the warning sounded. But even
a little contamination meant the whole ship had to be gone over with
instruments, and the ventilating system would have to be cleaned.
The deputy commander met Rip at the door of the radiation room. Above the
respirator, his face looked furious.
"Lieutenant," he bellowed, "haven't you any more sense than to bring
contaminated clothing into the engine control room?"
Rip was sorry the deputy commander couldn't see him grinning under his
respirator. He said innocently, "No, sir, I haven't any more sense than
that."
The deputy grated, "I'll have you up before the Discipline Board for
this."
Rip was enjoying himself thoroughly. "I don't think so, sir. The
regulations are very clear. They say, 'It is the responsibility of the
safety officer to insure compliance with all safety regulations by both
complete instructions to personnel and personal supervision.' Your safety
officer didn't instruct us, and he didn't supervise us. You'd better run
_him_ up before the Board.
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