MacReady had been ready to respond to Airik's question when the other man held up his hand, to stave off that answer.  He listened to the other question posed by the Captain, about statisticians.  Part of that rang true with the Commander.  One thing that had driven him crazy on the<em>Odysseus</em>was that science staff always wanted more data before making conclusions.<br/><br/>But on a starship, in the middle of a crisis, that sort of time wasn't always available.<br/><br/>"I..."  MacReady paused for a moment.  "I never quite saw it that way, sir."<br/><br/>Comprehension dawned on him, slowly, as he realized that Airik had dealt with a major potential problem - an unhappy First Officer - just by asking him a couple of questions.<br/><br/>A slow expulsion of breath.  "No wonder you're the Captain," he said, smiling, and drinking more coffee.