The state of reduced attention into which he seemed then to have drifted was broken soon enough by Lindsay, advising, biliously, "As I am sure it has not escaped your attention, Blundell's ineptness with the Main Valve, grown I fear habitual, has increased the speed of our descent to a notable, if not in fact, alarming, degree."
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I'm certain Pynchon meant for "biliously" to work in both of its definitions here, meaning Lindsay was spiteful because he's Lindsay the Vulcan Hall Monitor and also "nauseated" because the airship is now plummeting too quickly to the ground. He's so smart, that Pynchon!
According to Lindsay's prolonged observations about Blundell's lack of skills as a crewman, Lindsay would rather be proven right about his observations that Blundell is inept than prevent the Inconvenience from someday plummeting to the ground in a fiery explosion. He probably noticed Blundell's careless attitude with the Main Valve over time and waited for the exact moment when he realized Blundell had failed just enough to create a dangerous situation but not one from which they could not extract themselves. Simply so he could get a nice smug moment in.
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