in your crew has to say."

Silence hung tensely between the control room of the ship and Colonel
Halter's office on Earth. The captain was glaring now at Halter. A
tear showed in the corner of each of Dr. Anna Mueller's old eyes.
Lieutenant Brady was gripping the arms of his chair. Daniel Carlyle's
eyes were closed and his head shook slightly, as though from palsy.
There was a faint, enigmatic smile on Caroline Gordon's face. The
cords on Crowley's neck stood out through the tan and wrinkled
wrapping-paper skin.

_By God,_ thought Halter, _they're all sane except the captain. And
they've got to do it. They've got to come out on their own steam or
die in that control room._

"I'm waiting," he said. "Is your work going to die and you with it?"

"We'll leave all the records," said the captain, his thumb poised over
the button on the arm of his chair. "That's enough."

Halter ignored him. "Each of you can help. You've only done part of
the work." He stood and struck the desk with the flat of his hand.
"Damn it, say something, one of you!"

Still the silence and the flickering looks all around.

Halter heard a sob. He saw Dr. Anna Mueller's head drop forward and
her shoulders tremble. The others were staring at her, as if she had
suddenly materialized among them, like a ghost.

[Illustration]

Then her voice, through the trembling and the faint crying:
"I've--I've got to know."

The captain got creakily to his feet. "Dr. Mueller! Do you want me to
use the gun again?"

She raised her face to his. There was pain in it. "I've--got work to
do. There's so--little time."

"That's right. On this ship. You're part of the crew. There'll be
plenty of work once we get out in space again."

[Illustration]

"I've got to see if my theory's right."

"Colonel Halter," said the captain, "this is insubordination. Mutiny."

* * * * *

He raised the gun tremblingly, pointed the black muzzle at Dr.
Mueller, sighted along the barrel.

"Wait," said Halter. "You're right."

Captain McClelland hesitated.

"It's quite plain," went on Halter, "that Dr. Mueller is alone among
you. She wants to come out and go on with her work. The rest of you
want the closed-in uterine warmth and peace of this room you're
existing in. You can't face the possibility of failure. So I'm afraid
she'll have to be sacrificed. After all, you do need a full crew to
move the ship--even if you are all dead a few seconds a