fter blastoff."
He paused, looking intently at Brady, Crowley, Carlyle, Gordon, where
they sat in the half circle, staring back at him. "So--"

Lieutenant Brady struggled up from his chair.

"I've got twenty-five years of life. I've some ships to design."

"That goes for me, too," said Crowley, the rocketman. "Will anybody
want to read my novels?"

Astrogator Carlyle leaned forward. "There are many more poems to be
written."

"Give me a soundproof laboratory," said Caroline Gordon. "I'll add
another fifty years to all your lives."

"I'm afraid it is mutiny, Captain," said Halter.

The captain started toward his chair, his hand reaching for the button
on its arm.

Lieutenant Brady stumbled forward, blocking his way.

Halter could only watch, thinking, _It's up to them. They've got to do
it now!_

He saw the captain draw his shock gun; saw light flare at its muzzle;
saw Lieutenant Brady crumple like a collapsing skeleton.

Crowley reached forward, grasping McClelland's shoulder. The gun swung
toward him. A stream of light squirted into his middle. Crowley fell
forward, pulling the captain down with him. The three other oldsters
were above the three black figures sprawled on the floor, like tangled
puppets. They hesitated a moment, then fell upon the ones below them,
black arms and legs twitching about now like the legs of dying
spiders, struggling weakly.

A flash of light exploded beneath these twisting black reeds and
streaks of it shot out all through the waving black cluster.

The next moment, they settled and were quiet.

* * * * *

There was a stillness in the ancient control room, like the stillness
in a sunken ship at the bottom of the sea. It lingered for a long
time, while Colonel Halter watched and waited.

Dr. Mueller's voice, seventy-five years tired, said, "He's--quiet now.
Please come and take us out."

Colonel Halter switched on his desk visiophone.

"They're coming out," he said quietly. "I'll be there to supervise."

On the visiophone, the general's image nodded. "Congratulations,
Colonel. How are they?"

"There'll be one case for psycho. Captain McClelland."

"I'll be damned!" exclaimed the general. "From his record, I thought
he'd never break!"

"Let's say he couldn't bend, sir." A pause. "And yet he did keep them
from destroying themselves."

"He'll be made well again.... What about the others?"

"I think they, too, are very great and huma