urret than we were then. The turret baffles
us." Sherikov grinned ironically. "Even _I_ have tried my hand at the
wiring, but with no success. It's intricate--and small. Too many
technical bugs not worked out. We are building only one, you
understand. If we had many experimental models worked out before--"

"But this is the experimental model," Cole said.

"And built from the designs of a man dead four years--who isn't here
to correct us. We've made Icarus with our own hands, down here in the
labs. And he's giving us plenty of trouble." All at once Sherikov got
to his feet. "Let's go down to the lab and look at him."

They descended to the floor below, Sherikov leading the way. Cole
stopped short at the lab door.

"Quite a sight," Sherikov agreed. "We keep him down here at the bottom
for safety's sake. He's well protected. Come on in. We have work to
do."

In the center of the lab Icarus rose up, the gray squat cylinder that
someday would flash through space at a speed of thousands of times
that of light, toward the heart of Proxima Centaurus, over four light
years away. Around the cylinder groups of men in uniform were laboring
feverishly to finish the remaining work.

"Over here. The turret." Sherikov led Cole over to one side of the
room. "It's guarded. Centauran spies are swarming everywhere on Terra.
They see into everything. But so do we. That's how we get information
for the SRB machines. Spies in both systems."

The translucent globe that was the control turret reposed in the
center of a metal stand, an armed guard standing at each side. They
lowered their guns as Sherikov approached.

"We don't want anything to happen to this," Sherikov said. "Everything
depends on it." He put out his hand for the globe. Half way to it his
hand stopped, striking against an invisible presence in the air.

Sherikov laughed. "The wall. Shut it off. It's still on."

One of the guards pressed a stud at his wrist. Around the globe the
air shimmered and faded.

"Now." Sherikov's hand closed over the globe. He lifted it carefully
from its mount and brought it out for Cole to see. "This is the
control turret for our enormous friend here. This is what will slow
him down when he's inside Centaurus. He slows down and re-enters this
universe. Right in the heart of the star. Then--no more Centaurus."
Sherikov beamed. "And no more Armun."

But Cole was not listening. He had taken the globe from Sherikov and
was turning it over