ked Bessie to call him when she came back on duty two
hours earlier, he had not been called.

"You needed the sleep, captain," she told him unrepentant. "I checked
with the Cow. The flare's predicted to continue for another eight
hours. We're simply in standby."

However, various observatories on Earth had not been asleep. Within
fifteen minutes of the time he reached the bridge, a message from U.N.
Headquarters chattered in over the teletype.

"Tracking stations report your orbital discontinuity too great to have
been achieved by jet action of nitrogen escaping from Hot Rod. Hot Rod
pressures insufficient to achieve your present apparent acceleration.
Please explain discrepancy between these reports and your own
summation of ten hours previous. Suggest close and continual
observation of Project Hot Rod. Suspect, repeat strongly suspect,
possibility of sabotage. End message."

Nails Andersen stared at the sheet that the com officer had placed in
his hands. Then he pressed the intercom to the morgue.

"Dr. Kimball. Please report to the bridge. Dr. P.E.R. Kimball. Please
report to the bridge immediately."

Then he turned to Bessie. "Ask the Cow for an orbit computation from
the time of the ... er ... meteor last night."

Under Bessie's practiced, computer-minded fingers, the answer wanted
came quickly--a displayed string of figures, each to three decimal
places, accompanied by a second display on the captain's console
showing the old equatorial orbit across a grid projection of the
Earth's surface to a point of departure over the mid-Atlantic where it
began curving ever farther north, up across the tip of South America,
very slightly off course.

The captain glanced at the display of Hot Rod and its taut-cable, and
realized with a sickening sense of unreality that no jet action on
Hot Rod could have caused it to lead the station in this northerly
direction; and that instead it was placidly trailing behind. It was
now farther south of the Space Lab than its original position; but
their orbit had been displaced to the north.

Perk appeared beside the console, but the captain ignored the
astronomer for a moment longer, while he leaned back thinking.

What could be the answer? A leak in the Space Lab itself? That would
give acceleration; minor, not to have triggered an alarm--it should
have triggered an alarm--but acceleration. Sufficient for the
off-orbit shown? He did a brief calculation in his head. It wouldn't