officer glanced up, received a nod from Dr. Koblensky, and said into
his microphone "All circuits have now been placed in telemetry
security operation. On my mark it will be five seconds to control
abandonment. Mark," he said after another nod from Dr. Koblensky.
"Four, three, two, one, release."

His hand on the master switch, he waited for the green light above it
to assure him that the communications lag had been overcome, and as
the green light came on, pushed the switch and rose from the console.

Major Elbertson stepped behind him, scanned the switches, inserted his
key into the Security lock, and turned it with a final snap, forcing
a bar home through the handles of all of the switches to prevent their
unauthorized operation by anyone until the official Security key
should again release them. In the meantime, no function could be
initiated within the laser system by anyone other than the Security
control officer at Thule Base on Earth.

Hot Rod was secured, and its crew were taking turns at the lock to
make the life-saving run back to the flare-shield area in the hub of
Lab One.

Last man out, three minutes after the original alarm, Steve glanced
carefully around his beloved control booth, entered the now-empty air
lock, and reaching the outside vacuum dove fast and hard toward the
anchor terminal and the scuttlebug that would take him swiftly to the
big wheel and its comparative safety.

* * * * *

In the gymnasium that served under emergency conditions as the
flare-shield area of the hub, long since dubbed the "morgue," the
circular nets of hammocks that made it possible to pack six hundred
personnel into an area with a thirty-two foot diameter and a
forty-five foot length, were lowered. They would hardly be packed this
time, since less than one-third of the complement were yet aboard.

Even so, each person aboard had his assigned hammock space, two and a
half feet wide; two and a half feet below the hammock above; and seven
feet long; and each made his way toward his assigned slot.

At one end of the morgue was the area where the cages of animals from
Dr. Lavalle's labs were being stored on their assigned flare-shield
shelves; and where Dr. Millie Williams was supervising the
arrangements of the trays and vats of plants that must be protected as
thoroughly as the humans.

At the other end of the morgue, the medics were setting up their
emergency treatment area, while