ce he touched the
controls he might inaugurate a chain of events he could not stop. The
crash of a shot underlined the fact that he had no other recourse.

Since the symbols meant nothing, Ross concentrated on the shapes of the
various devices and chose one which vaguely resembled the type of light
switch he had always known. Since it was up, he pressed it down,
counting to twenty slowly as he waited for a reaction. Below the switch
was an oval button marked with two wiggles and a double dot in red. Ross
snapped it level with the panel, and when it did not snap back, he felt
somehow encouraged. When the two levers flanking that button did not
push in or move up and down, Ross pulled them out without even waiting
to count off.

This time he had results! A crackling of noise with a singsong rhythm,
the volume of which, low at first, arose to a drone filled the cabin.
Ross, deafened by the din, twisted first one lever and then the other
until he had brought the sound to a less piercing howl. But he needed
action, not just noise; he moved from behind the first chair to the next
one. Here were five oval buttons, marked in the same vivid green as that
which trimmed his clothing--two wiggles, a dot, a double bar, a pair of
entwined circles, and a crosshatch.

Why make a choice? Recklessness bubbled to the surface, and Ross pushed
all the buttons in rapid succession. The results were, in a measure,
spectacular. Out of the top of the control board rose a triangle of
screen which steadied and stood firm while across it played a rippling
wave of color. Meanwhile the singsong became an angry squawking as if in
protest.

Well, he had something, even if he didn't know what it was! And he had
also proved that the ship was alive. However, Ross wanted more than a
squawk of exasperation, which was exactly what the noise had become. It
almost sounded, Ross decided as he listened, as if he were being
expertly chewed out in another language. Yes, he wanted more than a
series of squawks and a fanciful display of light waves on a screen.

At the section of board before the third and last seat there was less
choice--only two switches. As Ross flicked up the first the pattern on
the screen dwindled into a brown color shot with cream in which there
was a suggestion of a picture. Suppose one didn't put the switch all the
way up? Ross examined the slot in which the bar moved and now noted a
series of tiny point marks along it. Selective? It w