t intolerable tension. He prowled the ship like a tiger, for he
could think of nothing more to do. For the moment there were no more
improvements to suggest to the Star Line, no more brilliant financial
deals to execute, and each empty minute seemed to swell into an endless
hour. He tried to relax by viewing the dramas on the stereoscreen, but
he was always too uneasy to sit through an entire performance, and would
leave in the middle to resume his pacing of the corridors.

At his private table in the dining room he stared at the empty chair
across from him, munching his food mechanically, seething with unrest.
He could see Tanya's gleaming head across the room, with Alan Chase's
beside her, and he tortured himself with imagining the light laughter,
the friendly talk which must be taking place there. Never, before this
trip, had he been made to feel so unnecessary, so much an outsider.
Wasn't he a lord of finance, a master of industry, the kind of a man to
be respected and admired? Of course, less successful men called him
ruthless, he realized, but he was not ruthless--only realistic. He was
an able man, and if he expected people in general to take orders from
him, it was only because he was more intelligent and more capable than
the people to whom he gave his orders. Nothing wrong with that.

But these miserable empty days were beginning to frighten him. He felt
lost. The ship ran by herself, without needing his help, and there was
no doubt at all that she would win the Blue Ribbon. Although he
questioned Captain Evans sharply, and checked every day on the minutest
data of the voyage, so far he had found nothing to criticize--except the
coldness of Josiah Evans' manner.

He ground his teeth through a stalk of celery in a vicious bite. After
all, wasn't he Chairman of the board of directors of the Star Line?
Wasn't it his right, even his duty, to make sure that everything was
going well?

The crowd of diners had grown thin, now, and he could see clearly the
little group at Tanya's table. They were laughing, and he could see the
delightful animation which always disappeared whenever he tried to talk
to her.

Steward Davis sidled up, a deferential smile on his long face.

"Is everything all right, Mr. Jasperson?"

"Um."

"Looks like we'll get the Blue Ribbon this trip, doesn't it, sir?"

"Um."

"If you should ever want any special dishes, sir, any little delicacies
not available to everyone, I should be glad