ne, and
yet--he did not know what to do. While he listened to the announcement
of the lifeboat drill, his lip twisted in contempt. Just like Josiah
Evans, he thought, to be over-cautious and run the risk of starting a
panic.

Still thinking, he left the dining room and went to the main lounge to
study the illuminated map of the ship. The three-dimensional panorama
showed the slim and elegant body of the _Star Lord_, tapered like a
silver spindle. Six small ships, three on each side of the long axis,
each capable of carrying 250 people, were fastened into her hulk.
Seemingly a part of the ship itself, their outer walls forming a part of
the ship's wall, they were designed to be detached at the touch of a
button, and launched into space as free craft.

When the warning bells rang, he joined the crowd of passengers who were
assigned to Boat F, peered at the boat through the transparent panel,
and listened attentively to the instructions. It was Steward Davis, he
noted approvingly, who was in charge.

"Passengers will file in through the usual port and walk to the farthest
unoccupied seat, and buckle themselves into place. They have nothing
further to do. Crewmen will take care of the mechanics of detaching and
launching the boat. You will note that there are no separate cabins,
only rows of seats as in the primitive airplanes, but you will find this
no real discomfort, since the boat would undoubtedly be picked up after
a very short interval by some alerted space liner."

Jasperson raised his voice above the crowd's hum.

"What about provisioning? Are the boats stocked on Y-port?"

"No, Mr. Jasperson, except for food concentrates, and one air tank which
is placed there for the greater comfort of the crewmen who must go in to
clean or to make minor adjustments. The boats are not fully provisioned
until the need arises. After all, we don't want to invite trouble, do
we?"

People laughed appreciatively.

"No," he went on, "if there should be an emergency, we have specially
trained crewmen whose job it is to stock reserves of air and water. They
would go to work as automatically and efficiently as machines. Any other
questions?"

Jasperson lingered after the indifferent crowd, to inspect the boat more
closely, then slouched away.

* * * * *

All that afternoon he prowled the ship, trying to make up his mind. He
stopped now and then to question a business acquaintance, ask a
journal