driver jumped out and shouted.

"Get out of that boat! She's not ready yet! What are you--"

With a steady hand Jasperson drew his pistol and pressed the trigger.
The man fell without a sound.

"What are you waiting for, Davis? Shove off!"

The port door slid shut. A few seconds delay, and Lifeboat F, carrying
three persons, shot away from the _Star Lord_ into space.

* * * * *

Alarm bells rang, red lights flashed.

Sickening with the inexorable rise of her fevered power units, the _Star
Lord_ trembled with the clangor of bells ringing in library and nursery,
in lounges and dance hall, in bar and cabins, in dining rooms and
theaters. The orchestra crashed to a stop, the dancers halted, startled
and vaguely frightened, half laughing at themselves as they listened to
the bells.

Then silence, and the voice of Captain Evans.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Do not be alarmed. Because of certain mechanical
difficulties the _Star Lord_ has shifted to normal space. There is no
immediate danger, but purely as a precautionary measure we shall launch
the lifeboats. Remember, there is no danger, but I ask each of you to
proceed at once, in calm orderly fashion, to the station to which you
are assigned, and there obey the orders of the officer in charge. The
passengers formerly assigned to Boat C will be placed in other boats. Do
not wait to go to your cabins. Proceed immediately to your lifeboats."

The voice clicked off. A few seconds of silence, and then the quiet was
broken by the patter of hurrying feet. In a moment, the public lounges
were empty.

* * * * *

In the library, Tanya was still calling into the phone.

"Operator, operator!" she cried. "I must speak to the Captain. It's a
matter of life and death!" But the phone was dead.

[Illustration]

When the alarm bells rang, she listened to the announcement and then
slowly put back the useless instrument. Back in her corner, she picked
up her chalk, shuffled her drawings into an orderly heap, paused, and
with a wry smile dropped them all to the floor and hurried away.

A sound of crying wailed from the open door of the playroom, and she
looked in to see a group of children, none of them more than six,
huddled together and sobbing. She walked up to them and smiled, hands on
her hips.

"Well, small fry! What are you doing up so late? Why the big howls?"

Still they cried, ignoring their abandoned toys