e of spots it smells like
slightly rancid cheese, and ... no-no, keep still! Too many planets
listening in--_verbum sap_. Anyway, THE PRESS smells something, too, and
they're screaming their lungs out, especially the sob-sisters. Now,
Herc, on the air, you're orbiting the fourth planet of a sun. What sun?
Where?"

"I don't know. Unlisted. We're in completely unexplored territory.
Standard reference angles are as follows"--and Jones read off a long
list of observations, not only of the brightest stars of the galaxy, but
also of the standard reference points, such as S-Doradus, lying outside
it. "When you get that stuff all plotted, you'll find a hell of a big
confusion; but I _hope_ there aren't enough stars in it but what you can
find us sometime."

"Off the air--for good, I hope. Don't make me laugh, Buster, Your
probable center will spear it. If there's ever more than one star in any
confusion _you_ set up, I'll eat all the extras. But there's a dozen Big
Brains here, gnawing their nails off up to the wrist to talk to Adams
all the rest of the night, so put him on and let's get back to sleep,
huh? They're cutting this mike now."

"Just a minute!" Deston snapped. "What's your time?"

"Three, fourteen, thirty-seven. So go back to bed, you night-prowling
owl."

"Of what day, month, and year?" Deston insisted.

"Friday, Sep----" French's voice was replaced by a much older one; very
evidently that of a Fellow of the College.

After listening for a moment to the newcomer and Adams, Barbara took
Deston by the arm and led him away. "Just a little bit of _that_
gibberish is a bountiful sufficiency, husband mine. So I think we'd
better take Captain French's advice, don't you?"

* * * * *

Since there was only one star in Jones' "Confusion" (by the book,
"Volume of Uncertainty") finding the _Procyon_ was no problem at all.
High Brass came in quantity and the entire story--except for one bit of
biology--was told. Two huge subspace-going machine shops also came, and
a thousand mechanics, who worked on the crippled liner for almost three
weeks.

Then the _Procyon_ started back for Earth under her own subspace drive,
under the command of Captain Theodore Jones. His first, last, and only
subspace command, of course, since he was now a married man. Deston had
wanted to resign while still a First Officer, but his superiors would
not accept his resignation until his promotion "for outstanding