ay.

Then something blinked to one side. He turned his head to stare.

A little ship was less than three hundred yards away. He recognized it
as a life raft. Now his spin brought him around to face it, and he saw
it was parallelling his course. The ejection of the life raft must have
caused the thump he'd heard before he was cast adrift.

It meant someone was trying to save him. It meant _life_!

He flailed his arms and beat his legs together, senselessly trying to
force himself closer, while trying to guess who could have taken the
chance. No one he could think of could have booked passage on the
_Iroquois_. There wasn't that much free money in the villages.

Something flashed a hot blue, and the little ship leaped forward.
Whoever was handling it knew nothing about piloting. It picked up too
much speed at too great an angle.

Again blue spurts came, but this time matters were even worse. Then
there was a long wait before a third try was made. He estimated the
course. It would miss him by a good hundred feet, but it was probably
the best the amateur pilot could do. The ship drifted closer, but to one
side. It would soon pass him completely.

A spacesuited figure suddenly appeared in the tiny airlock, holding a
coil of rope. The rope shot out, well thrown. But it was too short. It
would pass within ten feet--and might as well have been ten miles for
all the good it would do him.

Every film he had seen on space seemed to form a mad jumble in his mind,
but he seized on the first idea he could remember. He inhaled deeply and
yanked the oxygen tank free. An automatic seal on the suit cut off the
connection. He aimed the hissing bottle, fumbling for the manual valve.

It almost worked. It kicked him toward the rope slightly, but most of
the energy was wasted in setting him into a wilder spin. He blinked,
trying to spot the rope. It was within five feet now.

Again he waited, until he seemed to be in position. This time he threw
the bottle away from it. It added spin to his vertical axis, but the
rope came into view within arm's reach.

He grasped it, just as his lungs seemed about to burst. He couldn't hold
on long enough to tie the rope....

His lungs gave up suddenly, collapsing and then sucking in greedily.
Clean air rushed in, letting his head clear. He'd forgotten that the
inflated suit held enough oxygen for several minutes.

His body struck the edge of the airlock and a hand jerked him inside.
The oute