e main passenger cabin. Suddenly the hatch was jerked
open and a group of frightened men and women poured through. The first
to reach Strong, a short fat man with a moonface and wearing glasses,
began to jabber hysterically, while clinging to Strong's arm.

"Sir, this ship is going to blow up any moment. You've got to save us!"
He turned to face Al James. "And he refused to allow us to escape in the
jet boats!" He pointed an accusing finger at the young skipper as the
other passengers loudly backed him up.

"Just a moment," snapped Strong. "There's a Solar Guard rocket cruiser
only five hundred yards away, so take it easy and don't get hysterical.
No one is going to get hurt if you keep calm and obey orders!" He turned
to James. "What's the trouble, skipper?"

"It's the reaction chamber. The lead baffle around the chamber worked
loose and flooded everything with radiation. Now the mass in
number-three rocket is building and wildcatting itself. If it gets any
higher, it'll explode."

"Why didn't your power-deck man dump the mass?" asked Strong.

"We didn't know it was wildcatting until after he had tried to repair
it. And he didn't tighten the bolts enough to keep it from leaking
radiation." The young skipper paused. "He lived long enough to warn us,
though."

"What's the Geiger count on the radiation?" asked Strong.

"Up to twelve thirty-two--about ten minutes ago," answered James. "I
pulled everybody out of the power deck and cut all energy circuits,
including the energizing pumps. We didn't have any power so I had to use
the combined juice of the three jet boats to send out the emergency
signal that you picked up." He turned to face the little man with the
glasses. "I had a choice of either saving about fifteen passengers on
the jet boats, and leaving the others, or take a chance on saving
everybody by using the power to send out a message."

"Ummmmh," said Strong to himself. He felt confidence in a young spaceman
who would take a decision like that on himself. "What was that Geiger
count again?" he asked.

"Must be better than fourteen hundred by now," answered James.

Strong made a quick decision.

"All right," he said, tight-lipped, "abandon ship! How many passengers?"

"Seventeen women and twenty-three men including the crew," replied
James.

"Does that include yourself?" asked Strong.

"No," came the reply.

Strong felt better. Any man who would not count himself on a list to
survive could be c