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h his skull. The faint hum of equipment supported the small surge of apprehension within him. After half an hour the preparations were complete. The level of lights in the room was lowered. He could sense the operators at their panels and see dimly the figure of Dr. Martin seated near him. "Try to recall as vividly as possible your last experience with this nightmare you have described. We will try to lock on to that and follow it on down." This was the last thing in the world Mel wanted to do. He lay in agonized indecision, remembering that he had dreamed only a short time ago, but fighting off the actual recollection of the dream. "Let yourself go," Dr. Martin said kindly. "Don't fight it--" A fragment of his mind let down its guard for a brief instant. It was like touching the surface of a whirlpool. He was sucked into the sweeping depths of the dream. He sensed that he cried out in terror as he plunged. But there was no one to hear. He was alone in space. Fear wrapped him like black, clammy fur. He felt the utter futility of even being afraid. He would simply remain as he was, and soon he would cease to be. But they were coming again. He sensed, rather than saw them. The searchers. And his fear of them was greater than his fear of space alone. He moved. Somehow he moved, driving headlong through great vastness while the pinpoints of light grew behind him. "Very satisfactory," Dr. Martin was saying. "An extremely satisfactory probe." His voice came through to Mel as from beyond vast barriers of time and space. Mel felt the thick sweat that covered his body. Weakness throbbed in his muscles. "It gives us a very solid anchor point," Dr. Martin said. "From here I think we run back to the beginning of the experience and unearth the whole thing. Are you ready, Mr. Hastings?" Mel felt too weak to nod. "Let 'er rip!" he muttered weakly. * * * * * The day was warm and sunny. He and Alice had arrived early at the spaceport to enjoy the holiday excitement preceding the takeoff. It was something they had both dreamed of since they were kids--a vacation in the fabulous domed cities and ruins of Mars. Alice was awed by her first close view of the magnificent ship lying in its water berth that opened to Lake Michigan. "It's _huge_--how can such an enormous ship ever get off the Earth?" Mel laughed. "Let's not worry about that. We know it does. That's all that matters
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