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uneasiness increased as he contemplated the approach of that huge black ship. And he was convinced its color _was_ black, that it was not just the monotone of the view screen that made it so. Why should there be such a transfer of passengers in mid-space? The Martian Princess was certainly adequate to make the journey to Mars. Actually they were more than a third of the way there, already. He wasn't sure why he felt so certain something was amiss. Surely there was no possibility that the great Connemorra Lines would plan any procedure to the detriment of the more than five thousand passengers aboard the ship. His uneasiness was pretty stupid, he thought. But it wouldn't go away. He returned to the crowd clustered at the viewing screen and took Alice by the arm to draw her away. She looked quizzically at him. "This is the most exciting thing yet. I want to watch it." "We haven't got much time," Mel said. "We've got a lot of things to get in our suitcases. Let's go down to our stateroom." "Everyone else has to pack, too. There's no hurry." "Fifteen minutes, the Captain said. We don't want to be the last ones." Unwillingly, Alice followed. Their stateroom was a long way from the salon. The fifteen minutes were almost up by the time they reached it. * * * * * Mel closed the door to their room and put his hands on Alice's shoulders. He glanced about warily. "Alice--I don't want to go aboard that ship. There's something wrong about this whole thing. I don't know what it is, but we're not going aboard." Alice stared at him. "Have you lost your mind? After all our hopes and all our planning you don't want to go on to Mars?" Mel felt as if a wall had suddenly sprung up between them. He clutched Alice's shoulders desperately in his hands. "Alice--I don't think that ship out there is going to Mars. I know it sounds crazy, but please listen to me--we weren't told anything about the Martian Princess being merely a shuttle and that we'd transfer to another ship out here. No one was told. The Martian Princess is a space liner perfectly capable of going to Mars. There's no reason why such a huge ship should be used merely as a shuttle." "That ship out there is bigger." "Why? Do we need any more room to finish the journey?" Alice shook herself out of his grasp. "I don't know the answers to those questions and I don't care to know them!" she said angrily. "If you think I'm
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