d you've lost your bet." But his voice did
not sound very convincing, and as he started off across the field with
Steve dragging along beside him he frowned, and did some very intense
thinking indeed in the few minutes' time it took him to arrive at the
shining _Valhalla_. He was beginning to suspect that Hawkes might be
going to win the bet after all.

_Chapter Twelve_

He felt a little emotional pang, something like nostalgia, as the
_Valhalla_ came into sight, standing by itself tall and proud at the far
end of the field. A cluster of trucks buzzed around it, transferring
fuel, bringing cargo. He spotted the wiry figure of Dan Kelleher, the
cargo chief, supervising and shouting salty instructions to the
perspiring men.

Alan tightened his grip on Steve's arm and moved forward. Kelleher
shouted, "You men back there, tighten up on that winch and give 'er a
hoist! Tighten up, I say! Put some muscle into----" He broke off.
"Alan," he said, in a quiet voice.

"Hello, Dan. Is my father around?"

Kelleher was staring with frank curiosity at the slumped figure of Steve
Donnell. "The Captain's off watch now. Art Kandin's in charge."

"Thanks," Alan said. "I'd better go see him."

"Sure. And----"

Alan nodded. "Yes. That's Steve."

He passed between the cargo hoists and clambered onto the escalator
rampway that led to the main body of the ship. It rose, conveying him
seventy feet upward and through the open passenger hatch to the inner
section of the towering starship.

He was weary from having carried Steve so long. He put the sleeping form
down against a window-seat facing one of the viewscreens, and said to
Rat, "You stay here and keep watch. If anyone wants to know who he is,
tell them the truth."

"Right enough."

Alan found Art Kandin where he expected to find him--in the Central
Control Room, posting work assignments for the blastoff tomorrow. The
lanky, pudgy-faced First Officer hardly noticed as Alan stepped up
beside him.

"Art?"

Kandin turned--and went pale. "Oh--Alan. Where in blazes have you been
the last two days?"

"Out in the Earther city. Did my father make much of a fuss?"

The First Officer shook his head. "He kept saying you just went out to
see the sights, that you hadn't really jumped ship. But he kept saying
it over and over again, as if he didn't really believe it, as if he
wanted to convince himself you were coming back."

"Where is he now?"

"In his cabin. He's off-w