ut one had been completed.

The final test was that of actual performance. And here, despite the
advice of his friends, Alan insisted that he would have to be the man
who took the _Cavour_ on her first journey to the stars.

Nine years had passed, almost to the week, since a brash youngster named
Alan Donnell had crossed the bridge from the Spacer's Enclave and
hesitantly entered the bewildering complexity of York City. Nine years.

He was twenty-six now, no boy any more. He was the same age Steve had
been, when he had been dragged unconscious to the _Valhalla_ and taken
aboard.

And the _Valhalla_ was still bound on its long journey to Procyon. Nine
years had passed, but yet another remained before the giant starship
would touch down on a planet of Procyon's. But the Fitzgerald
Contraction had telescoped those nine years into just a few months, for
the people of the _Valhalla_.

Steve Donnell was still twenty-six.

And now Alan had caught him. The Contraction had evened out. They were
twins again.

And the _Cavour_ was ready to make its leap into hyperspace.

_Chapter Nineteen_

It was not difficult for Alan to get the route of the _Valhalla_, which
had been recorded at Central Routing Registration. Every starship was
required by law to register a detailed route-chart before leaving, and
these charts were filed at the central bureau. The reason was simple: a
starship with a crippled drive was a deadly object. In case a starship's
drive conked out, it would keep drifting along toward its destination,
utterly helpless to turn, maneuver, or control its motion. And if any
planets or suns happened to lie in its direct path----

The only way a ship could alter its trajectory was to cut speed
completely, and with the drive dead there would be no way of picking it
up again. The ship would continue to drift slowly out to the stars,
while its crew died of old age.

So the routes were registered, and in the event of drive trouble it was
thus possible for a rescue ship to locate the imperilled starship. Space
is immense, and only with a carefully registered route could a ship be
found.

Starship routes were restricted information. But Alan had influence; he
was easily able to persuade the Routing Registration people that his
intentions were honorable, that he planned to overtake the _Valhalla_ if
they would only let him have the coordinates. A bit of minor legal
jugglery was all that was needed to give him a