sensed something wrong. Somers
knew every creak, rattle and groan that _Dierdre_ was capable of making.
During blastoff, he had heard something _different_. In space, something
different had to be wrong.

"Mr. Rajcik," he said, turning to his navigator, "would you check the
cargo? I believe something may have shifted."

"You bet," Rajcik said cheerfully. He was an almost offensively handsome
young man with black wavy hair, blase blue eyes and a cleft chin.
Despite his appearance, Rajcik was thoroughly qualified for his
position. But he was only one of fifty thousand thoroughly qualified men
who lusted for a berth on one of the fourteen spaceships in existence.
Only Stephen Rajcik had had the foresight, appearance and fortitude to
court and wed Helga, Old Man Mikkelsen's eldest daughter.

Rajcik went aft to the cargo hold. _Dierdre_ was carrying transistors
this time, and microfilm books, platinum filaments, salamis, and other
items that could not as yet be produced on Mars. But the bulk of her
space was taken by the immense Fahrensen Computer.

Rajcik checked the positioning lines on the monster, examined the stays
and turnbuckles that held it in place, and returned to the cabin.

"All in order, Boss," he reported to Captain Somers, with the smile that
only an employer's son-in-law can both manage and afford.

"Mr. Watkins, do you read anything?"

Watkins was at his own instrument panel. "Not a thing, sir. I'll vouch
for every bit of equipment in _Dierdre_."

"Very well. How long before we reach Point Baker?"

"Three minutes, Chief," Rajcik said.

"Good."

The spaceship hung in the void, all sensation of speed lost for lack of
a reference point. Beyond the portholes was darkness, the true color of
the Universe, perforated by the brilliant lost points of the stars.

Captain Somers turned away from the disturbing reminder of his extreme
finitude and wondered if he could land _Dierdre_ without shifting the
computer. It was by far the largest, heaviest and most delicate piece of
equipment ever transported in space.

He worried about that machine. Its value ran into the billions of
dollars, for Mars Colony had ordered the best possible, a machine whose
utility would offset the immense transportation charge across space. As
a result, the Fahrensen Computer was perhaps the most complex and
advanced machine ever built by Man.

"Ten seconds to Point Baker," Rajcik announced.

"Very well." Somers readied himsel