arting a panic, sir," the Air
Force officer replied. "Really, I'm exceeding my orders in mentioning it
to you, but I thought you should know...."

Kalvar Dard swore. "It's a blasted pity Captain Vlazil didn't try
thinking! Gold-braided quarter-wit! Maybe his crew might panic, but my
people wouldn't.... I'm going to call the control-room and have it out
with him. By the Ten Gods...!"

* * * * *

He ran through the airlock and back into the hold, starting toward the
intercom-phone beside the desk. Before he could reach it, there was
another heavy jar, rocking the entire ship. He, and Seldar Glav, who had
followed him out of the boat-bay, and the six girls, who had risen on
hearing their commander's angry voice, were all tumbled into a heap.
Dard surged to his feet, dragging Kyna up along with him; together, they
helped the others to rise. The ship was suddenly filled with jangling
bells, and the red danger-lights on the ceiling were flashing on and
off.

"Attention! Attention!" the voice of some officer in the control-room
blared out of the intercom-speaker. "The ship has just been hit by a
large meteor! All compartments between bulkheads Twelve and Thirteen are
sealed off. All persons between bulkheads Twelve and Thirteen, put on
oxygen helmets and plug in at the nearest phone connection. Your air is
leaking, and you can't get out, but if you put on oxygen equipment
immediately, you'll be all right. We'll get you out as soon as we can,
and in any case, we are only a few hours out of Tareeshan atmosphere.
All persons in Compartment Twelve, put on...."

Kalvar Dard was swearing evilly. "That does it! That does it for
good!... Anybody else in this compartment, below the living quarter
level?"

"No, we're the only ones," Analea told him.

"The people above have their own boats; they can look after themselves.
You girls, get in that boat, in there. Glav, you and I'll try to warn
the people above...."

There was another jar, heavier than the one which had preceded it,
throwing them all down again. As they rose, a new voice was shouting
over the public-address system:

"_Abandon ship! Abandon ship!_ The converters are backfiring, and
rocket-fuel is leaking back toward the engine-rooms! An explosion is
imminent! Abandon ship, all hands!"

Kalvar Dard and Seldar Glav grabbed the girls and literally threw them
through the hatch, into the rocket-boat. Dard pushed Glav in ahead of
him, th