the few remaining spaceships as quickly as
possible, ignoring the importance of the passengers. He reflected that
many millionaires and influential politicians were now dead simply
because they hadn't been close enough to the spaceports when the
unexpected news came. Watching the pilots as they sat tense before the
controls, he felt overcome with helplessness.

The passenger on his right was a girl--red-haired and undeniably
attractive. He remembered her name. It was Gloria White, and she was the
daughter of Colonel White who had led the expedition to Venus. Her
father had died months before but his friends had used their influence
to establish her as a secretary on the spaceport where it was assumed
she would be comparatively safe.

He had seen her frequently but almost always at a distance. She had been
friendly enough, but she had never exchanged more than a few casual
words with him. He had often paused in his work to admire her. But now,
aboard one of the last ships to leave Earth, he evaluated her only as
another passenger.

The man on his left was dressed expensively. His general appearance
radiated prestige although his fleshy face was filled with disbelief as
if he were witnessing a fantastic nightmare.

_Rinnnng! Rinnnng!_ Corbin's thoughts were interrupted by a clamoring
alarm bell declaring by its volume and insistence that the danger was
still acute. _That bell will ring until the ship is destroyed_, he
thought wildly. _It could very well mean that the ship will be
destroyed!_

The pilots leaped away from the controls as if they had abruptly become
white hot. "_Rocket_," one of them screamed. "Enemy rocket on our tail!"

Corbin turned suddenly and ran across the room in sudden, blind panic.
"We can't shake it! Nobody can shake one!" Mumbling incoherently, he
grabbed a spacesuit and began to don it.

The room was suddenly a seething mass of confusion. The pilots
distributed spacesuits and helped passengers into them while the cabin
continued to sway and lurch. Fear-crazed passengers ran aimlessly in
circles. Some fainted and others were shocked into immobility.

Emmett had barely finished securing his helmet when the ship shook
violently and he was knocked to the floor. The lights fluttered, then
went out.

When the trembling at last subsided, he struggled to his feet and looked
about the room. His eyes gradually adjusted to the faint light from the
luminous paint on the walls and he was able to