's just
possible they're real."

O.K., thought Mike, and really moving now he reached the engineering
quarters a good ten strides ahead of his companion.

As he entered the open bulkhead lock he saw a man that he recognized
as one of the Security personnel, and brushing on past him said, "If
you want to see me, come back later. I'm going to be very busy here
for a while."

Mike headed for the panel that controlled the air jets and other
devices that spun the wheel.

The Security man didn't hesitate. Seeing the ship's engineer about to
make important--and possibly subversive--adjustments, he drew his
needle gun and aimed it squarely at Mike's back. "Halt--in the name of
Security!" he barked.

Slowly Mike swung around, eying the man coldly, and began a question.

But there was no need. Dr. Chi Tung, having seen what was going on
through the lock before he entered, had held back just long enough for
the Security man to turn fully towards Mike. Now he launched himself
through the lock like a small but well-guided missile, and arriving on
the Security guard's back, had his gun-arm down and half broken before
the man knew what was happening. Had he been alone, it is possible
that the larger man might have won. But Mike had never been fond of
people who pulled guns on him, even if they were only sleepy guns.

Between the two of them, the Security guard was lucky not to lose his
life in the first two seconds of battle.

The conflict ended almost before it had begun, with a meaty slap of
Mike's fist connecting with the man's jaw, right below the ear. It
hadn't been a clean punch, Mike thought, but then he wasn't really
used to fighting in this gravity. Anyhow, the man was out.

And now came the question of what to do with him, but Mike left that
to Ish.

He turned back to the precession panel a bit more convinced that
perhaps the captain had been right--perhaps there were enemies aboard.

The precession controls, though operational, had not to date been
required. Carefully, Mike switched the sequence that would put them
into active condition but not operate. That was left to the Cow.

Turning to the vocoder panel, he directed the Cow to take over control
of the now active precession equipment; to use the sun as a referrant
for the axis of precession, and to move the pole ninety degrees in a
clockwise direction around that axis of precession.

Under these directions, the big wheel began to turn, not as it had
bee