heating."
"Well, keep watching it. Double the checks on the other Piles, and let
me know of even the slightest rise."
As soon as the door had closed, Evans opened the desk panel and buzzed
Operations.
"Pilot Thayer? Captain Evans here. I am about to give you an order. As
soon as you have executed it, come at once to my cabin, and bring
Navigator Smith with you. Here it comes. Reduce speed immediately,
repeat immediately, to one-half, repeat one-half. That's all."
* * * * *
Nobody felt the alteration in the progress of the _Star Lord_. Within
the metal casing of the ship nothing was changed. The sunny scenes in
the walls were just as bright, and the synthetic light of the slowly
moving stars at night was just as soothing. For the passengers, the
black menace outside the ship did not exist. Because change of speed
cannot be felt in hyperspace, they had no way of realizing that the
_Star Lord_ had slackened her pace and was feeling her way cautiously as
a blind man to avoid the ominous barriers of the Thakura Ripples.
On their way to their cabins that night, there were a few people who
noticed that the bulletin which detailed the day's run had not been
posted on the board, but they wondered only for a moment why it had been
omitted, and then forgot the matter.
Going in to breakfast next morning, Burl Jasperson stopped to read the
bulletin as usual, to find how many light years distance had been put
behind him in this interminable journey, and he clenched his fist at
finding a blank board before him.
Abruptly turning his back on the dining room, he proceeded straight to
the Captain's quarters, where Stacey stopped him in the anteroom.
"Where's Captain Evans?"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Jasperson. The Captain left orders he was not to be
disturbed."
"He'll see _me_. Let him know I'm here."
"I'm sorry, sir. My orders were, nobody was to be admitted. He was very
specific."
Stacey did not budge, but the inner door swung open and the Captain's
tired face peered out.
"You have a very penetrating voice, Burl. I suppose you might as well
come in. It's all right, Stacey. Stand by."
He moved to let Jasperson enter, and closed the door.
About the desk sat Chief Engineer Wyman, Chief Pilot Thayer, and Chief
Navigator Smith, all studying a chart laid out before them, and making
computations. They looked up at the interruption.
"What's going on here?" said Jasperson. "If you're h
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