el out of the power chamber and control chamber."

The men were still under control, but that might not last long. I had to
have the entire disposition of the ship's power, control, and armament
under my personal direction for a few hours at least.

Missile Section reported all missiles armed and locked on target. I
acknowledged and ordered the section evacuated. Then I turned to Clay
and Joyce. Both were plenty nervous now; they didn't know what was
brewing.

"Lieutenant Clay," I said. "Report to your quarters; Joyce, you too. I
want to congratulate both of you on a soldierly performance these last
few hours."

They left without protest. I was aware that they didn't want to be too
closely identified with the Captain when things broke loose.

* * * * *

I keyed for a video check of the interior of the lift as it started back
up. It was empty. I locked it up.

Now we were steady on course, and had reached our full two and a half
gees. I could hardly stand under that acceleration, but I had one more
job to do before I could take a break.

Feet dragging, I unlocked the lift and rode it down. I was braced for
violence as I opened the lift door, but I was lucky. There was no one in
the corridor. I could hear shouts in the distance. I dragged myself
along to Power Section and pushed inside. A quick check of control
settings showed everything as I had ordered it. Back in the passage, I
slammed the leaded vault door to and threw in the combination lock. Now
only I could open it without blasting.

* * * * *

Control Section was next. It, too, was empty, all in order. I locked it,
and started across to Missiles. Two men appeared at the end of the
passage, having as hard a time as I was. I entered the cross corridor
just in time to escape a volley of needler shots. The mutiny was in the
open now, for sure.

I kept going, hearing more shouting. I was sure the men I had seen were
heading for Power and Control. They'd get a surprise. I hoped I could
beat them to the draw at Missiles, too.

As I came out in B corridor, twenty feet from Missiles, I saw that I had
cut it a bit fine. Three men, crawling, were frantically striving
against the multi-gee field to reach the door before me. Their faces
were running with sweat, purple with exertion.

I had a slight lead; it was too late to make a check inside before
locking up. The best I could hope for was to lock t