--

"We were precipitated through the fault?" a lieutenant spoke. "I don't
follow. What do you mean, sir?"

"Mean?" Michaelson answered. "I mean we passed through the fault."

"But what does that mean?"

"That we have passed through time!"

Craig was aware of a mounting tension when he heard the words. Then he
had understood Michaelson correctly! He had been afraid of that. He saw
from the faces of the officers that they either did not comprehend what
the scientist had said, or comprehending, were refusing to believe.

"Passed through time!" somebody said. "But that is ridiculous."

Michaelson shrugged. "You are thinking with your emotions," he said.
"You are thinking wishfully. You hope we have not passed through time.
Therefore you say it is not true."

"But," Captain Higgins spoke, "if we have passed through time, how far
have we gone, and in what direction?"

"How far I cannot say," Michaelson answered. "There is little question
of the direction: We have gone back. A space-time fault can only slip
back. It cannot slip forward, or I cannot conceive of it slipping
forward. As to the distance we have gone, in space, a few feet. In time,
the distance may be a hundred thousand years. It may be a million years,
or ten million." He tapped his notebook. "I have much data here, but not
enough data to determine how far we have gone."

* * * * *

Craig was cold, colder than he had ever been in all his life. They had
passed through time! Desperately he wanted to doubt that the scientist
knew what he was talking about. His eyes sought the reassurance of the
battleship. Surely such a mass of steel could not pass through time!
But--the sun had jumped, a hurricane of wind had roared out of nowhere
and was still roaring through the rigging of the ship. The calm sea had
become storm-tossed. And--the radio was silent.

Was Michaelson right? Or was he a madman? Craig could not grasp
completely the reasoning of the scientist. A space-time fault sounded
impossible. But there was no question about the existence of earth
faults. Craig had seen a few of those areas where the foundations of the
earth had crumpled. If the inconceivable pressures of the planet could
crush miles of rock like he could crush a playing card in his hands, why
could not the more tenuous fabric of space-time be crushed also?

The faces of the officers reflected doubt. Craig saw them steal uneasy
glances at each other, saw