only ship of that class
that's missing. But if that's a _Shane_ lifeboat, what took her so long
to get here?"

"She's cut her engines, sir!" said the observer. "She evidently knows
we're coming."

"All right. Pull her in as soon as we're close enough. Put her in
Number Two lifeboat rack; it's empty."

* * * * *

When the door of the lifeboat opened, the captain of the _Muldoon_ was
waiting outside the lifeboat rack. He didn't know exactly what he had
expected to see, but it somehow seemed fitting that a lean, bearded man
in a badly worn uniform and a haggard look about him should step out.

The specter saluted. "Lieutenant Alfred Pendray, of the _Shane_," he
said, in a voice that had almost no strength. He held up a pouch.
"Microfilm," he said. "Must get to Earth immediately. No delay. Hurry."

"Catch him!" the captain shouted. "He's falling!" But one of the men
nearby had already caught him.

In the sick bay, Pendray came to again. The captain's questioning
gradually got the story out of Pendray.

"... So I didn't know what to do then," he said, his voice a breathy
whisper. "I knew I had to get that stuff home. Somehow."

"Go on," said the captain, frowning.

"Simple matter," said Pendray. "Nothing to it. Two equations. Little
ship goes thirty times as fast as big ship--big _hulk_. Had to get here
before 22 June. _Had_ to. Only way out, y'unnerstand.

"Anyway. Two equations. Simple. Work 'em in your head. Big ship takes
ten months, little one takes ten days. But can't stay in a little ship
ten days. No shielding. Be dead before you got here. See?"

"I see," said the captain patiently.

"_But_--and here's a 'mportant point: If you stay on the big ship for
eight an' a half months, then y' only got to be in the little ship for a
day an' a half to get here. Man can live that long, even under that
radiation. See?" And with that, he closed his eyes.

"Do you mean you exposed yourself to the full leakage radiation from a
lifeboat engine for thirty-six hours?"

But there was no answer.

"Let him sleep," said the ship's doctor. "If he wakes up again, I'll let
you know. But he might not be very lucid from here on in."

"Is there anything you can do?" the captain asked.

"No. Not after a radiation dosage like that." He looked down at Pendray.
"His problem was easy, mathematically. But not psychologically. That
took real guts to solve."

"Yeah," said the captain gently. "All h