h his skull. The faint hum of
equipment supported the small surge of apprehension within him.

After half an hour the preparations were complete. The level of lights
in the room was lowered. He could sense the operators at their panels
and see dimly the figure of Dr. Martin seated near him.

"Try to recall as vividly as possible your last experience with this
nightmare you have described. We will try to lock on to that and follow
it on down."

This was the last thing in the world Mel wanted to do. He lay in
agonized indecision, remembering that he had dreamed only a short time
ago, but fighting off the actual recollection of the dream.

"Let yourself go," Dr. Martin said kindly. "Don't fight it--"

A fragment of his mind let down its guard for a brief instant. It was
like touching the surface of a whirlpool. He was sucked into the
sweeping depths of the dream. He sensed that he cried out in terror as
he plunged. But there was no one to hear. He was alone in space.

Fear wrapped him like black, clammy fur. He felt the utter futility of
even being afraid. He would simply remain as he was, and soon he would
cease to be.

But they were coming again. He sensed, rather than saw them. The
searchers. And his fear of them was greater than his fear of space
alone. He moved. Somehow he moved, driving headlong through great
vastness while the pinpoints of light grew behind him.

"Very satisfactory," Dr. Martin was saying. "An extremely satisfactory
probe."

His voice came through to Mel as from beyond vast barriers of time and
space. Mel felt the thick sweat that covered his body. Weakness throbbed
in his muscles.

"It gives us a very solid anchor point," Dr. Martin said. "From here I
think we run back to the beginning of the experience and unearth the
whole thing. Are you ready, Mr. Hastings?"

Mel felt too weak to nod. "Let 'er rip!" he muttered weakly.

* * * * *

The day was warm and sunny. He and Alice had arrived early at the
spaceport to enjoy the holiday excitement preceding the takeoff. It was
something they had both dreamed of since they were kids--a vacation in
the fabulous domed cities and ruins of Mars.

Alice was awed by her first close view of the magnificent ship lying in
its water berth that opened to Lake Michigan. "It's _huge_--how can such
an enormous ship ever get off the Earth?"

Mel laughed. "Let's not worry about that. We know it does. That's all
that matters