uneasiness increased as he contemplated the approach of that
huge black ship. And he was convinced its color _was_ black, that it was
not just the monotone of the view screen that made it so.

Why should there be such a transfer of passengers in mid-space? The
Martian Princess was certainly adequate to make the journey to Mars.
Actually they were more than a third of the way there, already. He
wasn't sure why he felt so certain something was amiss. Surely there was
no possibility that the great Connemorra Lines would plan any procedure
to the detriment of the more than five thousand passengers aboard the
ship. His uneasiness was pretty stupid, he thought.

But it wouldn't go away.

He returned to the crowd clustered at the viewing screen and took Alice
by the arm to draw her away.

She looked quizzically at him. "This is the most exciting thing yet. I
want to watch it."

"We haven't got much time," Mel said. "We've got a lot of things to get
in our suitcases. Let's go down to our stateroom."

"Everyone else has to pack, too. There's no hurry."

"Fifteen minutes, the Captain said. We don't want to be the last ones."

Unwillingly, Alice followed. Their stateroom was a long way from the
salon. The fifteen minutes were almost up by the time they reached it.

* * * * *

Mel closed the door to their room and put his hands on Alice's
shoulders. He glanced about warily. "Alice--I don't want to go aboard
that ship. There's something wrong about this whole thing. I don't know
what it is, but we're not going aboard."

Alice stared at him. "Have you lost your mind? After all our hopes and
all our planning you don't want to go on to Mars?"

Mel felt as if a wall had suddenly sprung up between them. He clutched
Alice's shoulders desperately in his hands. "Alice--I don't think that
ship out there is going to Mars. I know it sounds crazy, but please
listen to me--we weren't told anything about the Martian Princess being
merely a shuttle and that we'd transfer to another ship out here. No one
was told. The Martian Princess is a space liner perfectly capable of
going to Mars. There's no reason why such a huge ship should be used
merely as a shuttle."

"That ship out there is bigger."

"Why? Do we need any more room to finish the journey?"

Alice shook herself out of his grasp. "I don't know the answers to those
questions and I don't care to know them!" she said angrily.

"If you think I'm