ter, Arcot regained consciousness. It was quiet in the ship. He
was still strapped in his seat in the control room. The relux screens
were in place, and all was perfectly peaceful. He didn't know whether
the ship was motionless or racing through space at a speed faster than
light, and his first semiconscious impulse was to see.

He reached out with an arm that seemed to be made of dry dust, ready to
crumble; an arm that would not behave. His nerves were jumping wildly.
He pulled the switch he was seeking, and the relux screens dropped down
as the motors pulled them back.

They were in hyperspace; beside them rode the twin ghost ships.

Arcot looked around, trying to decide what to do, but his brain was
clogged. He felt tired; he wanted to sleep. Scarcely able to think, he
dragged the others to their rooms and strapped them in their bunks. Then
he strapped himself in and fell asleep almost at once.

Still more hours passed, then Arcot was waking slowly to insistent
shaking by Morey.

"Hey! Arcot! Wake up! ARCOT! HEY!"

Arcot's ears sent the message to his brain, but his brain tried to
ignore it. At last he slowly opened his eyes.

"Huh?" he said in a low, tired voice.

"Thank God! I didn't know whether you were alive or not. None of us
remembered going to bed. We decided you must have carried us there, but
you sure looked dead."

"Uhuh?" came Arcot's unenthusiastic rejoinder.

"Boy, is he sleepy!" said Wade as he drifted into the room. "Use a wet
cloth and some cold water, Morey."

A brisk application of cold water brought Arcot more nearly awake. He
immediately clamored for the wherewithal to fill an aching void that was
making itself painfully felt in his midsection.

"He's all right!" laughed Wade. "His appetite is just as healthy as
ever!"

They had already prepared a meal, and Arcot was promptly hustled to the
galley. He strapped himself into the chair so that he could eat
comfortably, and then looked around at the others. "Where the devil are
we?"

"That," replied Morey seriously, "was just what we wanted to ask you. We
haven't the beginnings of an idea. We slept for two days, all told, and
by now we're so far from all the Island Universes that we can't tell one
from another. We have no idea where we are.

"I've stopped the ship; we're just floating. I'm sure I don't know what
happened, but I hoped you might have an idea."

"I have an idea," said Arcot. "I'm hungry! You wait until after I've
ea