"The control is this secondary power cable running down my arm to my
hand. That gives you your direction, and the rheostat here at the belt
changes the velocity.

"I've only made this one so far, but I've ordered six others like it. I
thought you guys might like one, too."

"I think you guessed right!" said Morey, looking inside the power case.
"Hey! Why all the extra room in the case?"

"It's an unperfected invention as yet; we might want to put some more
stuff in there for our own private use."

Each of the men tried out the apparatus and found it quite satisfactory.

Meanwhile, there was other work to be done.

Wade had been given the job of gathering the necessary food and anything
else in the way of supplies that he might think of. Arcot was collecting
the necessary spare parts and apparatus. Morey was gathering a small
library and equipping a chemistry laboratory. Fuller was to get together
the necessary standard equipment for the ship--tables, seats, bunks, and
other furniture.

It took months of work, and it seemed it would never be finished, but
finally, one clear, warm day in August, the ship was completely equipped
and ready to go.

On the last inspection, the elder Dr. Arcot and the elder Mr. Morey went
with the four younger men. They stood beside the great intergalactic
cruiser, looking up at its shining hull.

"We came a bit later than we expected, son," said Dr. Arcot, "but we
still expect a good show." He paused and frowned, "I understand you
don't intend to take any trial trip. What's the idea?"

Arcot had been afraid his father would be worried about that, so he
framed his explanation carefully. "Dad, we figured this ship out to the
last decimal place; it's the best we can make it. Remember, the
molecular motion drive will get a trial first; we'll give it a trial
trip when we leave the sun. If there's any trouble, naturally, we'll
return. But the equipment is standard, so we're expecting no trouble.

"The only part that would require a trial trip is the space-control
apparatus, and there's no way to give that a trial trip. Remember, we
have to get far enough out from the sun so that the gravitational field
will be weak enough for the drive to overcome it. If we tried it this
close, we'd just be trying to neutralize the sun's gravity. We'd be
pouring out energy, wasting a great deal of it; but out away from the
sun, we'll get most of the energy back.

"On the other hand, when we do get out