rom cold in seconds and lack of air
in minutes._

_Cold_, came the known and unbidden thoughts to Ramsey's struggling
mind. _And lack of air. Attributes of extension, of space_, but measured
by duration, by time. _And since time does not exist in hyper-space, the
vacuum out there and the terrible, killing cold, could have no effect on
you. You could go out there perfectly protected from the lethal
environment by the absence of the time dimension._

Margot smiled at him. "Thank you," she said. "Thank you, Ramsey."

He was about to speak, but she added: "And don't give me that stuff
about a power we shouldn't tamper with. I'm going out there. Now."

Ramsey nodded slowly. "I won't stop you."

"But just so you don't get any ideas of stranding me here--Vardin.
Vardin's going with me."

The Vegan girl looked at Ramsey mutely.

* * * * *

Ramsey said: "What makes you think I'll let you take her?"

Margot smiled again. "The m.g. gun makes me think so."

"The heck of it is, you're not really bad, Margot. This thing's got you,
is all. You're not essentially evil."

"Thank you for the thrilling compliment. I'm delighted," Margot said
sarcastically.

"Vardin stays with me."

Margot reminded him of the lethal m.g. gun by showing it to him,
muzzle-first.

He laughed in her face. "Go ahead and shoot."

She stared at him.

"There isn't a lethal weapon'd do you any good here in a timeless
continuum. Take an m.g. gun. It induces an artificial breakdown of
radioactive fuel in its chamber, firing an instantly lethal dose of
radiation. But in order for radioactive breakdown to occur, time must
pass. Even if it's only milliseconds, as in the case of an m.g. gun.
There aren't any milliseconds on this world, Margot. There isn't any
time. So go ahead and pull the trigger."

Margot frowned and pointed the gun to one side and fired.

Nothing happened. Margot almost looked as if her hard shell had been
sundered by the impotence of the m.g. gun. She pouted. Her eyes gleamed
moistly.

Then Ramsey said: "O.K. Let's go."

"What--what do you mean?"

"Out there. All of us."

"But I thought you said--"

"Sure, I'm scared stiff. A normal man would be. It's in our genes,
according to your father. But I'm also a man. What the devil d'you think
it was first got man out of his cave and started along the road to
civilization and the stars? It was curiosity. Fear restraining him, and
curiosity eggin