"I believe, Mr. Kincaide, it might be well to slightly increase the power in the gravity pads," I suggested. Kincaide nodded and spoke briefly into his microphone; an instant later I felt my weight increase perhaps fifty per cent, and despite the inertia of my body, opposed to both the change in speed and direction of the _Ertak_, I could now stand without support, and could walk without too much difficulty. The door of the navigating room was flung open, and Correy entered, his face alight with curiosity and eagerness. An emergency meant danger, and few beings in the universe have loved danger more than Correy. "We're in for it, Mr. Correy," I said, with a nod towards the charts. "Swarm of meteorites, and we can't avoid them." "Well, we've dodged through them before, sir," smiled Correy. "We can do it again." "I hope so, but this is the largest field of them I have ever seen. Look at the charts: they're thicker than flies." * * * * * Correy glanced at the charts, slapped Kincaide across his bowed, tense shoulders, and laughed aloud. "Trust the old _Ertak_ to worm her way through, sir," he said. "The ray crews are on duty, I presume?" "Yes. But I doubt that the rays will be of much assistance to us. Particularly if these are stony meteorites--and as you know, the odds are about ten to one against their being of ferrous composition. The rays, deducting the losses due to the utter lack of a conducting medium, will be insufficient protection. They will help, of course. The iron meteorites they will take care of effectively, but the conglomerate nature of the stony meteorites does not make them particularly susceptible to the disintegrating rays. "We shall do what we can, but our success will depend largely upon good luck--or Divine Providence." "At any rate, sir," replied Correy, and his voice had lost some of its lightness, "we are upon routine patrol and not upon special mission. If we do crack up, there is no emergency call that will remain unanswered." "No," I said dryly. "There will be just another 'Lost in Space' report in the records of the Service, and the _Ertak's_ name will go up on the tablet of lost ships. In any case, we have done and shall do what we can. In ten minutes we shall know all there is to know. That about right, Mr. Kincaide?" "Ten minutes?" Kincaide studied the charts with narrowed eyes, mentally balancing distance and speed. "We should be within the danger area in about that length of time, sir," he answered. "And out of it--if we come out--three or four minutes later." "We'll come out of it," said Correy positively. I walked heavily across the room and studied the charts again. Space above and below, to the right and the left of us, was powdered with the green points of light. * * * * *