"Is it so dangerous?" asked Tommy. "If she uses the usual methods of coming to Pluto, she'll be going well towards ten thousand miles per second by the time she passes the front surface." "That's the trouble," groaned McBride. "Like all other space crates, her hull will be made of cupralum alloy, which is as paramagnetic as alnico is diamagnetic. She'll hit that magneto-gravitic warp that makes up the fore element, with that antimagnetic hull and it will be like a pane of glass being struck by a minute pellet of steel. She'll cause the collapse of the front element, and with the load-loss, the electro-gravitic elements of the aft element will fall out of alignment. Heaven only knows what'll happen. Well, we'll all know soon enough!" "How long?" asked Tommy. "Well, she left Terra Tuesday morning. She didn't say what time, but there's little sense in finding out right now. That hop would take sixty-eight hours at a standard 5-G from Sol. Say sixty-something, and let's see, this is about Thursday evening--Greenwich Time, but that screwball might give zonal time and have taken off from Hawaii or Sevastopol as the fancy hit her. I'd say sit tight and expect anything from attar of roses to total extinction within the next couple of hours. Also get on the lens network and tell the gang to oil up their trouble-wagons. Everything from spacesuits to hand generators. Oh Peter! I'm going to quit this ding-busted job and take up truck farming!" "Ever hear of Sandra Drake before?" asked Tommy. "Yeah, she's one of those fool females that isn't content with being equal to any man--she's got to prove she's better! And she doesn't care how many people she hurts doing it. If Sandra Drake gets through the lens to Pluto, she'll get her ears toasted right." "O.K., John. I'll get on the lens network and warn the boys to prepare for trouble." * * * * * Messages began to fly around the periphery of the great lens, and the station attendants swore and began to collect tools that would be necessary to make any conceivable repairs. Small flitters were powered and made ready, and everything that carried manual controls was inspected and cleaned for action. But Sandra Drake did not wait for the completion of the preparatory work. It was three hours after the first message flew around the lens that Sandra's ship, the _Lady Luck_, came roaring out of space and slid its nose into the magneto-gravitic warp of the front surface.