He announced the damage and ordered suits on. It felt good to be thinking again. A penetration in the air-filled portion of the ship and the temperature could bake uninsulated flesh promptly. Oversight Number Two. Art reminded him over the intercom diplomatically, "I'm not counteracting the spin, Fred." "That's all we can do," the commander returned. "We're going to have to spin through and like it." "We'll be in the thickest in a couple of minutes." It was Hollender's voice. "I think the patch crew ought to get some business." "Belt in unless you're traveling," Hiller reminded. Only then did he bring himself to relate to the crew how Bleck died, hoping it would be of constructive value, provided they didn't frighten. With the next oblique collisions Hiller found the suit better muffled the sound. He wished there was something to be done about the wrenching of his insides at each impact. The suits helped little on the more direct collisions. Added to that, the ship was gyrating faster and pseudo-gravity pulled at him from the front ports. Giddiness on top of everything else was not improving matters. He crumpled under the wave of heat and compression when the first particle penetrated the air compartments of the ship. Three of his instrument dials cracked and he felt as if he had received a blow on each square inch of his body. The penetration he located as in the sleeping quarters and sent the patch crew there at once. About that time the second one penetrated. The jolt was sickening. Somerset reported both members of his crew unconscious when their boots let them slide against bulkheads at the impact. Worse, he said the patch equipment had spun loose and shorted, bent, and fused. He made clear any patch repair as being hopeless. While Hiller listened to the report, he was sick inside his suit from the centrifugal effect. He recalled how he'd also been sick on the Whirlwind ride at the amusement park when he was a kid. A hell of a space commander. They could use a good collision against the direction of gyration any time, provided the sudden deceleration of the twirl didn't hemorrhage them internally. Why was he worried about gyrations when the patch kit was a casualty? That latest development cinched it: the odds on getting through were falling every minute. He wasn't facing it, either. One favorable element, however, was appearing: the particles size remained uniformly small. No structural damage of any consequence had occurred from the collisions already experienced. The hull, at least, could sustain the heat and explosion effects. * * * * *