Something struck him in the chest then, a firm, gentle pressure that grew and grew as the cabin vibrated with a powerful roar. The pressure grew larger, choking the breath from him. In a last terrible panic of fear Scotty tried to fight his safety belt open, tried to cry out to _stop, stop, stop_, but it was too late. He pressed back, deeper and deeper into the couch as the age-long seconds ticked by--and in the viewer the Earth fell away, farther and farther, dwindling, dimming-- He heard the explosion as the first stage disengaged, and his mind froze as the pressure shoved harder at his chest. Then suddenly there was a jerk, a bone-crushing jar that nearly broke his neck, and the ship started spinning crazily. "_Scotty--Scotty, can you hear me?_" It was Mitch's voice in the earphones, heavy with frantic urgency. "_Can you hear me, Scotty?_" Scotty groaned. "I can hear you," he croaked. "Scotty, the second stage didn't disengage properly--you've got it on your tail yet--" Scotty gasped for breath, trying to focus his mind on the present, trying to drive out the paralyzing phantoms of the past. "Second--stage?" "It--wait a minute--you're way off course--there it goes, you've lost it--" There was a scraping sound in the earphones, and then the General's voice snapped out, sharp and clear. "Scotty--listen, boy, you're off course, you aren't out far enough--you'll have to orbit back--" "Orbit?" The word was wrenched from his throat, and he stared at the viewer in horror. "Listen, Scotty, get this straight--can you hear me, lad?" "Yeah, yeah, I can hear--" "Then listen. Orbit your ship. Slam down the cut-off and--" "I can correct," Scotty cried. "I can get back on beam, and make it--" "Scotty, you'd use too much fuel. You didn't get out far enough, you dragged dead weight--" "I can correct--" "You'll never be able to land up there. If you do, you'll never be able to take off again--" "I've--got--to--get--out--there!" The General's voice was frantic. "This is an order, man. _Orbit your ship._ We'll find some way to get you down. But you'll have to come back--" Something exploded in Scotty's mind then. Rage bubbled over in his mind, and he was screaming in the speaker, "I'm going on out. I'm going to land up there--I can't flub it now, I can't--" "Scotty, _orbit while you can_. There'll be another try--" "I can't hear you--" "_I said--_" "_I'm going out._ Get somebody up there to get me if you want to, but I'm going--" He ripped off the earphones, the bitterness and rage and frustration of long years welling into his mind. He was seething, almost crying out in his rage. Everything he had ever done he had flubbed--but he wouldn't flub this one. Fiercely, he went to work on the controls, tears rolling down his cheeks as he worked. He was going to go on, if it killed him-- * * * * *