"Can I get a ship to Terra at once? It's an emergency. My wife--" "There's no ship leaving the moon for eight hours. You'll have to wait until the next period." "Isn't there anything I can do?" "We can broadcast a general request to all ships passing through this area. Sometimes cruisers pass by here returning to Terra for repairs." "Will you broadcast that for me? I'll come down to the field." "Yes sir. But there may be no ship in the area for awhile. It's a gamble." The screen died. Kramer dressed quickly. He put on his coat and hurried to the lift. A moment later he was running across the general receiving lobby, past the rows of vacant desks and conference tables. At the door the sentries stepped aside and he went outside, onto the great concrete steps. The face of the moon was in shadow. Below him the field stretched out in total darkness, a black void, endless, without form. He made his way carefully down the steps and along the ramp along the side of the field, to the control tower. A faint row of red lights showed him the way. Two soldiers challenged him at the foot of the tower, standing in the shadows, their guns ready. "Kramer?" "Yes." A light was flashed in his face. "Your call has been sent out already." "Any luck?" Kramer asked. "There's a cruiser nearby that has made contact with us. It has an injured jet and is moving slowly back toward Terra, away from the line." "Good." Kramer nodded, a flood of relief rushing through him. He lit a cigarette and gave one to each of the soldiers. The soldiers lit up. "Sir," one of them asked, "is it true about the experimental ship?" "What do you mean?" "It came to life and ran off?" "No, not exactly," Kramer said. "It had a new type of control system instead of the Johnson units. It wasn't properly tested." "But sir, one of the cruisers that was there got up close to it, and a buddy of mine says this ship acted funny. He never saw anything like it. It was like when he was fishing once on Terra, in Washington State, fishing for bass. The fish were smart, going this way and that--" "Here's your cruiser," the other soldier said. "Look!" An enormous vague shape was setting slowly down onto the field. They could make nothing out but its row of tiny green blinkers. Kramer stared at the shape. "Better hurry, sir," the soldiers said. "They don't stick around here very long." "Thanks." Kramer loped across the field, toward the black shape that rose up above him, extended across the width of the field. The ramp was down from the side of the cruiser and he caught hold of it. The ramp rose, and a moment later Kramer was inside the hold of the ship. The hatch slid shut behind him. As he made his way up the stairs to the main deck the turbines roared up from the moon, out into space. Kramer opened the door to the main deck. He stopped suddenly, staring around him in surprise. There was nobody in sight. The ship was deserted.