The man on his left was dressed expensively. His general appearance radiated prestige although his fleshy face was filled with disbelief as if he were witnessing a fantastic nightmare. _Rinnnng! Rinnnng!_ Corbin's thoughts were interrupted by a clamoring alarm bell declaring by its volume and insistence that the danger was still acute. _That bell will ring until the ship is destroyed_, he thought wildly. _It could very well mean that the ship will be destroyed!_ The pilots leaped away from the controls as if they had abruptly become white hot. "_Rocket_," one of them screamed. "Enemy rocket on our tail!" Corbin turned suddenly and ran across the room in sudden, blind panic. "We can't shake it! Nobody can shake one!" Mumbling incoherently, he grabbed a spacesuit and began to don it. The room was suddenly a seething mass of confusion. The pilots distributed spacesuits and helped passengers into them while the cabin continued to sway and lurch. Fear-crazed passengers ran aimlessly in circles. Some fainted and others were shocked into immobility. Emmett had barely finished securing his helmet when the ship shook violently and he was knocked to the floor. The lights fluttered, then went out. When the trembling at last subsided, he struggled to his feet and looked about the room. His eyes gradually adjusted to the faint light from the luminous paint on the walls and he was able to make out two shadowy figures moving hesitantly about the wreckage. He remained motionless as one of the two men approached him, reached out and adjusted the dials on his spacesuit controls. The earphones in his helmet blared with a familiar voice, "Are you all right?" "Y-Yeah. Just a little shaken." The man walked toward the third passenger and presently Emmett heard a quick, sobbing breath through the earphones. "Are you hurt?" the man asked. "No." Even under the abnormal conditions Gloria White's calm voice came through clearly. They wandered aimlessly about the room, each engrossed in his private mental turmoil. Finally the pilot broke the silence, "Since we're probably the last ones alive on the ship, we should know each other. My name is George Hartman." "Emmett Corbin." "Gloria ... Gloria White." The pilot said with grim urgency: "We've got to do something. There's no sense in just standing here--waiting for the enemy to come." "Come?" Emmett inquired. "You mean that the Agronians will actually board our ship?" "They always examine disabled ships. They are determined to learn as much as they can about us." "Well, let's get some weapons and be ready. I'm no hero, understand. But I agree with you that there's no sense in just waiting." The pilot said: "There are no hand weapons on the ship. Our only possible course of action would be to _hide_." His emphasis conveyed to the others how much he disliked the thought. "But where?" Gloria asked. "If they make a thorough search--"