"Commander, something is terribly wrong! Half the fleet has disappeared!" Thettumir stiffened, congealed by an overwhelming dismay. "You must be mad!" he snapped finally at Nurrgan. "It's true, Commander, horribly true. Come and see for yourself." Thettumir roused into action. With Kasthel close at his heels, he dashed to the control room. A glance into the scanner verified Nurrgan's words. Half of the fleet was gone! As Thettumir stared, he saw a nearby vessel puff abruptly into nothingness. Some of its crew, however, remained. He saw their strewn figures for a moment--before they exploded in the vacuum of space. A second vessel went. A third. Realization of what was happening struck into Thettumir stunningly. He whirled to Kasthel. [Illustration: _Realization of what was happening struck into Thettumir._] "We were fools--fools! Our fine new fleet was the result of materialized thought. We should have known that these materializations could no longer exist once we went beyond the field of influence of the forces that created them and held them together." "We've got to stop!" Kasthel gasped. "We've got to turn back!" Thettumir shook his crest sadly. "Our inertia is too great to overcome quickly. Before we could decelerate, we would already be far over the danger line. No, Kasthel, let us go instead to my cabin and have a last drink of _glath_." They never reached the cabin.