"It's coldly scientific," Liddell assured him. "Sub-space is as real as the normal space-time continuum, as extensive. As a matter of fact, they're co-extensive. They exist together, side by side, but the laws of finite speed, the laws which say you would need all the mass in the universe to travel at the speed of light do not apply in sub-space. Travel is incredibly fast, almost instantaneous between any two points--without the need of acceleration." "I didn't ask for a lecture," Short said. "Just you send us where we want to go." * * * * * Linda offered Liddell a wan smile. The smile said, better than any words: you're spouting science, the science you love, even at a time like this--and you know something! I love you for it, I love you all the more for it.... Now Short and Linda stood within the frame of the transfer screen. Wordless, Liddell took the data on weight and space-shift which he had plotted at the plotting table and brought it to the simple bank of controls below the transfer screen. Automatically he began to plot in the course by punching half a dozen tabs on one side of the control board. He was aware of Short standing above him, within the frame of the screen, scowling, one hand on Linda's shoulder and one holding Liddell's own blaster--aware of the almost serene smile of trust on Linda's face. It was better, Liddell knew all at once, far better that he hadn't had the time to tell her. For then her trust would have been shattered by fear.... "Well, what are we waiting for?" Short wanted to know. "I'm ready now," Liddell told him. "Say so long to the old man," Short told Linda. "I--I trust you, darling," Linda said. "I love you." "Now you know," Short chortled. "There's a touching scene. But let's drop the curtain and get on with it!" he added with a broad grin. Short was enjoying himself. Liddell knew. Every moment he had was a moment of freedom he hadn't expected. He would be very dangerous as a consequence. Whatever he did, he knew he had nothing to lose. He had to be stopped. And Liddell was the only one who could stop him. Savagely, Liddell threw home the controls. For a split second, nothing happened. Then, slowly, Linda and Jason Short began to shimmer. Watching them like that, it was eerie. Liddell knew the theory well enough, but this was the first actual transfer he had ever attempted. And Linda was part of it-- The two figures in the screen above him--the woman he loved and the man who had come abruptly to shatter their lives--became no more tenuous than smoke. They seemed to swirl and shift like smoke, to grow thinner, as if a wind had come following blowing.... Short's voice echoed strangely from the now almost shapeless fog in the transfer screen. "Deneb," his voice wailed ghostlike. "Deneb, here we come!"