Marooned in time, forever! The words rang like bells of doom. Marooned forever. No chance of escape. No hope for escape. "Are you sure?" Higgins questioned. "Positive," the scientist answered. Craig looked at the sea. He lit a cigarette, noting that it was the last one in the package. He drew the smoke into his lungs, feeling the bite of it. Marooned in time, forever! CHAPTER IV Silver on the Sea Night had come hours ago. Craig stood on the deck, watching the sea and the sky and the stars in the sky. Up overhead the constellations had changed. They were not the familiar star clusters that he knew. Completely blacked out, the Idaho moved very slowly through the darkness. Her speed was kept to almost nothing because the charts of the navigators were useless. The charts had been made in that far future which the battle wagon had quitted forever and they revealed nothing about this sea. There might be a mile of water under the ship. She might be scraping bottom. The navigators were going mad worrying about what might be under the ship. Captain Higgins was going mad worrying not only about what might be under the ship but about what might soon be over it, when the mysterious planes returned. The pilot of the scouting plane had been rescued. He had not lived to tell what he had found. Craig was aware of a shadow near him but he thought it was one of the crew until the match flared. It was Margy Sharp. She was lighting a cigarette. A sharp reprimand from an officer caused her to drop the match. "What's wrong?" she demanded. "Why can't I smoke?" "Blackout," Craig said. "Oh, it's _you_," the girl spoke. "Where have you been?" Craig asked. "I looked around for you but I couldn't find you." "In the hospital," she said. "Helping out a baffled doctor." "How is English?" Craig asked. "English has been dead for hours," she said. "I've been with Mrs. Miller." "Oh! How is she?" "Fine. But the doctor almost went nuts. He said it was the first time in naval history that a baby had been born on a battleship. He seemed to think it violated the rules of etiquette, or something. It was a girl," she went on, a little breathlessly now, as if talking about babies made her excited. "Mrs. Miller said she was going to name it Margaret, after me. Isn't that nice? She says her husband will be worried to death about her and she wants to use the ship's radio to send him a message. Do you think she could do that?" "Do I--" Craig choked. "Listen, girl, do you know what has happened?" The tone of his voice alarmed her. "No," she said quickly. "I don't know. What has happened?" She had been busy down in the hospital bay, too busy to wonder what was going on up above. Craig told her the whole story. She listened in incredulous amazement. He had to tell it twice before she began to understand it. And then she didn't believe it. "You're kidding me," she said. "Sorry," Craig answered. "But I'm not kidding."