Drake had several times left me to consult the men in the control room. He said once, as he returned: "You see, Frank, what I mean by haste. We are chancing it." His tone carried an apprehension. "There are millions of light-years of distance to be covered in here. That is, they would be light-years when we were small. While we are large they can be crossed in a brief time. If we were to wait until we were smaller, and then make the voyage, this space-flight would take weeks, months perhaps. Yet we dare not cause too much astronomical disturbance. We must be normally small before we approach Dianne's world--not to disturb it in its orbit." I said, "Are we near there, Drake?" "Yes, near in time. They've just told me our forward flight must stop. From here, a size-change only. And then, when we are safely small, a short voyage--and then we'll land." "How long, Drake?" "They said a few hours." He sat down beside me. The scene outside the window had another, more familiar aspect now. The side-drift of the stars was stopped. They were widening out. Shifting both upward and downward, and receding from us as we grew small among them. I fixed my gaze on one which was level with our window. It seemed moving away. Drawing away to a great distance, yet it always remained visually as bright as before. A tiny spark, growing to a great blazing world. How long a time passed as I sat there, absorbed, I do not know. Two hours or more, undoubtedly. Drake occasionally talked, and I answered him vaguely. They were still diligently searching for Togaro, but it was a fruitless quest. I recall that I suggested we might use care in disembarking, so that Togaro would be kept a prisoner in smallness here on board. But that was impractical, as Drake at once pointed out. Togaro could easily make himself an inch high and still be reasonably safe from our observation. No use for us to guard the vehicle doorway. When our size-changing current was cut off, the wire hull of the ship was not solid. A figure an inch high could squeeze out through the side of the hull very easily. Of what use to guard the door! "We can't get him, Frank. If he's cautious, handles his size right, he's safe from us." Safe from us! But the thought, like an omen, swept me: were we safe from him? I said, "Shouldn't the girls wake up by now?" It seemed that they had been sleeping a very long time; Drake and I had had another meal served us. "They went in just before you woke up, Frank. Only three hours--the rest will do them good--they were worn out." He had already told me that they were being carefully guarded. But now, as though it were a premonition, a fear grew upon me. "Can't we go see them, Drake? Make sure they are all right?" He gave me a startled glance. "Come on."