Once more firmly attached to the ship, Bull slumped against it momentarily. It was impossible to communicate between the suits; and the filters in the helmets didn't permit a look into one another's faces. When Bull looked up after catching his breath, Skip was already at work on the remaining tubes. Placing himself alongside Skip, he added his torch to the work. Splinter by splinter, chunk by chunk they burned away the traction line debris. To get the tubes completely free, one of them had to climb into the tubes. Bull did this. The hard work in the confined space of the suits caused sweat to pour from their every pore. Bull was reaching for one of the last scraps of metal when he noticed that his suit was getting hot. The metal fittings in his hands were becoming too warm to hold. In sudden panic once more he remembered Malcolm. Was his own anti-heat unit becoming depleted? Scuttling out of the tube, he found Skip waiting for him. Looking around, the sight which met his eyes didn't at first register. They could no longer see the sun. _They seemed part of it._ There could be only one explanation. Their work must have taken longer than it seemed. During that time the ship had drifted downward until it was now well within the vortex of a spot. Since the sides seemed to be pressing all around him, the ship was probably within the photosphere. Unless they escaped at once, they would not get away. He began to work his way back toward the lock; Skip following. Inside the ship Captain Stevens looked anxiously at his instrument panel. Sweat broke out on his forehead. They couldn't wait any longer. He reached for the firing control. A gasp came from one of the men in the room. "You can't, sir. Not after what they have done." Stevens instinctively began to withdraw his hand, then stopped. "I must," he whispered. "It's them or all of us. There is no choice." His hand plunged down on the firing control. Outside, Bull had been placing his anchor lines carefully as he went along. He kept slightly behind Skip, making sure that all his lines were in place if Skip's weren't. There was no doubt in his mind as to what Captain Stevens would do when he found that he had to make a choice between the two of them dying or the whole crew. Bull knew that the lines would hold against the thrust of the ship's engines. But would they hold both he and Skip? What is more, would he be able to grab that crazy space cadet that had saved his life, before the ship's momentum tore the kid away and beyond reach?