The crew moved along the corridors, preparing the ship for flight. They seemed unperturbed by this sudden order to return to deep space. They paid no attention to the three Pluto Station people who were carrying boxes up the ramps. No Sorodromes were in sight. "They're all in their hidey-holes," Adam March muttered. As they reached the landing on C deck, Captain Martin was coming out of the quarters directly across from them. "I'm sure everything will be all right," Captain Martin said to someone inside the quarters. "It had better be," Nuoy's voice came from inside. Martin came directly toward them. Craig had the impression that Adam tried to turn his face toward the wall. Captain Martin glanced at the old man. A startled expression flitted across his features. His mouth opened, he started to speak. Then he seemed to change his mind very quickly. He went past them as if he had never seen them. As if a ghost were after him, Adam went up the last inclined ramp to D deck. The main control room was before them. They entered it, found it empty. Above them, through the tough plastic of the observation dome, they could see the girders of the hangar. All around them were the controls by which the ship was directed in flight. In the middle of the room, with all controls in easy reach, was a single huge chair. It was the control center of the ship. Off in small rooms around the control room were plotting centers where the position of the ship in space was mapped. In one small room was a large three-dimensional globe of the heavens. The crew had not yet arrived in the control room. Adam dropped his box, went quickly around the control, stopped in front of the big chair, touched it, touched the controls with gentle fingers. He seemed almost entranced by what he was seeing here. "This is the heart of the whole ship," he mused. "Everything is controlled from here. Power generation, power routing and supply, the auxiliary drives, the main drives, the steering drives--" "Are you interested in the control room?" a voice spoke behind them. Adam spun, his hand grabbing for the wrench in his pocket. Captain Martin stood just inside the doorway. There was a smile on his face but his eyes were fathomless. "Uh, dang it, where did you come from?" "I'll be glad to show it to you," the captain continued. "Of course, we don't have much time at the moment. Are you going to take the long hop with us?" Polite interest sounded in the voice but under the interest Craig sensed a seething emotional state. "Why, uh, hadn't thought about it. Yes, we'll take the long hop if we get the chance," Adam answered. He looked like a man in a fog groping desperately for some familiar landmark.