Smiling, Captain Martin moved to him. "This is the control chair, sir. The operator of the ship sits here. Information is relayed to him--" Swiftly he explained the use of all of the controls. Then his voice dropped to a whisper. "You haven't a chance to lick the Sorodromes. I've tried for years, all of us have tried, and we have failed! Forget it!" His voice rose again to normal tones. Politely he continued his explanations of the operation of the controls. "I'll have plenty of time to explain everything to you on the long hop," he ended. "But--lad--" the old man's voice was a pleading whisper. "You'll just get yourself killed," Captain Martin whispered. "Believe me. I know what I am talking about." "Well--uh--" Adam March seemed to choke up. "What chance have we got on the long hop?" he whispered. "Probably none," Captain Martin answered. Adam's face worked. It twisted into a grimace as some inward torture passed through him. "Well ... well, could...." His face lit up as if the inner turmoil had suddenly been resolved by some deep insight. "Could I stay here while the ship is taking off? Could I, Captain? I've always dreamed of being on the bridge of one of the deep-space ships like the _Andromeda_ while she went free.... It'll be all right, won't it, Captain?" A pleading note crept into the voice. "I won't be in the way at all." Martin frowned, then shrugged. "Well, all right. You understand that the crew will be busy with their duties?" "Of course, Captain. I won't be in the way at all. You go on and take care of your duties. Have you got clearance papers from the general yet? Then you had better get them. Craig, you and Mary keep on lugging freight." "Clearance papers?" Martin said, exasperation in his voice. "It's been so long since I've taken off from a Solar System port that--" "The captain of the clearing ship has to apply in person for clearance papers," Adam said. "I mention it, because you might have forgot. That's the regulation." "Damn!" Captain Martin said. "Well, if I must, I must." * * * * * Mary Kirkham and Craig Randall, the latter tremendously puzzled, were already leaving the control room. "I don't understand it," Craig was thinking, over and over again. "He knows too much--and seems to know too little--there's a play going on here that is over my head--" He shook his head, but he kept his thoughts to himself. "What are we supposed to do, just go get more boxes?" Mary questioned. "I don't know. Play along and wait for your cue. Something is going to happen."