Part 2

"A very efficient one. Walk up the ramp. And don't try running! You'll run straight into a dead man if you do."

"Where's a dead man?" Craig gasped.

"You'll be the dead man!" the voice answered. "Walk up the ramp!"

They walked up the inclined runway. Ahead of them, the lock opened. They entered. It swung shut behind them. Ahead, the inner door opened.

For the first time, they saw the source of the voice that had spoken to them. Craig felt every muscle in his body contract. Mary uttered a scream that was pure panic.

* * * * *

In Nuoy's quarters Captain Martin was finishing with his story of what they had found on Star Goal. General Stanley was almost falling out of his chair as he leaned forward to listen. Nuoy's lips were opening and closing and he was breathing in panting gasps. A slobbering sound was coming from within his throat.

"There is no doubt but that the inhabitants of Star Goal are immortal," Captain Martin finished.

Nuoy swallowed. He swallowed again and again. A gleam came into his eyes.

"Can you prove that statement, Martin?" he demanded.

"Of course!" the captain calmly answered.

Nuoy almost fell out of his chair at the words. He had expected argument, hedging, perhaps compromise. In the world he knew, men told lies to each other, then told other lies to get out of the first ones they had told. As golden as Captain Martin's statement was, Nuoy had thought it was a lie, that there was a catch in it somewhere. He had expected the captain to try to lie out of it. He hardly knew what to do when the captain did not try to lie.

"I would like to see your proof," Nuoy finally spoke.

"You're looking at some of it," Captain Martin answered.

"Eh? You? What kind of proof is that?"

"If you will check the records, you will discover that I was 32 years old when the _Andromeda_ left the Solar System. I am now 52 years of age. If you doubt what your own eyes tell you about my physical condition, I suggest you have your doctors examine me."

"They have worked on you. They have made you immortal?"

"They have worked on the whole crew."

"They did?" Nuoy gasped. "How much did they charge?"

"Nothing," Captain Martin answered.

"What? No charge?" Nuoy sounded as if he did not believe his ears.

"No charge," the captain repeated.

"Uh--uh!" Nuoy opened his mouth, closed it, made up his mind, opened his mouth again. "We'll have to change that," he said.

It was Captain Martin's turn to be surprised. "I don't understand you."

Nuoy was on his feet, making plans. "You and your ship will return to Star Goal immediately. I will accompany you." The slurping sounds in his throat were plainly audible.

"Eh?" the captain said.

Nuoy nodded firmly. "We will leave within two hours, as quickly as you can stock the ship and as soon as my servants can transfer my things to the vessel."

Captain Martin glanced out of the corner of his eyes at General Stanley. The general looked in the other direction. "What about Earth Government?"

"The government will authorize your return to Star Goal," Nuoy said, his voice sharp. "They're in my vest pocket."

Again Martin glanced at Stanley. This time the general did not look away. Pain showed on his face but he made no attempt to deny Nuoy's statement.

"But why are we going back to Star Goal in such a rush?" Martin spoke.

"Don't be stupid, Martin," Nuoy answered. "If there is immortality to be had anywhere in the universe, I intend to have it. Later, we will establish a regular traffic between the Solar System and Star Goal. I know a great many men around the system who will pay handsomely for the privilege of visiting this planet you have discovered. We won't be such fools as to give immortality away."

General Stanley managed to find his voice. "Perhaps Captain Martin does not wish to return immediately. After all, he and his men have been gone twenty years. They may have old friends they wish to see--"

"Captain Martin will take orders," Nuoy said crisply. "Just like you do, Stanley."

The general was silent.

* * * * *

The creature facing Craig and Mary was seated behind an elaborate control panel that was set in an alcove in the wall of the corridor leading into the ship. Craig Randall knew enough about space ships to know that no such alcove belonged here. He did not need to know anything about space ships to know that the creature in the alcove did not belong there. Nor did it belong anywhere in the Solar System.

His first dazed impression was that the creature was made of metal; it had a metallic sheen about it. His second impression was that the creature was composed of many kinds of crystals of a color varying all the ways from infra red to ultra violet. The crystals seemed to be in rapid vibration. A glow like an aura came from it and the colors changed very rapidly.

The creature was round, two feet in diameter. Appendages of linked crystals extended to the controls on the panel. Apparently these appendages could be extruded and withdrawn at will. As Craig stared, an appendage was withdrawn from the control panel and another was extended from the circular body. If it had eyes, they were not visible, if it had ears, he could not see them. There was no mouth, no nose, there was only this globe of shining pulsing crystals.

"Where--where is the man we were talking to?" Craig whispered. In his mind was still the lingering thought that they had spoken to a man.

"You were talking to me." A slight orange pulsation passed over the crystals as the voice came.

"Who--who--"

"I am Filo of the Sorodromes," the voice answered. The crystals glowed with a deep red color as if being Filo of the Sorodromes was a great thing. "Why did you think something was wrong in the ship?"

"Well--"

"Speak the facts. Have you humans grown suspicious?"

"Suspicious of what?"

"Of the existence of the Sorodromes. Has some member of the crew revealed our existence?" The globe showed a violent green at the question.

"No," Craig answered. "Not so far as I know."

"Then why did you think something was wrong?"

"It wasn't that we _knew_ something was wrong."

"You are in a position where lying will do you no good. What is happening inside the station? Are our controls failing?"

"What controls? Do you mean that you can control the crew of the _Andromeda_ from here?"

"What do you think?" Filo answered. "If there had been any important loss of control, I would have known about it. But there may have been hints, attempts to convey information, which I did not catch. Have there been such attempts?"

Before Craig could answer another voice was whispering in the air, calling urgently, "Great Filo? Please contact me immediately." The voice was a thin whisper of sound, as if somewhere a man was thinking and his thoughts were being built up to audible volume.

"Yes," Filo answered. "What is it?"

"Nuoy insists on coming aboard the ship. Please instruct me."

"Who is Nuoy?"

"He seems to think he is the top dog in the System."

"What does he want?"

"I have told him a part of the story of Star Goal and that the race which lives on Star Goal possesses immortality. He insists on returning immediately to Star Goal to obtain immortality for himself. After that he plans to establish a regular traffic between Star Goal and the Solar System to peddle immortality to those rich enough to pay for it." A faint repugnance sounded in the whisper.

Filo digested this information. The color coming from him was almost pure white. He seemed to be vibrating at a tremendously high frequency.

"I await your orders," the whisper came again. "Shall I bring him aboard the ship?"

"I am considering the matter."

"He is very impatient. Please instruct me immediately."

"I must confer with my fellows," Filo answered. "I will have an answer for you in minutes."

"Yes, Great Filo," the voice whispered.

Filo was silent behind the control panel. Craig had the impression that some wordless conference was taking place with other Sorodromes located elsewhere. He stared at Mary in growing horror.

"That whisper was coming from Captain Martin," the girl whispered. "He is the only person from the _Andromeda_ who is with Mr. Nuoy. And that means--"

"It means that Captain Martin and the crew are not in charge of this ship."

"And that means--"

"That something latched on to the crew of the _Andromeda_ on this planet they call Star Goal. It means that the ship's landing here was a ruse to get into Pluto Station, maybe from here on into the whole Solar System!" His voice grew grim. "It means that the fate the military was always afraid of has finally come in upon us, and has gotten under our guard. It means we have welcomed a race of monsters into Pluto Station. It means that Adam--How did Adam know that something was wrong?"

"Who is Adam?" Filo spoke.

"Just a man," Craig faltered.

"Ah--" Filo was apparently going to ask more questions but he was interrupted by the arrival of three other Sorodromes. Balls of glowing crystals, they came floating down the corridor from the interior of the ship. Energy seemed to flow from them. Craig felt his skin begin to itch and burn. The three conferred with Filo in a weird, wordless flow of communication between them. From the way their colors changed Craig had the impression that they were laughing at some secret joke of their own.

"Yes?" Captain Martin's voice whispered.

"Bring this human to us," Filo answered. "We will accommodate him in his desire to return to Star Goal. We will also assist him to set up traffic between our planet and his system." Again the colors changed as laughter seemed to ripple through them.

"What if others want to come too?"

"Bring them to the number of twenty. Do they seem suspicious?"

"Not so far as I can tell. Nuoy is burning with impatience to be away. He insists we start loading the ship immediately."

"Then we must cooperate with him," Filo answered. Again the surge of color that was laughter surged through the Sorodromes. "Summon the crew to load and operate the ship. We will be ready when you arrive."

Filo extruded a tentacle, touched a control on the panel in front of him. A section of metal wall that had been folded back slid across the alcove, hiding it from sight.

"My three comrades will direct you," Filo's voice spoke from the empty air.

* * * * *

Craig and Mary found themselves being herded down the corridor. They turned a corner. A door leading into a storeroom was open. They were herded through the door. It closed behind them, leaving them in total darkness.

In that darkness was the soft sound of stealthy movement.

Captain Martin and Meyer Nuoy came through the lock. Nuoy was glowing with eagerness.

As they passed through the lock Captain Martin glanced in the direction of an alcove that he knew was hidden there. The expression on his face was momentarily grim, but he said nothing.

"I'll take over your quarters, Captain Martin," Nuoy said. "Show me to them so I can have my servants bring my belongings to them and make the necessary changes as quickly as possible. Of course, I will want to bring my own wines and foods, and I will bring my own staff of servants with me, so I can have proper service on the trip. I understand the accommodations on the deep-space ships are not elaborate."

"Of course, Mr. Nuoy," Captain Martin answered.

If he resented Nuoy's words or actions, no trace of it showed on his face.

In the dark storeroom a voice hissed, "Who is it?"

"Adam!" Craig gasped. "It's us, Craig and Mary."

"Oh!" Craig heard Adam March breathe a sigh of relief. "It's a darned good thing you spoke up. I almost let you have it."

"How--how did you get into the ship?"

"Through one of the discharge locks. I was coming along the passage when I spotted you two coming. I didn't quite recognize you. What--what was them danged things floating through the air behind you?"

Craig explained about the Sorodromes.

"I knew it was something like that, or worse, though I don't know what the hell could be any worse! What are we going to do, Craig?"

"What _can_ we do?" Craig answered, desperation in his voice. "We've got a military force here that is supposed to take care of creatures like these--"

"Only, sometimes, it turns out that the ordinary citizens have got to do the job the military was supposed to do, but didn't!" Bitterness sounded in March's voice. "This is A deck, isn't it, the lowest deck in the ship?"

"I suppose so. I don't know how many decks the _Andromeda_ has."

"Hmmm. And this storage room they've got us caught in is just inside the main lock, isn't it. You come in through the main lock and go straight down the passage and turn to the left and you're here. Isn't that right?"

"I--I hardly noticed," Craig answered. He didn't add that he had too many other things to think about to notice where they were being taken.

"That's right," Mary answered.

"If this is A deck--" the old man muttered. They heard him move away. In the darkness he stumbled over a box and apologized to Mary for the profanity. "Swear all you please, Adam," the girl said. "I'll swear with you, if that will help. What are you trying to do?"

A light flared as the old man struck a match. He was down on his knees against the far bulkhead. The match went out. Adam grunted. Metal scraped in the darkness, thudded on the floor. A square opening was revealed. Dim light came through it. Grunting with satisfaction, Adam crawled through it. "Come on, you two," his voice came from the other side.

They crawled through the opening and found themselves in what was obviously one of the main holds. Adam March, the monkey wrench gripped firmly in his hand, grinned at them.

"How did you know that opening was there?" Craig demanded.

"I kind of sensed it would be there."

"Sensed, hell! It strikes me that you know a devil of a lot about the _Andromeda_. You knew how to get through a discharge port. You knew where this opening was."

The old man blinked guileless eyes at him. "Do I? I'm just lucky, I guess. We've got to figure out what we're going to do next."

"We'll get out of the ship and go straight to General Stanton," Mary said.

"And what will we do when we get to the general?" Craig asked. "Tell him about Filo and the Sorodromes? We'll get our heads examined by the station doctors. By the time they have finished with us, the ship will be gone. If anything is to be done, it has to be done right now."

"Why not let the ship go?" Mary argued. "All they've got is Nuoy and we can sure stand to part with him."

"And have the Sorodromes come back at us, later, with all his power on their side? Think again, Mary."

"But surely the general--"

"I'm afraid Craig's about right, Mary," old Adam interposed. "The general is not a bad guy and he's not thick-headed, but he would need some kind of evidence, something in the way of proof, before he would believe any story we told him."

"The evidence is in an alcove just inside the main lock. I can point it out to him."

"Yes, but who's going to pry Filo out of there?" Craig answered. "I've got a hunch that Filo is not exactly helpless. If we break in on him, all hell may break loose."

* * * * *

The door of the hold opened. A voice ordered, "Dump those boxes in here, men."

They moved as if they had one mind, taking refuge behind the remnants of stores that were still in the hold. Directed by a member of the crew, a file of men entered, dumped their loads and trotted out.

"Grab a box," Craig whispered. "We'll walk out of here. If anybody questions us, we're stowing cargo."

Each carrying a box, no one challenged them.

"I want to go to the main control room," Adam whispered. "I've got an idea."

"Do you know the way?"

"Sure. Follow the ramps up." The old man moved with a sure stride toward an inclined runway. They followed. Again Craig was struck with the realization that Adam was very familiar with the ship. He led them upward as if he knew exactly where he was going.

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.

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."

"But I don't want to make the big hop. I don't want to go--" Her voice went into silence as Captain Martin fell into step beside them. The Captain's face was utterly blank. He walked like a man in a deep daze, like a zombie, like a man in a trance. Once his eyes flicked toward the wall. Following the direction in which the captain had glanced, Craig caught the vague outline of a door covering an alcove. Craig shuddered. Now he understood one reason why Captain Martin might be walking like a man in a trance. But were there other reasons?

It was obvious that the Sorodromes had almost perfect control over the captain and the crew.

They moved down the ramps. Members of the crew met them, saluted, continued with their duties. Men from the station were carrying supplies into the huge ship. They approached the main lock.

Craig Randall felt his flesh crawl as he saw the section of the wall that hid Filo of the Sorodromes. What if Filo was watching them? Craig kept his eyes fixed on the opposite wall. He was walking like a man in a trance himself, and he knew it. He held his breath, waiting for the challenge of the voice from the air. It did not come. They passed the hidden alcove; they passed through the lock; they were on the ramp outside. Craig's suddenly furious breathing shook his lean frame to the bones.

The bustle of the hangar was around them.

"Where will I get clearance?" Captain Martin muttered.

"Over there," Craig said, pointing.

They moved down the ramp. Craig stopped breathing again as a voice from the ship's intercom system shouted from the lock behind them.

"ATTENTION, ALL HANDS."

The voice was an excellent imitation of Captain Martin. It spoke with crisp authority and with sureness. It was a commanding voice. It caught the attention of its hearers.

Captain Martin seemed to freeze on the ramp. Suddenly sensing what was about to happen, Craig Randall also froze. The voice came again.

"Attention, all hands! Attention, all Pluto Station men on board the _Andromeda_! A dangerous situation has been discovered in the drive room of the ship. You are hereby directed to clear the _Andromeda_ instantly. A delay of a few seconds may mean the difference between life and death."

The voice gained in volume, became more commanding.

"ALL HANDS CLEAR THE SHIP INSTANTLY!"

* * * * *

In the seconds that elapsed while the voice was rolling from the ship's communication system, Craig grasped what was going to happen next, and what he was going to have to do about it.

Captain Martin spun back toward the open lock.