36

A bright light gleamed in Gourdy's eyes. He stirred in his sleep, then awakened with a start.

His bedroom was brightly lighted. He blinked the brightness away and saw Hewitt and half a dozen men dressed in the uniforms of – Gourdy stared unbelieving. He recognized the gray-blue cloth from old films:

...Space Patrol...!

One of the uniformed men, a stern-faced older person, said in a deep baritone, 'Mr. Gourdy, you are under arrest and will be taken off this ship.'

Two of the uniformed men stepped forward and grabbed him, brought his wrists together. There was a gleam of metal, the cold feel of it on his skin. Handcuffs clicked with a steely sound.

Gourdy managed to sit up at this point. He was still struggling to shake off sleep. As he stared down at the gleaming metal things, he had the feeling that he was having a nightmare.

To one side, a uniformed man said to Marianne: 'You may accompany your husband to Earth, if you wish, Mrs. Gourdy.'

'No, no, no -' Her voice was high-pitched, unnatural. 'I'll stay right here -'

'That is your privilege, madame. It is Mr. Hewitt's decision that the voyage shall go on. You are one of the few aboard who may choose to stay or go.'

Strong hands were now pulling Gourdy to his feet. 'Come along!' somebody commanded.

He made his first real resistance. 'Hey!' he said. He tried to jerk away.

The stern-faced man made a gesture to the two men who Were holding him. Without a word, they picked him up and carried him out of the bedroom into the main room.

As Gourdy's glance flicked over the room, he saw that the three other women – Ruth, Ilsa, and Ann – were in their dressing gowns, huddled in the doorway of the second bedroom.

Even as he watched, a woman in the uniform of a Space Patrol officer went over to them, and said, 'Please get dressed, ladies!'

Ruth nodded and drew the other two gently back into the room, out of sight. The door closed.

Gourdy saw now that two uniformed men stood at the corridor door. They stepped aside. A few moments later, Harcourt, one other of his men, and four Space Patrolmen, entered. Gourdy's two henchmen were handcuffed to each other. They appeared bewildered and at first they did not seem to notice Gourdy.

The patrolmen held a low-voiced conversation with Hewitt, then they went out.

During the next hour, all eighteen of Gourdy's men were captured and brought to the captain's cabin. When they were all there in a sullen group, Hewitt motioned the patrol officers aside and addressed the prisoners.

'That photograph with the splotch of light on it was the key,' he began. 'It was not defective, a fact which I began to suspect right away. When I looked at the enlargement as it was projected onto a screen by Astronomer Josephs, it occurred to me that I was looking at a section of my own salvage ship, the Molly D.

'And when I opened the airlock and went through, there it was, big as life.'

He continued: 'The scientific reason for such a dual space-time condition is not yet known. But there are several unique features in this situation.

For example, when I looked out from the bridge of the Hope of Man yesterday, the solar system was many, many quadrillions of miles away. Yet from a porthole of the Molly D, I saw that in some time fashion, it is well inside the solar system. In fact, I could see Earth, and it seemed to be going along normally.

'We may surmise that some of the beings you saw out in space have solved these space-time confusions, and obviously the Hope of Man must remain in space until the problem is solved for the human race also. To help us solve this problem, several leading scientists, have volunteered to come aboard. We shall also have a full complement of other scholars and experts and, of course, a Space-Patrol unit to keep order. Some of these men will bring their families. Others are single.

'As soon as they are aboard, the Molly D will cast off, and we shall be alone again. As for you men -'

He paused to make sure that he had their full attention, then continued:

'As far as I know, no one will be charged with unlawful acts. The history of the ship is regarded as a sociological and not a criminal phenomenon. But we don't want you on the ship.'

Hewitt turned to the patrol chief, said quietly, 'I think that about does it.'

When Gourdy and his cronies had been herded out of the apartment, Hewitt confronted the women who were now fully dressed.

'Be calm,' he said. 'Everything will be all right. Why don't you have breakfast? I have many things to do.'

He went out without explaining further. He anticipated that the women would have a problem adjusting. But, then, many others would have the same problem.

Law and order were about to come aboard the Hope of Man.

Hewitt remained away from the captain's cabin during the entire transformation period that followed... On the eighth day, a patrol craft arrived with the first of the new passengers.

Among the arrivals was the redoubtable Peter Linden. 'Young man,' he said to Hewitt, with eyes that twinkled, though his face was serious, 'the unsuspected existence of so many unusual space-time conditions finally made me take a look at the mathematics of John Lesbee I. I have accordingly advised the government of the Combined Western Powers that his theory and proof have shaken my confidence and that I believe that something will happen, that the sun may indeed take on – what is the famous phrase that was so often ridiculed? – "some of the aspects of a Cepheid Variable." We'd better figure out something to do about that.'

Hewitt, who had years of frustration behind him on this subject, was silent. He had no facile solution either.

37

Lesbee and Tellier arrived at the Hope of Man almost in no time. He had brought the entire craft up to 973-to-one time ratio, and so their coming was not visible to those aboard.

At the airlock, he reduced the ratio to ship time. His purpose was to enter quickly, which was done. But he was nervous now. As soon as the small craft was stowed away, he activated its airlock, emerged from it – and only he stepped up to the higher time ratio.

In this state he went directly to the bridge, and, with a small power tool that he had brought with him to fast time, released the relay that had snapped up when the lifeboat entered its compartment.

Next, he headed for Tellier's apartment and literally materialized before the eyes of Tellier's wife. It took a while then to give reassurances, to make clear what he wanted; the woman remained in a disturbed emotional condition longer than he had anticipated. She kept closing her gray eyes tight, then opening them and staring at him as if in disbelief. And she talked steadily about how she had missed her husband.

When she did grow calmer, it was only to break out on a new level of compulsive chatter. This time Lesbee learned about the coming of the strangers. He could have become interested at that point; could have questioned her closely. But even that, he decided, could wait.

At last, she subsided, smiled wanly, and said, 'What do you want me to do?'

He wanted her to get her clothes together and accompany him to the landing craft.

That also took time, but presently he had her in the lifeboat, and he left her there with her husband.

Lesbee returned to look over the ship. This time he saw the newcomers. He found vantage positions from which he could examine them; Lou Tellier had been singularly unclear as to who they were.

...Patrol officers and civilians.

He traced them to the Molly D, and examined the situation there with some interest, tried to analyze what was going on. Since a considerable amount of luggage had been moved into cabins, and several families were already aboard, he realized with amazement that the intention was to continue the voyage.