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The Med Ship drove on in seemingly absolute solidity, with no sound from without, with no sight to be seen outside, with no evidence at all that it was not buried deep in the heart of a planet instead of flashing through emptiness at a speed so great as to have no meaning. Next ship-day the girl looked oddly at Calhoun when she appeared in the control-room.

But it was quite otherwise when another ship-day began with the taped sounds of morning activities as faint as echoes but nevertheless establishing an atmosphere of their own. Calhoun examined the plastic block and its contents. He read the instruments which had cared for it while he slept.

The Med Ship drove on in seemingly absolute solidity, with no sound from without, with no sight to be seen outside, with no evidence at all that it was not buried in the heart of a planet instead of flashing through emptiness at a speed so great as to have no meaning. Next ship-day the girl looked oddly at Calhoun when she appeared in the control room. Murgatroyd regarded her with great interest.

In theory she was to compare Calhoun's lessons with his practise when alone. But he did nothing on this journey which teaching considered was different from the two interstellar journeys Maril had made with him. She occupied the sleeping-cabin during two of the six watches of each ship-day.

But on the eighth ship-day out from Glamis, the Horus came back to unstressed space with a very, very bright star burning almost straight ahead. The spectroscope confirmed that it was the sun of Meriden. Bors sounded the action alert. Gongs clanged. Compartment-doors hissed shut.

I'll tell him how you've acted up to now, and your attitude, and of course that you're Med Service. He'll be glad to help you, I'm sure." "Splendid!" said Calhoun, nodding. "That will be Korvan." She started. "How did you know?" "Intuition," said Calhoun drily. "All right. I'll count on him." But he did not. He worked in the tiny biological lab all that ship-day and all the next.

It was after breakfast time of the next ship-day when he got out the sample of clear liquid he'd worked so long to produce. "We'll see how it works," he observed. "Murgatroyd's handy in case of a slip-up. It's perfectly safe so long as he's aboard and there are only the two of us." She watched as he injected half a cc. under his own skin. Then she shivered a little. "What will it do?"

The girl remained quiet. On the ship-day after, the time for breakfast approached. And while the ship was practically a world all by itself, it was easy to look forward with confidence to the future. But when contact and in a fashion conflict with other and larger worlds loomed nearer, prospects seemed less bright.

I'll tell him how you've acted up to now, and your attitude, and of course that you're Med Service. He'll be glad to help you, I'm sure." "Splendid!" said Calhoun, nodding. "That will be Korvan." She started. "How did you know?" "Intuition," said Calhoun dryly. "All right. I'll count on him." But he did not. He worked in the tiny biological lab all that ship-day and all the next.

On the second ship-day Calhoun labored painstakingly and somewhat distastefully at the little biological laboratory. Maril watched him in a sort of brooding silence. Murgatroyd slept much of the time, with his furry tail wrapped meticulously across his nose. Toward the end of the day Calhoun finished his task.