"Attention! Attention!" the voice of some officer in the control-room
blared out of the intercom-speaker. "The ship has just been hit by a
large meteor! All compartments between bulkheads Twelve and Thirteen are
sealed off. All persons between bulkheads Twelve and Thirteen, put on
oxygen helmets and plug in at the nearest phone connection. Your air is
leaking, and you can't get out, but if you put on oxygen equipment
immediately, you'll be all right. We'll get you out as soon as we can,
and in any case, we are only a few hours out of Tareeshan atmosphere.
All persons in Compartment Twelve, put on...."

Kalvar Dard was swearing evilly. "That does it! That does it for
good!... Anybody else in this compartment, below the living quarter
level?"

"No, we're the only ones," Analea told him.

"The people above have their own boats; they can look after themselves.
You girls, get in that boat, in there. Glav, you and I'll try to warn
the people above...."

There was another jar, heavier than the one which had preceded it,
throwing them all down again. As they rose, a new voice was shouting
over the public-address system:

"_Abandon ship! Abandon ship!_ The converters are backfiring, and
rocket-fuel is leaking back toward the engine-rooms! An explosion is
imminent! Abandon ship, all hands!"

Kalvar Dard and Seldar Glav grabbed the girls and literally threw them
through the hatch, into the rocket-boat. Dard pushed Glav in ahead of