said it was almost eight. Why did he wake so early? He grumbled to himself and was about to turn over when he froze.
Something was happening in the depths of the ship. He could feel it more than hear it: the floor throbbed. There was a distant thrumming, barely audible. He sat up, his heart pounding.
"It's come back!" he thought, imagining the creature whose slimy trail the Physicist had discovered. "It's trying to force open the entrance hatch."
The ship suddenly shuddered, as though some huge hand were trying to push it still deeper into the ground. One member of the crew groaned in his sleep. For a moment the Doctor felt his hair stand on end: the ship weighed sixteen thousand tons! The floor started shaking in a rapid, irregular rhythm. Then he understood. It was one of the drive units! Someone had got it going!
"Everybody up!" he shouted, groping for the flashlight.
The crew sprang to their feet, stumbling into one another in the dark and shouting, until the Doctor finally found the flashlight and turned it on. In a few words he explained.
The Engineer, still groggy, listened to the sound. The ship began to shake, and a mounting groan filled the air. "The air compressors in the port nozzles!" he cried.
The Captain said nothing as he zipped up his suit, and the others dressed hurriedly, but the Engineer ran out into the corridor as he was, in an undershirt and shorts, snatching the flashlight from the Doctor's hand on the way.
"What are you going to do?"
They hurried after him as he ran to the navigation room. The floor shook more and more violently. "Any moment now it'll snap the blades," he muttered, bursting into the room that had been cleared by the intruder. He rushed over to the main terminals and threw the switch.
A light went on in the corner. The Engineer and the Captain, now together, took the jector from the locker, removed it from its case, and connected it to the terminals as quickly as they could. The dials were broken, but the tube on the barrel showed bright blue. There was current; the jector was charging!
The floor shook so much that the metal tools on the shelves rattled, and a glass object fell off and shattered. Then suddenly all was still, and the light went out.
"Is it charged?" asked the Physicist.
"For two rounds at most. We're lucky to have even that," answered the Engineer, and tore the jector from the terminals, pointed its aluminum barrel toward the ground, and, clasping the handle, went out into the corridor and made for the engine room. They were halfway there, near the library, when there was an ungodly grating, and two or three convulsive jerks rocked the ship. Something in the engine room raised an ear-piercing din, and then another silence followed.
The Engineer and the Captain reached the armored door together. The Captain slid aside the peephole cover and looked in.
"Let me have the flashlight," he said.
The Doctor immediately put it in his hand, but it was difficult to direct light through the narrow aperture and see at the same time. The Engineer opened a second peephole, put his eye to it—and gasped.
"It's lying there," he said after a long pause.
"What?"
"Our visitor. Give me more light, lower, that's it! It's not moving." Then: "The thing's as big as an elephant."
"Has it touched the manifold track?" asked the Captain, who could see nothing.
"It appears to have got into the power lines instead. I can see … ends jutting out from under it."
"Ends of what?" The Physicist, behind them, was growing impatient.
"High-tension cables. It's still not moving. Shall we open the door?"
"We have to," the Doctor said, and shoved the main bolt aside.
"Maybe it's playing dead," suggested someone in back.
The other bolts slid smoothly in their mounts, and the door opened. No one crossed the threshold—the Physicist and the Cyberneticist looked over the shoulders of the men in front of them. Inside, on fragments of the shattered screen, squeezed between partition walls
Something was happening in the depths of the ship. He could feel it more than hear it: the floor throbbed. There was a distant thrumming, barely audible. He sat up, his heart pounding.
"It's come back!" he thought, imagining the creature whose slimy trail the Physicist had discovered. "It's trying to force open the entrance hatch."
The ship suddenly shuddered, as though some huge hand were trying to push it still deeper into the ground. One member of the crew groaned in his sleep. For a moment the Doctor felt his hair stand on end: the ship weighed sixteen thousand tons! The floor started shaking in a rapid, irregular rhythm. Then he understood. It was one of the drive units! Someone had got it going!
"Everybody up!" he shouted, groping for the flashlight.
The crew sprang to their feet, stumbling into one another in the dark and shouting, until the Doctor finally found the flashlight and turned it on. In a few words he explained.
The Engineer, still groggy, listened to the sound. The ship began to shake, and a mounting groan filled the air. "The air compressors in the port nozzles!" he cried.
The Captain said nothing as he zipped up his suit, and the others dressed hurriedly, but the Engineer ran out into the corridor as he was, in an undershirt and shorts, snatching the flashlight from the Doctor's hand on the way.
"What are you going to do?"
They hurried after him as he ran to the navigation room. The floor shook more and more violently. "Any moment now it'll snap the blades," he muttered, bursting into the room that had been cleared by the intruder. He rushed over to the main terminals and threw the switch.
A light went on in the corner. The Engineer and the Captain, now together, took the jector from the locker, removed it from its case, and connected it to the terminals as quickly as they could. The dials were broken, but the tube on the barrel showed bright blue. There was current; the jector was charging!
The floor shook so much that the metal tools on the shelves rattled, and a glass object fell off and shattered. Then suddenly all was still, and the light went out.
"Is it charged?" asked the Physicist.
"For two rounds at most. We're lucky to have even that," answered the Engineer, and tore the jector from the terminals, pointed its aluminum barrel toward the ground, and, clasping the handle, went out into the corridor and made for the engine room. They were halfway there, near the library, when there was an ungodly grating, and two or three convulsive jerks rocked the ship. Something in the engine room raised an ear-piercing din, and then another silence followed.
The Engineer and the Captain reached the armored door together. The Captain slid aside the peephole cover and looked in.
"Let me have the flashlight," he said.
The Doctor immediately put it in his hand, but it was difficult to direct light through the narrow aperture and see at the same time. The Engineer opened a second peephole, put his eye to it—and gasped.
"It's lying there," he said after a long pause.
"What?"
"Our visitor. Give me more light, lower, that's it! It's not moving." Then: "The thing's as big as an elephant."
"Has it touched the manifold track?" asked the Captain, who could see nothing.
"It appears to have got into the power lines instead. I can see … ends jutting out from under it."
"Ends of what?" The Physicist, behind them, was growing impatient.
"High-tension cables. It's still not moving. Shall we open the door?"
"We have to," the Doctor said, and shoved the main bolt aside.
"Maybe it's playing dead," suggested someone in back.
The other bolts slid smoothly in their mounts, and the door opened. No one crossed the threshold—the Physicist and the Cyberneticist looked over the shoulders of the men in front of them. Inside, on fragments of the shattered screen, squeezed between partition walls
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