The Beasts in the Void

Transcriber's Note:
This etext was produced from Imagination April 1956. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.
Holloway was used to big game hunters and their expeditions to other worlds. But this trip was sheer madness—a space ship stalking among—
he examiner looked doubtful and said, But Mr. Holloway, regulations require that I read your log before I take verbal testimony.
Holloway's face was drawn and ravaged. His bloodshot eyes sat in black pits. They were trained on the Examiner but looked through him rather than at him.
Holloway said, But, I must talk! I've got to tell you about it. I have to keep talking.
But—
Holloway's words tumbled out. It started in the control cabin there in deep space. When Mrs. Kelvey came in. She was the blonde one. I turned around and she said, 'Captain, there's a great big tiger in the companionway.'
The desperate Holloway, fearful of being stopped or running out of words, went into minute detail. She made the statement as a pouting complaint, almost casually. Then, before I could speak, she realized what she'd said and her face changed. A kind of horrified double-take. ' A tiger? In the companionway of a space ship? ' This last was an incredulous question she asked herself. Then she fainted. I looked outside. I thought I saw something blurred and indistinct but it vanished quickly if it was really there at all. The companionway was empty. No tiger. No animal of any kind—
The Examiner, holding up a hand of protest, looked like a man directing traffic. Please, Mr. Holloway—please. We must remember regulations.
Holloway's eyes closed for a moment but he resolutely forced them open as though afraid of something.
The scene was Holloway's two-room suite in the Space Port Hotel. There were three men present—Holloway, skipper of the Space King , John Mason, Port Resident, and Merle Kennedy, Section Examiner for the Space Authority people. Kennedy regarded Holloway with frank concern. Good heavens—the man was a complete mess. Looked ready to collapse. Kennedy turned to Mason. This can be postponed, you know.