"It's just possible, I suppose, that the Ripples—Is Pile Ten heating fast?"
"No, sir. It's still below the critical level, and of course we're putting in dampers."
"I wish we knew something definite about the Thakura Ripples," the Captain burst out, "what they are, what they do, what they look like, and how they affect our atomic Piles! If only Thakura were still a sane man, and could finish up his calculations!"
"Maybe Thakura was crazy to start with," said Chief Wyman, "or maybe the Ripples drove him crazy. I don't know. But I do know Pile Ten is heating."
"Well, keep watching it. Double the checks on the other Piles, and let me know of even the slightest rise."
As soon as the door had closed, Evans opened the desk panel and buzzed Operations.
"Pilot Thayer? Captain Evans here. I am about to give you an order. As soon as you have executed it, come at once to my cabin, and bring Navigator Smith with you. Here it comes. Reduce speed immediately, repeat immediately, to one-half, repeat one-half. That's all."
Nobody felt the alteration in the progress of the Star Lord. Within the metal casing of the ship nothing was changed. The sunny scenes in the walls were just as bright, and the synthetic light of the slowly moving stars at night was just as soothing. For the passengers, the black menace outside the ship did not exist. Because change of speed cannot be felt in hyperspace, they had no way of realizing that the Star Lord had slackened her pace and was feeling her way cautiously as a blind man to avoid the ominous barriers of the Thakura Ripples.
On their way to their cabins that night, there were a few people who noticed that the bulletin which detailed the day's run had not been posted on the board, but they wondered only for a moment why it had been omitted, and then forgot the matter.