"What are you waiting for, Davis? Shove off!"
The port door slid shut. A few seconds delay, and Lifeboat F, carrying three persons, shot away from the Star Lord into space.
Alarm bells rang, red lights flashed.
Sickening with the inexorable rise of her fevered power units, the Star Lord trembled with the clangor of bells ringing in library and nursery, in lounges and dance hall, in bar and cabins, in dining rooms and theaters. The orchestra crashed to a stop, the dancers halted, startled and vaguely frightened, half laughing at themselves as they listened to the bells.
Then silence, and the voice of Captain Evans.
"Ladies and gentlemen. Do not be alarmed. Because of certain mechanical difficulties the Star Lord has shifted to normal space. There is no immediate danger, but purely as a precautionary measure we shall launch the lifeboats. Remember, there is no danger, but I ask each of you to proceed at once, in calm orderly fashion, to the station to which you are assigned, and there obey the orders of the officer in charge. The passengers formerly assigned to Boat C will be placed in other boats. Do not wait to go to your cabins. Proceed immediately to your lifeboats."
The voice clicked off. A few seconds of silence, and then the quiet was broken by the patter of hurrying feet. In a moment, the public lounges were empty.
* * *
In the library, Tanya was still calling into the phone.