"We're at quarter speed, Sir," he said, as the Captain heard the Navigation Officer's clear, even voice over the intra-ship speaker:
"Quarter speed, Sir. On course."
The last two words fell into complete blackness. Jon felt the pupils of his eyes straining, opening for the least trace of light. There was none. He could hear the slow breathing of the others, and a few low exclamations through the open switches of the intra-ship.
"Carry on, Lieutenant," he ordered, and let his breath out of his lungs slowly. "Mister McTavish," he added, "here's something to add to your technical knowledge: electricity does not need ether—whether it travels around or within wires."
"Thank you, Sir," came the Engineer's ironic reply like a sound without origin in the well of blackness that closed in on Jon from every side. "I had reached the same conclusion, Sir."
"We are running on batteries, Sir," Clemens relayed from beside him. "The cyclotron has stopped functioning."
"The batteries will be enough, Sir," came the Engineer's voice. "I arranged an automatic out-in, Sir. I knew electrons couldn't bombard atoms without ether to travel through."
"Good work, Mister!" said McPartland.
"Thank you, Sir."