V
It was cold, and he was beating his way out of a frozen death. He fought his way up from the floor, a sluggish chill in the marrow of his bones. Frigid ... and he was sinking back.
Remembrance shocked him into wakefulness. He stared from the port before his face. The police ship was there, clamped by invisible forces to the Chicago. Dully, he watched the fore rockets blasting for deceleration.
Deceleration—?
That brought him to frantic life. Were they nearing Pluto? How long had he been out? And—why was it so cold?
His teeth and knees still chattering, he wriggled down the narrow passage, pushed his light before him into the room where he had left Gail. He stared wildly.
She was gone.
Then the police had come aboard while he was unconscious and taken her aboard their vessel.
Back in the control room, he stood helplessly for a few seconds, his mind starting to black out again. No power—the ship was leaking its heat into space. His numbed fingers found the right switches. Heat started to seep into the room, and life seemed to flow back into his body.