“Might not have been, kid. Only a lot of good men died back there puttin’ such a plug in the valley that these buggers aren’t goin’ to git in ’til too late. Since the warp’s still workin’, flyin’ won’t bring ’em neither. So we ain’t needed out there no more. An’ maybe some good fightin’ men will be needed where this old girl’s headed. So in we come, an’ they’re gonna pack us away with the rest of the cargo. Ain’t that so, Doc?” he ended by demanding of the tall young man who had just entered.
The newcomer’s parrot crest of blond hair stood up from his scalp in a twist like the stem of a pear and his wide eyes glowed with enthusiasm.
“You’re young Nordis, aren’t you?” he demanded of Dard, ignoring Santee. “I wish I could have known your brother! He-what he did-! I wouldn’t have believed such results possible if I hadn’t seen the formula! Hibernation and freezing-his formula combined with Tas’s biological experiments! Why, we’ve even put three of Hammond’s calves under-what grass they’ll graze on before they die! And it’s all due to Lars Nordis!”
Dard was too tired to show much interest in that. He wanted to go to sleep to forget everything and everybody.
"To sleep, perchance to dream"- the old words shaped pat- terns for him. Only-not to dream would be better now. Did one dream in space-and what queer dreams haunted men lying in slumber between worlds? Dard mentally shook himself-there was something important-something he had to ask before he dared let sleep come.
“Where’s Dessie?”
“Nordis’ little girl? She’s with my daughter-and my wife-they’re already under.”
“Under what?”
“In cold sleep. Most of the gang are now. Just a few of us still loading. Then Kimber, Kordov and I. We’ll ride out until Kimber is sure of the course before we stow away. All the rest of you—”
“Will be packed away before the take-off. Saves wear and tear on bodies and nerves under acceleration,” cut in Kimher from the doorway. He nodded over the medico’s shoulder at Dard. “Glad to have you aboard, kid. Promise you- no forced landings on this voyage. You’re to be sealed up in crew’s quarters-so you’ll wake early to see the new world!” And with that he was gone again.